At Band Battle 2020, everyone’s a winner
Still riding high from their victory, we caught up with Band Battle 2020 winners Sunset Jet this week to send our congratulations. We also spoke to Andy Saunders, the brains behind the competition at Quids Inn. After praising the winners, of course, Andy was quick to point out that, really, everyone benefited from this year’s contest. Bands got to play to a wide and diverse audience beyond their core fanbase. Audiences got to witness the immense talent our island’s musicians have to offer. And everyone got to celebrate the freedom of live music in all its glory.
Yet, the journey up to this point was far from smooth.
The first heats for this year’s Band Battle kicked off in March ー so, as you can imagine, the contest hit some roadblocks. The penultimate heat (Heat 3) was due to take place two nights before the Manx lockdown came into force. Andy tells me it was the weirdest atmosphere he’s ever experienced in his pub, with patrons unsure whether they should be standing apart from each other, and bands scared for the future of their livelihoods.
As we know, musicians couldn’t work over lockdown and, along with their heat in the Band Battle (Heat 4), Sunset Jet had all their gigs cancelled, lead singer Brad tells me. Still, they sold a lot of T-shirts to pay off expenses and managed to stay productive: writing songs, live streaming performances and even building soundproofing for a recording room in their shared house ー much to the relief of their neighbours!
Even once their rescheduled heat finally came around at the start of October, Sunset Jet almost didn’t make it to the final. They were officially beaten in a public vote tiebreaker by The Fletcher Christian Mutiny; but, since Heat 1 winners War Bird disbanded over lockdown, the judges decided to bring Sunset Jet through as the closest runners up to complete the final line-up.
Brad and Andy both agreed that the night of the final was a tight competition. And the judges ー experts from across the music industry, such as promoters, producers and journalists ー agreed too. All music genres are considered for the competition: this year’s final included heavy rock from The Fletcher Christian Mutiny (top left), alternative acoustic from Acoustic Atmosphere (top right), aggressive punk and even crowdsurfing from Swarf Damage (bottom left), and of course dynamic indie from winners Sunset Jet (bottom right).
With a mix of fresh new bands and more established big hitters, there is space for everyone at Quids. Andy tells me he makes sure to have a mix of genres and styles for all their gigs (and there’s a lot, every Thursday through Sunday!) Pair that with great promotion and cheap entry (it’s in the name, after all), and it means they tend to get a good turnout ー great for the bands and the pub alike!
Ultimately, while the energy was electric for all four bands at the Band Battle final ー as we’ve seen at a lot of gigs post-lockdown ー Andy tells me that Sunset Jet just blew the roof off.
Even though it was a competition format, all the groups in Band Battle get paid for appearing, and the prize is tailored around opportunities that the winners will really want: bookings at Bushy’s, a ‘Start a Conversation’ campaign gig, and even recording time. It seems Sunset Jet are doing pretty well on their own too, being booked up pretty much every weekend until the end of the year.
Now that the band can relax after their win, Brad tells me how much they are relishing their new-found freedom and gigging opportunities. With a dedicated fanbase and even a fan account or two on Instagram (yes, really), Sunset Jet are definitely in awe of their own quick rise. Having performed their first gig only a couple of years ago, they all moved in together less than 12 months after meeting. They credit the local community for support in the early stages, providing them with rehearsal spaces like the upstairs of Peter Norris. Today, they are well-integrated into the Manx scene themselves and collaborate with other musicians. For example, singers Kizzie Puzzar (Spaghetti and the Hoops), Mae Challis and Dandi Dancox appeared in the music video for their latest single, Smile.
Overall, while the Manx music scene is definitely buzzing right now, neither Andy nor Brad could fully articulate exactly why that might be. It seems to be a mixture of more young talent getting involved; support between musicians themselves (today they will often come out to support other bands when they’re not gigging - something that was not always the case, Andy tells me); and, of course, Manannan’s cloak of protection from the harsh restrictions that have been put on live events elsewhere.
Of course, all of this wouldn’t have happened without support from venues and organisers themselves. Quids Inn has built up from a singer in the corner to now even having a license for young musicians to play. Andy also gave shoutouts to Cooil Bar at The Mitre and the recently on-hiatus Compton Vaults for their work in supporting live music on our island. And, of course, here at Sound Records we’re championing live music from local bands where we can, with monthly gigs at The British’s Embassy Room.
Ultimately, although we are immensely lucky to have such a great live music scene on the Isle of Man, for a lot of us this is only the beginning.
Written by Owen Atkinson
If you missed out on tickets for our gig tomorrow (Friday 30th October), you can catch Sunset Jet at Quids Inn from 9.15pm. Quids Inn host gigs Thursday-Sunday every week, and Sunset Jet are gigging most Friday and Saturday nights all around the island, including at the Villa Marina for Made in Mann on 27th November. Their next single, Feel Better, will be released on 20th November.
Photos via Isle Photo, Quids Inn and Sunset Jet.
