Winning a band comp can certainly kick-start a career. It worked wonders for Silverchair, Grinspoon and Killing Heidi, and local metal/hardcore troupe Blood Line are hoping it will happen for them too. They recently took out first place in the prestigious Gunn Music Showcase at the Espy in St Kilda, and bigger and better shows and some serious notoriety are sure to ensue. Guitar player and backing vocalist Paul Swenson was stoked when the winner was announced.
“They were pretty much the first shows we’d done, and we didn’t really know what to expect, and what sort of turnout we’d get. But we got a few people down there who got into it, and we got good feedback off the first one. We weren’t expecting to go through, but we went through to the next [heat], and we really built our confidence from there. We had quite a few people getting into it.
“We got through to the Grand Final, and there was over 70 people on the door there for us, and over 100 people in the room. We got a bit of crowd involvement and everything was good. It was a good day, good show and it all had a good vibe about it. We weren’t expecting to win but it was a good turnout and it’s a really good even that they put on.”
The ultimate result of the win will be Gunn Music taking the band under their wing and getting them onto some bigger and better shows, and generally assist them to build their profile over the coming year or so. It’s an exciting prospect for any young, up-and-coming band.
“They recorded everybody on the day, and we got some live photography,” he explains, “so that’s always handy, but then Gunn is pretty much going to take us on for the next 12 months, help us book shows and put us on the right kind of bills. Set us up for the right audiences, stuff like that. Get our name out there, and hopefully build a bit of a crowd following.”
In fact, things are already in the works for the band following on from the win, with some exciting things coming up for the rest of 2012. “We’ve spoken to a few different venues and a few other people about getting on some bills,” he says. “We’ve got some shows coming up at The Prague, then there’s one later on, I think main support for White Cell for their EP launch at the Espy in the Gershwin Room. Then maybe some shows at Pier Live and Ferntree Gully, we’ve been in contact with them for some supports with other bands. Just stuff like that.”
And away from the live front, the band also have some big plans for getting into the studio and recording some of their songs, so they can get their sound out to the whole world. Plus they have a number of longer term goals for themselves.
“Yeah, we’re looking at recording maybe April to June – get in and hopefully do an EP, pick out the best five of our songs and take it from there. See what we’ve got to offer!
“Our aim at this stage is to keep building our setlist,” he states. “Keep writing better songs and hopefully building a following. Just get out there and try and play as many shows as we can. Play with some of our favourite bands, get into the scene and have a bit of fun with it!”
BLOOD LINE won the recent Gunn Espy Showdown Final, with Poppy and Buck Jr round out the top three. Head to gunnmusic.com.au for information about how your band can be involved in the next event.
