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|  Camden's The Standards Win AKG's Unsigned Heroes 2007 Competition Like much of the rest of the contest, it was a close-run thing at the end. The final of mic manufacturer AKG's 2007 unsigned bands competition, Unsigned Heroes, which was held at London venue KOKO on June 1st, promised a night of great music and a fine display of new talent, and it delivered in full, as the enthusiastic crowd showed. Camden's The Standards won the day with their finely developed stage presence and great melodic performance, but Hertfordshire's Flamboyant Bella and Merseyside's The Kashmirs came close behind. As the judges said as they stepped up to make the final announcement, "This has been a really tough decision... we'd like everyone to have won!". The Standards (www.myspace.com/thestandardsmusic), a three-piece rock band comprising Scott Pragnell on drums, bassist Mark Ness and lead singer and guitarist Neil Winspear, went on to claim the first part of their prize as the 2007 winners of Unsigned Heroes by playing a set the following weekend at the Isle of Wight outdoor festival. They also receive a Harman PA system worth 10 thousand pounds and an AKG microphones endorsement deal. At the end of this month, they will be taking the Brit Bus stage at the Kent Festival, where the Feeling and the Ordinary Boys are headlining, and later in the Summer, they'll be going into a professional studio for recording sessions with Simple Minds producer Jez Coad, who was one of the judges at the final. Neil Winspear was understandably in something of a daze — 'It's been like a dream come true. We walk past KOKO all the time, and of course, like all bands who like to dream a bit, you think about what it might be like if you ever get to play there. And not only did it happen, but the following week we were onstage at the Isle of Wight festival! The same place where the Rolling Stones were playing! It's just been amazing.' Amanda Chester, who as Marketing Manager at Harman Pro UK, AKG's UK distributors, played a key role in organising Unsigned Heroes 2007, was still amazed at the excellent response the competition generated. "I'm not surprised the Standards are a bit astonished — it's great going to have beaten the other 800 UK and Irish bands that entered the competition. We all felt for the Kashmirs and Flamboyant Bella, as they played brilliantly on the night, but they don't go away empty-handed — they both get AKG endorsement deals too, and they did fantastically well to reach the final. It's been great to organise this competition on behalf of AKG, and it's served to remind us all of just how vibrant the music scene is in the UK and Ireland. There's some amazing talent out there, and hopefully we'll see some more of it in Unsigned Heroes 2008!" |
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Background music with permission by Marner Brown
By Harman Pro UK
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