What: Vancouver Seeds 2003 Showcase
Where: DKNY Jeans Outdoor Concert Series
When: Friday, April 18
The results are in and ready to rock. The longest running music industry talent search in B.C., 99.3 FOX Radio’s Seeds contest, has picked their top draw for 2003.
Out of 500 bands that entered, only six can be called the best brass and five of them are coming to Whistler to sew their wild audio oats into the lush fertile fields surrounding the WSSF main stage.
So who’ve we got on show? By A Thread, Joykamp, Shiftkit, Winston and the Spitfires. Here’s a quick introduction:
Winston formed a little over two years ago. More introspective than angst-driven, the band's sound is artsy and innovative, as they wield solid rhythms and catchy guitar lines before engulfing audiences with thick energy-driven choruses. Their debut album us due out this spring.
Shiftkit is a four piece band out of Langley that formed in 2000 and are considered one of the most diverse bands going. You will notice they can be in-your-face one song and totally chill the next.
The Spitfires, hailing from the mean streets of Abbotsford, play hard and fast rock. Influenced equally by ’70s era arena rock like KISS, AC/DC and Cheap Trick and ’70s era punk rock like the Ramones, Dead Boys and Sex Pistols, the Spitfires have a hard rockin' sound set for revolution.
Joykamp formed just recently, and their goal is to smash a political message into your brain with a heavy musical hammer. Their songs are inspired by the normalized insanity of modern society. They believe people will be more apt to pay attention to their message if it has got a wicked soundtrack.
Five years and going strong, By A Thread rose out of the ashes of the now-defunct hardcore heavyweights, Strain. Their songs are captivating, dark and hauntingly beautiful at times, raucous and heavy at others, and undeniably catchy all the while.
The Fox’s music director, Chris Duncombe, said "these bands are definitely a case of catch them before they take off. Past winners include Nickelback, Shocore and Default – all bands that have gone on to bigger and better things."
While you might not know who these bands are just yet, Duncombe said they were chosen by "people in the know" including record producers, radio programmers, radio DJs and other industry types.
"Out of a huge field we narrowed down the Seeds search to the acts that had the most creativity, song writing talent, production sense and of course, commercial viability," he said.
There’ll be a big finale too so stick around when all bands will bond for one big juicy jamboree. The concert starts at 3 p.m.
