FReeZA Push Start
About FReeZA Push Start
About FReeZA Push Start
FReeZA Push Start Comments and Quotes
FReeZA Push Start Sponsors and Prizes
FReeZA Push Start Past Winners
About FReeZA Push Start
FReeZA Push Start is a Victorian Battle of the Bands competition. It showcases young and emerging Victorian performers aged 15-21, and has been doing so since 1995.
Originally titled, "Push Start Battle-Comp", the program now incorporates 77 youth-music FReeZA committees across Victoria, allowing young bands living in both regional and metropolitan areas to have an opportunity to compete.
FReeZA Push Start heat events are run across Victoria from January to August every year. The winner of each heat goes on to compete in one of the 9 FReeZA Push Start Regional Finals, which run from October to December. The winners go on to compete on stage at the Push Over festival in March of the following year. An awesome prize package is up for grabs - see the details below.
Sponsors of the Push Start program include:
APRA, Hothouse, Jack the Bear's Deluxe Mastering, MP3.com.au, Hurley, Cutting Edge Music, Cavalier, Beat magazine, DEX Audio and Orsino Images.
FReeZA Push Start is coordinated by The Push's Artist Development Project Coordinator - Andrew Kitchen.
In 2007-08, 303 bands and artists performed to 23,305 punters.
Every year, the numbers grow.
Emprica performing live at the Warrnambool Entertainment Centre, Warrnambool on 05.10.07
Who can enter FReeZA Push Start?
1) All members must live, work or study in Victoria.
2) At least half of the band members must be 21 years of age or under, with no members exceeding 25 years of age at the time of the first heat event.
3) The band must have not won a FReeZA Push Start Heat event and competed at a FReeZA Push Start Regional Final event in any previous year.
4) The band or its members must not have a recording, publishing or distribution deal.
5) At the discretion of the FReeZA worker, the band must live, work, study or recreate in the City or Shire where their heat is held.
Autumn's Epidemic performing live at the Rosedale Mechanics Hall, Rosedale on 03.11.07
FReeZA Push Start Comments and Quotes
Thanks so much for giving us the opportunity to play at Push Over! It went off!!! I had the best day! Congratulations to Lemonsmile and The Fearless Vampire Killers, keep it up guys - rock on. We came to the consensus that Push Over was one of the best gig's we've played.
Mark Block - Innovation
It was a good opportunity for a small band to play in front of so many people and the program was a great learning curve. Thanks for having us!!
Matthew Sgarbi – Silhouette
FReeZA Push Start provides a great, inspirational opportunity for local bands and a great
experience for FReeZA Committee members to participate in
something that is broader than just their local municipality.
Heather Padden – FReeZA Worker
Keep up the great work
Vivienne Levy – FReeZA Worker
The FReeZA Push Start experience was rockin! Each heat and final gave
us small goals to work towards which really gave us direction and helped us improve. The best part of the whole program was the amount of referrals and gigs that were offered to us because of the exposure FReeZA Push Start gave us!
Mike Rogers – Inertia
Great exposure and experience to both young bands and committee members,
I thoroughly enjoyed this year’s FReeZA Push Start series.
Stewart Grieg FReeZA Worker
Demonic Tempest performing live at the Benalla Town Hall, Benalla on 09.11.07
We recently did an evaluation of the committee and many positive things came out of the FReeZA Push Start Heat event. The young people love putting on the event, they loved learning and taking ownership of it. They also really love the social outlet that being in a committee of the like minded young people gives them.
Venessa Osbourne – FReeZA Worker
It was a great opportunity for young bands and performers to participate in events on a state-wide level and an opportunity to highlight the local youth music scene in the local area especially with the great media coverage that occurred. Popcorn Productions also honed existing skills in event management and planning. It was easy to promote and increased the profile of Popcorn Productions.
Karl Karlsbach – FReeZA Worker
The organising committee have gained various skills in event organisation and had real ownership of the event. The bands participating had the opportunity to work with specialised equipment and showcase their talent in front of a big crowd of their peers.
Justin Ambrosio - FReeZA Worker
The Kaos committee have developed a commitment to working professionally to ensure that events are organised and run smoothly. They have developed skills in – stage management – money handling and liaising with service providers. Also, band members gain experience in performing live and are also able to network with the aim of getting more gigs.
Daniel Taylor – FReeZA Worker
The FReeZA Push Start Battle of the Bands is more than an annual battle of the bands event. With the many benefits to FReeZA committees and the developmental components in place for young musicians, it is more of a ‘Better Your Band’ event than a ‘Battle of the bands’ event.
Andrew Kitchen – FReeZA Push Start Coordinator, The Push
FReeZA Push Start Sponsors and Prizes
Sponsors of the FReeZA Push Start program include APRA, Hothouse, Jack the Bear's Deluxe Mastering, MP3.com.au, Hurley, Beat magazine and DEX Audio.
