Band contest offers opportunities for young talent
The cultural and youth authorities of the cities of Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa organize an annual contest for young bands, Ääni ja Vimma (“sound and fury”) together with the Finnish Live Music Association ELMU. The contest is the largest review of young popular music talent in Finland and is organized now for the 16th time.
The contest is open for all bands in Finland, irrespective of the composition of the group and musical genre, as long as they have not published an album and have no recording contract. At least two-thirds of the band members must be between 15 and 25 years of age.
Registration for the 2011 contest begins at 10:00 on February 7. Registration is on first-come-first-served basis for 150 bands and ends when this quota is fulfilled but no later than February 11. The quota is, however, expected to fill up quickly. Registration is made at the event’s website www.nuoriso.hel.fi/aanijavimma (in Finnish only). The registration fee is 20 euros for bands from the Helsinki metropolitan area and 30 euros for bands from elsewhere in Finland.
The qualifying preview of the bands will take place between early March and early April. The semifinal and final will take place at the Cultural Arena Gloria in Helsinki in mid-April.
Another contest young bands will take place at the same time with Ääni ja Vimma: Junnuvimma (“kids’ fury”) is meant for bands whose members are younger than 15 years of age. The contest will take place at the Arabia youth centre in early April. Registration is by phone to the youth centre at (09) 310 890134.
Ääni ja Vimma has served as a springboard for a number of professional bands including Pintandwefall, Turisas, Collarbone, Bitch Alert and Smak. The reviewers are frontline professionals.
