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National Campus Battle Of The Bands.
 Jebediah.
The Vasco Era. Eskimo Joe. All three of those bands first came
to national prominence after winning the National Campus Battle
Of The Bands. Now in its 16th year, it's been the proving ground
for many of the nation's finest acts (heck, bands like The Vines,
George and Frenzal Rhomb entered and didn't win, which should
give you an idea of both its influence on Australian music and
the standards of the acts).
This year Adelaide is hosting the national finals, so funk/rock types Mr Fiction have the hometown advantage. Drummer Andrew Goulding sees the competition as a step on the way to their ultimate ambition: "To read our name on the Big Day Out line up and to see an entire audience sing along to the songs we've written."
Tasmania's nine-piece funk/rap ensemble Unleash The Nugget have
even greater aspirations, according to MC Dunn D: "The opportunity
for more exposure to help us Unleash The Nugget on the world!"
 Then
again, Kate Kelsey-Suggs from Melbourne's Effigy Of Now shrugs
"We originally entered the competition just for a free beer,
and the next thing we knew we had crowd surfers in the audience.
We're hoping on expanding our fan base interstate, and the publicity
from this event is all the exposure we need for this."
"We're all really looking forward the experience," enthuses Andrew Mitchell, drummer with ACT winners The Fallen. "We'd love to walk away with a record deal, but just to play alongside a whole lot of great bands and bring our music to a new crowd will be where it's at!"
Of course, one of the other advantages of getting into the national finals is that the bands get to travel, as well as meet some like-minded interstate acts. "We're quite isolated here in Canberra," Mitchell explains. "Unless it's mentioned in a Government Initiative pamphlet we don't tend to know. But we're looking forward to meeting - and hearing - some great bands. We've also never been to Adelaide before so we'll be officially lost," he adds, so any potential tour guides would be welcomed. "We're all pretty friendly guys so come and say g'day and show us the places to check out."
"We do look forward to seeing what the other states have to offer," adds Goulding.
Of course, since this is a university competition held with the support of the various Student Unions, it's no surprise that the bands see the introduction of Voluntary Student Unionism as the death knell for music on campus. MC Dunn D insists that "Live original music needs all the support it can get, as less funding equals less opportunity," while Goulding adds "To introduce VSU is effectively silencing an entire community, not just in respect to music but to all facets of the arts and education in general. Events like this are beneficial to student life."
Beneficial it might be: but in the end this is a competition and there can only be one winner. Unsurprisingly, all of the bands are pretty clear on who it's going to be.
"We're just going to go out there and funk the hell out of the joint!" Goulding insists. "We do something different and are dedicated to doing it well."
"You know Cliff Richard? Well, we're nothing like him," MC Dunn D quips. "We're a nine piece party that you don't want to miss."
Kelsey-Suggs insists that, for Effigy Of Now, "It's all about playing music that's fresh, new and funky! And of course, it's all in the horns! And we're all incredibly attractive."
Mitchell pauses when asked what The Fallen might bring to the party. "Well, our bass player's got a bit of a screw loose and he's been under a bit of pressure lately, so..."
Andrew P Street
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The National Finals of the Jim Beam Campus Battle Of The Bands takes place at Adelaide Uni on Sat 29 Oct with Mr Fiction (SA), Effigy Of Now (Victoria), The Fallen (ACT), Unleash The Nugget (Tas), The Secks (QLD) and winners from WA, NSW and NT. What's more, it's free!
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