Please read below a breakdown of the prizes:
All Grand Finalists Receive:
1 X Clothing pack supplied by Hurley
1 X Band profile on the FReeZA Push Start page for 2 months before Grand Final
1 X Live recording of their performance at the Grand Final supplied by db Audio
APRA Songwriter's Award:
A prize awarded by the judges to one of the bands who compete at the FReeZA Push Start Grand Final
1 X APRA Songwriter's Certificate supplied by The Push
1 X Collection of music industry books, to the value of $150.00 supplied by The Push
FReeZA Push Start Winner:
1 X Day of recording/mixing supplied by Hothouse Studio
1 X Mastering of a maximum of 3 songs supplied by Jack the Bear's Deluxe Mastering
1 X Pressing (500 copies) and artwork assistance supplied by Dex Audio
1 X Digital Distribution and national radio promotion package supplied by Musicadium
1 X Professional, fully customised Myspace Layout provided Apollo Collective
1 X Feature article in Beat Magazine
1 X Feature article/interview on Mp3.com.au
Insane Parsnip performing live at the Great Southern Woolshed, Ballarat on 16.11.07
FReeZA Push Start Past Winners
2009-2010 The Houses
The Houses live at Push Over, Sunday 7 March 2010 at The Abottsford Convent
(Photograph: Emily Loughnan - Take This Pic)
"We’re all really surprised that we won because the calibre of bands we were up against was pretty great. We always have fun performing, and this prize is just an added bonus. It's definitely going to be a motivator to get another recording down and a CD out there - we wouldn't have had the money to do it otherwise."
Lucas Skinner (guitarist)
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2008-09 My Own Enemy
My Own Enemy performing live at Push Over Festival, March 2009
(Photograph: Daniel Hawes - Take This Pic)
"As a band we are so happy we could make it through the stages as well as we did and to win the FReeZA Push Start Band Comp. We can now push on to bigger and better things, like Groovin’ the Moo and play alongside some awesome bands there. Hopefully, this will project us further, so we can do what we love for more people."
Daniel Tosh ( lead vocalist)
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2007-08 Neon Love
"FReeZA Push Start is a great opportunity to showcase your music to an all-ages audience and possibly win a nationally recognised achievement. The program gives you professional feedback on your performance which is priceless in our band and gives us something to improve on for our next performance."
Bryce Forrester (Bass)
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2006-07 Lemonsmile
Andrew Kitchen with 2006-07 winners Lemonsmile
Chris O'Neil of Lemonsmile performing at Push Over 07
"Winning Push Over 2007 was a huge achievement for us. It gave us a sense of self confidence in our ability as musicians, and has opened up many opportunities in the industry. The competition provided an excellent arena to practise our stagecraft and extend our fanbase. It was a highly enjoyable experience. I'd recommend it to anyone." Chris O'Neil (singer / guitarist)
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2005-06 Crimson Flames
"Being a band from a small country town, we didn't get a lot of chances to get our music out for new people to hear. Push Start not only gave us the oppertunity to play to a new crowd and share the stage with some greats bands but it also enable to use the recording time we won to create an EP which we used to score more gigs and widen our audience even futher. All in all, it is a competition we're glad to be able to have had the privilege to be involved in - There's not many comps around that offer as many opportunities as Push Start did for us."
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2004-05 Showcard
"FReeZA Push Start was quintessential in really establishing our confidence as a band and as performers. It gave us something to work towards and as a result played a huge part in the development of our sound."
Gus Lord (Bass)
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2003-04 Vasco Era
Above: Sid O'Neil from The Vasco Era slamming it out for the Push Over crowd, Luna Park 2004
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2002-03 Flynt
"Winning the 'Push Start' battle in 2003 was a very important milestone for me. Not only did it give me performance experience in some of the premier spots in Melbourne, but it was also a vital confidence booster - well respected industry professionals and my peers reinforcing that i had what it takes, while following that up with tangible support such as press and industry connections was invaluable..."
Michael Paynter (singer/guitarist)
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2001-02 Omen
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2000 - 01 Something Big
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1998 Spyn Pscycle
"We won push start competition in 1998, I was obsessed with style at the time so we were a drum'n'bass/Hip Hop/Dub band. I suppose that we won because we were so different, the opportunity was amazing, playing in front of a huge crowd and getting the chance to see how a serious festival worked from backstage as an artist."
Ryan Ritchie (vocalist)
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1997 Skiptracer
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1996 Gravel
"FReeZA Push Start was a significant influence in taking our band Gravel to the next level. A variety of opportunities followed after winning the 1996 Grand Final including the recording and release of our second EP which led to working with national-profile producers Wayne Connolly and Paul McKercher. It was through this affiliation that our music would attract national airplay on stations such as Triple J which then led to offers for tours, management and artist representation. FReeZA Push Start started a snowball effect for our band and was a positive experience that we carried into the future. The Band Comp also helped cultivate a community of indie artists and paved a pathway into the industry that many of us thought was unreachable."
Shane Wickens (guitarist)
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1995 Bacterium
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