About Our Battle of the Bands
The Ottery St Mary Food & Families Festival, RandK Systems and the King of Clubs are delighted to announce the date of Saturday 9th September for the 2023 Festival, which will be held at Otter Nurseries.
They are planning something a little different for the entertainment this year, with more of a focus on involving performances from the wider community. Teaming up with a wide range of schools, festivals and music industry players, a regional “Battle of the Bands“ for musicians aged 11 to 25 is taking place, with heats to be held at four locations in June and July.
What's On Offer?
A range of performance opportunities at Ottery Food Festival, to support headliners The Kabins, and many other Festival slots are available as prizes. Additional prizes include supports with prominent local bands, recording and releasing songs, appearances on radio shows, free music school places, rehearsal time, guitar starter packs, free vinyl, band merch and festival work experience.
The organisers are keen to reward all those that take part, to encourage them to continue to participate in performing. Consequently, there will be prizes for all entrants.
How to Apply - Send Your Videos By 31st May ENTRIES ARE NOW CLOSED
Anyone interested in performing in the Battle of the Bands should complete and submit a video of them playing a cover version, or an original song, via the online application form at the bottom of this page.
The competition is open to any bands or musicians 11-25 years old, in any genre from any school or college in the South West or acts that are already practicing independently. Depending on applications, there may be different age and genre-related heats, in order to ensure fairness. The organisers are especially looking to encourage girls playing instruments at school to form bands.
About Our Partners
Schools and Colleges;
The Kings School Ottery, Richard Huish College, Honiton Community College, The Rock Project.
Venues, Promoters and Festivals;
The King of Clubs in Ottery St Mary, Exeter Street Arts Festival, Sidmouth Folk Festival, Exmouth Festival, The Marine Sidmouth, The Beehive Arts Centre Honiton, Villages in Action, The Music in Devon Initiative (MIDI) and booking agency Midnight Mango.
Radio Stations, Production Companies, Rehearsal Studios and Music Shops;
Phonic FM, True FM, RandK Systems, Tazma Rehearsal Studios and Project Music.
Bands Offering Support Slots;
The Kabins, Barefoot Bandit, Mad Dog McCrea.
More festivals, schools and colleges are getting involved, so do keep checking this page.
There will be heats at the King of Clubs and at each school participating in June, with a second heat to find the winners at the King of Clubs in July. The winners of the second heat will qualify for a range of opportunities and prizes.
The Heats;
Tuesday 13th June - King's School, Ottery St Mary
Thursday 15th June - The Rock Project, Exeter
Friday 16th June - Tazma Studios, Exeter
Saturday 17th June - King Of Clubs, Ottery St Mary
The Final:
Saturday 8th July - King of Clubs Ottery St Mary
The Prizes
We're not big fans of competitions that reward only a few of those that get involved as we feel that this can be discouraging young. Consequently, there will be prizes for everyone that gets involved.
These include;
Festival Performances
- Exmouth Festival 28th-30th July.
- Sidmouth Folk Week 4th-11th August.
- Exeter Street Arts Festival on August 26th.
- Main stage at Ottery Food & Families Festival on Saturday September 9th.
- Performance slots at the Marine, Sidmouth.
- "Curtain Openers" at Villages in Action events, which involve a 15 minute performance to open the show.
Busking and Acoustic Slots at Ottery Food Festival
There are also prizes including busking slots at the Ottery Food Festival and solo / acoustic performance slots during the day.
We'll Record and Release Your Music
Other prizes include a song being recorded, mixed, mastered and released on Streaming platforms by RandK Systems.
Take Over Radio Shows & Get Your Music Heard
- A slot on True Radio UK (national radio station) to play your latest track and have an interview about it.
- Exeter's Phonic FM are also offering takeover shows, with a prize to co-host a radio show with Phonic FM DJ Jason Maddocks, to talk about your music and the music that has inspired you.
Free Rehearsal Time at Tazma Studios
Win free rehearsal time at Tazma Studios, Exeter's finest rehearsal rooms.
Discounted Starter Packs from Project Music
Exeter's leading guitar shop, Project Music, is offering discounted starter kits for anyone wanting to learn guitar.
3 Free Rock Project Taster Sessions
Win 3 free rock project sessions. Come along and have a lesson and jam with other musicians for a few weeks.
Win a Music Masterclass
Some truly amazing musicians will help you improve your drumming, your guitar skills and more.
Support Mad Dog Mcrea, Barefoot Bandit and The Kabins
- We are also offering a support slot with up and coming Ottery St Mary band The Kabins.
- Courtesy of live booking agents Midnight Mango, we are delighted to be also offering an opening slot on the Studio Stage (Second Stage) for the Mad Dog Mcrea Weekender 2024 at Exeter Phoenix, date tbc.
- Also we have a support slot with the Barefoot Bandit up for grabs at the Beehive in Honiton. Dates tbc
Free Copies of "Lockdown Songs" Vinyl EPs
International booking agency Midnight Mango is offering free copies of "Lockdown Songs", a highly collectable album. This features the cream of the live acts they represent; The Dead South, Neville Staple (from The Specials), Ferocious Dog, Mad Dog Mcrea, Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman, Amy Montgomery, Tankus The Henge, Hands Off Gretel, Molotov Jukebox and CoCo & The Butterfields.
The Kabins Want More Bands to Join the Scene
The Kabins started out at the King of Clubs last April and have done really well since, signing a recording contract just 6 months later and embarking on a national tour.
The band will also be acting as judges, and offering support slots with them, in the hope that they can bring other young bands up behind them to join the live music scene.
“We have designed our Battle of the Bands to encourage more young people to participate in the performing arts. Everyone who gets involved will be given a prize as we are hoping to give young people a platform to perform in a supportive and encouraging environment,” says David Knox, Entertainment Officer at Ottery Food Festival, Promoter at the King of Clubs & Producer with RandK Systems.
“This model worked so well for this year’s Ottery Food Festival headliners The Kabins. At the King of Clubs, we provided them rehearsal space and equipment, coached them, provided their first gigs and promoted them in the media. This led to them getting signed and embarking on a national tour, which set them on a positive path to develop as a viable live band. So, we are hoping to give other young people interested in getting into performing a platform to do so at the region’s best festivals.” continues David.
Come and Get Involved With Live Festivals
In addition to the Battle of the Bands element, there are also opportunities for students interested in gaining some work experience or a chance to get involved with a range of activities involved with putting a festival on.
These include helping with live sound, live recording, producing promotional videos, helping with stage management, pa, social media and PR.
Festivals include the following, with hopefully more getting involved.
- Exmouth Festival 28th to 31st July
- Sidmouth Folk Week 4th-11th August
- Exeter Street Arts Festival 26th August
- Ottery Food Festival 9th September
“We hope this will give students interested in the entertainment industry a chance to see for themselves how a festival works and use the experience of being involved with an active festival as work experience or as part of their course work.” said David.