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MusicOz Awards: Solver
Ask Nick 'Cookie' Cook, drummer for Newcastle band Solver, about Musicoz Awards and the good words keep flowing. The largest awards event for unsigned and independent artists is on again, and with success stories like Sick Puppies, The Fumes and Blue King Brown - not to mention the mammoth prize pool - it's an opportunity not to pass up. Cook explains the rollercoaster ride the band experienced from sending in their entry to taking out Best Rock and Artist Of The Year in 2006.
"We actually entered sort of by accident. Morgan [Evans, vocalist/guitarist] noticed it online in an email we got, rang me up and said 'Cookie, enter this comp, don't know what it is, but check it out'. We got a notice back saying we're in the top 10 and we thought, 'hold on, this is pretty cool', actually looked further into it and realised the great prizes and opportunities offered. And before we knew it, we were at the Enmore and got the opportunity to play on the night and win some awards, which was great.
"It was by far the biggest thing we've ever won. It was a great feeling to be read out with all those people there cheering us on. The opportunity to play on the night was incredible too, sharing the stage with the likes of You Am I, Sarah McLeod and The Whitlams. To play at the Enmore in front of a packed house was pretty awesome," he reminisces. "The best thing about it was meeting with the people who organised it. There's a cool little team at Musicoz. We've kept in touch with a few of those guys ever since, and they've been lining us with all sorts of opportunities."
The band has wasted no time moving forward since their win. "At the moment we're doing a whole lot of writing and demoing, some new tunes, which we're going to record using our Musicoz recording prize, probably do an EP by the end of the year. Then hopefully head back over to the US early next year to showcase them. We went over to America for our first time in June and spent a month over there; we did some co-writing with some great writers in LA, checked out the scene and met lots of cool people. We'd love to get back next year."
With 17 categories, including Pop, Rock, Alternative, Urban, Metal/Hardcore and Acoustic Singer-Songwriter, there is something for everybody. Artists are selected and judged by some of the music industries finest from major labels, independent labels, booking agents, artist managers and record producers. Pat Maloney, CEO and founder of Musicoz, affirms, "The judges we use are the who's who of the industry; they are people who are renowned operators in their field. So they're pretty much the guys that do it every day for a living. They're the kind of guys people who enter want their music listened by."
So what do the awards offer unsigned and independent artists? "Primarily, the first thing is exposure, a lot of exposure through national television and radio. Second thing is recognition. There's not enough recognition for people in this space doing their thing, so we've sort of been championing that for seven years now."
Then there are the prizes, including advertising packages, recording studio time, production deals and music videos, which are tailored to each category. To top it off, this year Musicoz has partnered with the National Nova Radio Network to feature finalists and winners on air. "It's probably the biggest prize pool in the history of... well, anything," Maloney laughs. "It's pretty darn big."
Cook and his fellow band members are appreciative of what the awards has meant for them. "We got these recording opportunities which is always great because it's so expensive and hard to do on your own. It's also taken us to the next level in terms of 'Musicoz Artist Of The Year 2006'. Musicoz is the biggest awards for unsigned bands in the whole country so it's just nice to say we won an award at Musicoz. We've been receiving heaps of messages on Myspace, congratulating us, and that's sort of spread the word, cast the net a little wider for us."
And to those artists out there thinking about entering? "Definitely do it," Cook encourages. "There's no point why you wouldn't."
Jess Moschetti
Entries close 31 August 2007. Check out www.musicoz.org for details.
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