This February,Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (EMP|SFM) hosts Sound Off!, the Pacific Northwest’s largest annual under-age battle of the bands competition. Hailing from Vancouver, B.C. to Vancouver Wash. and from Seattle to Pullman, Wash., twelve bands from the Pacific Northwest will compete for the title ofSound Off! 2009 winner.
The 2009 Sound Off! Competition will kick off February 14 in Sky Church with Dearboy, Dyno Jamz, Love Trucker and Schoolboy Gutbuster; Brier Rose, Free City Collective, Makeup Monsters and The Mission Orange will perform February 21; and Cyrus Fell Down, Kids Get Hit by Buses, Razpy & The Vigilantes and SOL will give it all they’ve got February 28. The finalists will then compete for the Sound Off! 2009 title Saturday, March 7, 2009.
For the first time, Sound Off! has given the museum’s Youth Advisory Board, a group of 13-19 year olds with a passion for music, sole control over the selection of one semifinalist band. In early December, after careful review, the Youth Advisory Board selected the chiptune duo, Kids Get Hit by Buses, from Everett, Wash., as the first official semifinalist for Sound Off! 2009. Also new in 2009, the Sound Off! finals will include a “wild card” band from the semifinalist pool, voted into the competition by fans online.
Prizes for the first-place winner include a highly coveted performance slot at Bumbershoot 2009, live on-air performance on 107.7 The End’s Locals Only, KORG USA products, Epiphone gear, Recording Academy consultation, and much more. Prizes for the second-place winner include KORG USA products, Epiphone gear, Recording Academy consultation and more. Additional prizes will be announced.
In its eighth year, Sound Off! supports the local underage music scene by giving young artists from different backgrounds a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come together and play their original music in a positive, all-ages atmosphere. A launching pad for musical careers, Sound Off! has enjoyed hosting many young up-and-coming bands over the years including: Schoolyard Heroes, Idiot Pilot, Mon Frere, The Lonely H, Dyme Def, Capitol Basement, The Lonely Forest, Natalie Portman's Shaved Head and New Faces.
Every fall, EMP|SFM sends out the call for young musicians, ages 21 and under, to submit their demo discs, and every year the panel of judges sorts through entries from numerous talented hopefuls. From rock to rap, indie to hip-hop, experimental to electronica, the diversity in young talent throughout the Pacific Northwest is well represented in the selection of semifinalists. -- www.empsfm.org
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