Unsigned Bands Competition – Play Abroad!

• 17th Jan 2006

Italy's premier rock festival for unsigned bands has opened the process for UK bands to register via the website here link. The Europe-wide three day festival takes the form of a battle of the bands. Registration is free, and requires bands to simply upload two MP3s of their music onto the website.

For the first time in its history the Trimi's Festival shall be holding live heats in London. In order to reach the semi-finals in Bologna bands must first impress the judges with their recorded material, and then make it through the live round, which will be staged at venues to be announced.

Last year two London bands, Pearly and Frankie, were among the six who made it through to the final, and one of them, Frankie, actually won it. Pearly came fifth and are now helping to promote the festival in the UK. The guitarist from Pearly, Richard Brown, said; “The Trimi's Festival has helped us to gain exposure, and it was a great experience to play in front of such a large audience. It was also a really emotional time as the festival is clearly very important to so many people.”

The Trimi's Festival is an established event on the Italian music calendar, receiving both television and press coverage. It was founded to commemorate the tragic death of young musician Alessandro Trimarco, 23 at the time of his death, by his parents and friends in order to help the people who share his dream of becoming a successful musician. Bands that make it through to the semi-finals get to appear on a Trimi's Festival compilation CD, and all bands in the final appear on Italian television. 713 bands registered for the festival last year, 165 of which were from the UK.

The Trimi's Festival is not run for profit and receives sponsorship from such organisations as Yamaha and dB Technologies who also donate prizes such as PA systems and recording equipment.