Getting To Know... CruelToBeKind

Fresh-faced scamps, CruelToBeKind, have a chat to Bobbysix.com about winning the Red Bull Bedroom Jam and heading to LA: 

CruelToBeKind are a five piece rock band from the eastern suburbs of Melbourne who love their music and just want to play as much of it as possible. We were formed in around May this year, and have been trying our best to play as many gigs, record some songs and write as many songs as we can.

We take inspiration from bands such as All Time Low, Powderfinger, Go Radio, The Maine, Tonight Alive and The Getaway Plan. All of these bands have really solid and catchy music that we love and we hope to achieve the same with our sound.

Winning the Red Bull Bedroom Jam was an amazing experience and a complete shock to us, as all of the bands competing were incredibly talented and each had as much chance to win as we did. All of us are totally stoked and cannot wait to hit the studio.

Going to LA will be an unbelievable experience and will provide such a great opportunity for us to put our songs out on record. It will also be a huge learning experience for all of us. Not only will we get the chance to record our EP but we will also get the opportunity to return home to do a tour with a established Australian act.

It might surprise people to learn that our bass player Tim has three incredibly attractive sisters.

In the future we hope to keep playing music together as much as possible, writing and recording as much as we can and playing as many gigs as we can.

Find out more about CruelToBeKind at their facebook page.
Interview by Bobby Townsend

The Holidays party in the 'burbs

Sydney's indie popsters The Holidays are set to rock Melbourne's 'burbs at the Red Bull Bedroom Jam’s second round finale event, The Backyard Jam, on Saturday 13th August in Eltham, Victoria.

As we told you a little while back, the Red Bull Bedroom Jam is on a mission to unearth explosive teenage talent that, thus far, has been confined to poster-clad bedrooms across Australia. The Backyard Jam final on the 13th will see four finalists perform a live gig alongside The Holidays. Melbourne-based band Brad & The Pussycats, independent musician Leek & The War Wick Tragedy, pop rock artist Matt Casey and pop punk band CruelToBeKind will battle it out at the Backyard Jam event.

The lucky winner will receive a 5-day all-expenses-paid trip to LA to record in a state-of-the-art recording studio, followed by a national tour of Aus as the support act for an Australian band.

The four finalists have already topped Red Bull Bedroom Jam’s online Buzz Chart with their live webcast performances. Now each band will have to wow the judging panel of music industry bigwigs at the finale taking place in Brad & The Pussycats backyard, as voted by fans on the Backyard Jam Buzz Chart.

Round One winners, four-piece rock band Welcome Wednesday wowed judges in Alice Springs in May, winning a trip to London where they jammed at a London recording studio and performed the gig of a lifetime at grubby rock fest, Download.

Find out more about the competition here.

UPDATE: CruelToBeKind were the winners!

British India headline Red Bull Bedroom Jam this Saturday

Alice Springs has never really been known as a hotbed of music, but this weekend sees one of Australia's finest young bands head to town. In the midst of an Australian tour, British India have announced an exclusive date there this Saturday in order to headline Red Bull Bedroom Jam’s first round finale event – The Backyard Jam.

Red Bull Bedroom Jam is on a mission to discover the crème de la crème of teenage talent rehearsing in bedrooms across the nation. It is an online music competition that is searching – via webcam – for two Aussie bands aged 14-19 to give them the chance to record in either the US or UK, before playing on the biggest stages of their lives. This weekend's climatic Backyard Jam final will see four finalists say toodle-pip to the confinements of their poster-clad walls and get the opportunity to rock a live gig alongside British India. One band will then walk away with a mind-blowing music prize; a trip to London to record in Red Bull’s studios and a spot on the line up at the UK’s gnarliest rock festival, Download.

The four finalists have already topped the custom made online Buzz Chart and subsequently strummed their way through a live webcast performance. Now, acoustic singer/songwriter Scott Boyd, garage band Jagged Lies, four-piece rockers Welcome Wednesday, all from Melbourne, and ear-bleeding electro-thrash metal group The Sky’s The Limit from Alice Springs will all battle it out for the fantastic prize at the Backyard Jam event.

The good news for your band (assuming you are in Australia and fit the age-requirements) is that there is still time to be part of Red Bull Bedroom Jam. The second round of the competition that will send one band to LA this September is now live. All you need to do is upload a video of an original track to www.redbullbedroomjam.com.au and spread the word to encourage your friends and fans to hop online and generate some noise. The first webcast winner of the next phase will be announced on 2nd June. Get writing, get practicing and get uploading.

Like Red Bull Bedroom Jam on facebook and keep right up to date on Twitter.  
British India's other tour dates can be found at their website.