A competitive note for CYS this October

THIS October sees the launch of Clare Youth Service’s annual music competition, with a greater emphasis on young musicians in Clare recording their own music and building their profiles as performing artists.

Organised by the members of the Music Project, the competition will be trading under the title of the Mixtape Music Battle Extravaganza, linking in with the ongoing Mixtape series of live music events that the committee run and promote in Glór in Ennis. 
This year, the competition is again aided and supported by the Mid-West Regional Drug Task Force and will take a different format to other traditional young band competitions.  
The Mixtape Music Battle Extravaganza will be ran over three separate events, each one varying from the other in terms of what the successful contestants will be asked to do. The aim of the Mixtape competition is to attract all forms of musical creativity, from bands, DJs, producers, solo artists, beat-boxers, acoustic acts, rappers and traditional Irish music musicians. 
Anything goes, as long you can present it in a positive, creative musical fashion. The competition commences on Saturday, October 15 in the main hall of the CYS building in Carmody Street in Ennis. This is the opening round of the competition and is open to all performers.  The day will act as an elimination round for the competition – with only four acts progressing to the next stage of the competition.  To register for this round, contestants must register in advance by filling out one of our application forms, including the performer/band details, equipment list and entry fee.  The application form must be returned before October 12 in order for it to be processed in time for the competition. Applications forms are available from the Bureau of Clare Youth Service in Ennis, as downloadable documents on our CYS Music Project facebook page and also by email (see contact below). Each act will receive 15 – 20 minutes of performance time on the day and will be required to perform at least three songs – one of which must be original material. DJs and producers must include one of their own original productions in their sets also. The competition is open to the general public and it is strongly recommended that each performing act brings some audience support on the day.  Au
As with all Clare Youth Service events, this is strictly drug and alcohol free, and any infringement of this rule by a performing act will lead to instant disqualification. 
All judges’ decisions are final and are not up for discussion. 
Four acts from the elimination round will be invited to progress to the second round of the competition, which will focus largely on composition and recording. Each act will be asked to compose an original song and will have one full day in the CYS studio, along with engineers, to write and record the song. The whole process will be captured audio-visually, and each act will be asked to use the footage and recordings to develop their band identity online. The two acts that score the highest in this section will progress to the third stage of the competition and be invited to go head to head in the Mixtape Final to be held in Glor in early December. This will give the bands and musicians the opportunity to showcase their talents in one of the most respected venues nationally and the winning act will get a selection of individual prizes and live opportunities throughout the following year. 
For more information, including application forms and rules, contact john on 065 6845350 or alternatively mail jlillis@clareyouthservice.org.