Now then… last month I went to see a TV show being filmed at the mighty Leadmill in Sheffield. Said programme was Mobileact Unsigned, a hunt for the best unsigned band in the country. The episode was shown last Sunday on Channel 4 and I was thankfully unseen in the final edit. Yay!
I only knew about the thing because of the band, Envy & Other Sins, who I first saw way back in 2006 when they supported OK Go in Leeds. Anyway, I joined their email list from their website and they keep me in touch about all kinds of things, including this TV show.
Mobileact Unsigned is a bit like X Factor, but with credibility… there are three regular judges – Jo Wiley (Radio 1), Alex James (bassist in Blur) and record label executive Simon Gavin – and one guest judge – Calvin Harris (some dance music bloke).
The point is that each band plays one song and then gets judged on their performance and whether they go through to the next round or not. Three of the four judges needs to like them and the overall prize is a one album record deal. Bargain.
Anyway, Envy & Other Sins got voted through along with three other bands that day and, to be fair, thoroughly deserved to be as they were the best of the seven bands that I saw being filmed. There was a wide range of musical styles on show that day, from indie to screamo, from metal to folk-jazz pop stuff. Eclectic I think is the appropriate word!
Back to the point of this post, which was to bring you a video the band have made for the song they showcased on the programme, Highness. When you watch it, you’ll see why I’ve rambled on about the X Factor and stuff…
“We made this video for Highness in July, we were saving it for a rainy day, and since the gargoyles were spewing this morning, today’s that day…” – Envy & Other Sins, 17th October 2007.
It’s brilliant!
Links (open in a new window):
