#BeTheBand finalists hoping for life-changing win at today’s finale
GRIT, talent and daring to dream big are what it takes to be a #BeTheBand finalist. The final competition is set to take place today at Gateway’s Wavehouse.
Out of hundreds of entrants and after hours of listening to demos, the selection panel has announced the final six: Chico Muya, Maegan Graham, Dishevelled, The Audinarys, The Gus Brown Band and Ruby Gill.
The winner will walk away with an assortment of awesome prizes to the value of R80 000, ranging from music equipment and training sessions to 40 hours of studio time, a photo shoot and album cover design, and even a shopping centre gift card.
The finalists hail from a variety of backgrounds with vastly differing motivators.
Ruby Gill has been taking piano lessons since the age of four, which has helped nurture her passion for music.
“Since the age of four, my piano has been my fifth limb,” she said this week. Gill describes her style as “alternative and indie with little bits of dark pop”.
“Music has become my therapy, my bread. There’s power in sound, and it’s waiting to be shaped and played.
“I was classically trained throughout school. At some point I realised I could play and write whatever I felt, and I slowly fell in love with singing – and singing in front of others,” said Gill.
As for performing live at the competition, Gill said: “I’m also just so excited to share my songs… and the accolade would bring with it so many positive changes.”
Chico Muya are bringing a cocktail of “acoustic, folk and pop” to the competition.
Members Chico Muya and Spencer-Rae Kerr shared what makes them passionate about music: “It breaks down every kind of barrier we have ever built up. It can make you weep or laugh. It’s a balm for a hurting heart and a trampoline for a happy one,” said Muya.
Muya, one of the original band members, has been playing music for about seven years. “I went full time with my music two years ago and Spencer-Rae joined me about eight or nine months ago.”
“Winning would make us absolutely ecstatic… We have been working extremely hard and winning #BeTheBand would feel like the perfect culmination of two years of hard work on the Durban music scene.”
The Audinarys are a neosoul (soul and contemporary R&B) collective.
“We try to bring our style to a multitude of genres,” said band member Aaron Lee Fynn, who performs with Gavin Dave Bowden.
As a band, their main goal is to make music that is relatable and “just fun to listen to”.
“We add a little to house music, hip hop and some to R&B and so on.”
Music found them. “Any musician will tell you, music isn’t something you choose – it chooses you. It’s the ability to speak to the heart of somebody across the world that you don’t know. Ultimately it’s an outward expression for our inner thoughts and emotions.
“Winning the competition is a platform to becoming a household name in Durban, South Africa and, hopefully, the world.
“The equipment would be a blessing as we don’t have much live equipment except for a guitar and keyboard. We programme our drum and bass line in our productions,” said the band members.
“I think we’re ready to make Durban and South Africa proud.”
If Adele’s music is your choice, look no further than Maegan Graham, who describes her style as “commercial”.
Graham’s musical journey began with her father. “When I was seven my father started learning how to play electric keyboard.
“This encouraged me to start learning instruments as well as using my voice.”
Learning how to play instruments and singing carried Graham through tough times. “Music gave me hope. It calmed me in a way that nothing else could. This is why I love it,” she said.
Graham said winning the competition would be lifechanging.
“It would give a kick-start to the singing career I have long dreamt of,” she said.
The Gus Brown Band is bringing a folk-funk hybrid of music to the competition. Members Dale Vickery, Gavin Welsh, Nick Vickery, Chad Porter and Brett Kenton like to call it folk funk.”It’s too folky to be just funk and too funky to be classed as folk.”
Tickets to the finale are on sale via www.webtickets. co.za or at the door for R80. For more information visit www. gatewayworld.co.za or phone 031 514 0500.