Since it opened in 2009, Yas Island has seen no shortage of internationally famous headliners, from Beyoncé to Eric Clapton. The homegrown acts who take to the stage at the Flash Forum tonight in the final of the first Yas Rock Factory will be hoping that some of that stardust drifts their way.
The Rock Factory, organised by the promotions company Flash, is a “battle of the bands” competition with big prizes: Dh20,000 for the winning group and Dh5,000 for the runner-up. Not surprisingly, it has caught the attention of the UAE’s up-and-coming bands.
But there can be, of course, only one winner. And after fans whittled the long list of more than 60 entries down to five finalists – via the competition’s official Facebook page – it will be left up to a panel of judges, who will watch the bands perform this evening, to choose that winner.
It is a competition, say the judges, that offers the bands so much more than money and publicity.
“I think this competition presents great opportunities,” says Nick Robinson, a presenter on Radio 1 and one of the industry experts in charge of picking the winning band. “I’ve participated in competitions like this back home in New Zealand, and it’s so helpful for young groups just to learn what it’s all about to put on a professional show. It’s also a chance for them to get in front of a big, big, audience and see how it all fits together.”
As to what Robinson will be looking for from his winning band, his answer is simple: songs that people can instantly hum. “What I’m looking for is something I’d be hyped about playing on the radio. As well as that, usually what happens (with me anyway) is that when I go to a concert like this and find myself humming along to the chorus of one of the songs from one of the bands that has played, that’s the best sign that whoever’s managed to make me do that has probably got the best chance of winning. And the best chance at success.”
The winners will also be given the opportunity to perform in the Yasalam programme for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix later this year. With all this at stake, it is a competition, they all say, that it is a privilege to be part of, and a competition that the judges hope will continue to grow in strength.
“I would love to see this happen every year,” says Dia Hassan, the lead singer of the successful UAE outfit, Juliana Down, and one of the judges this year. “I think there is enough talent for it to happen every year.”
Here’s what the bands themselves had to say:
Coat of Arms
This veteran Abu Dhabi band is due to release the catchily-titled album This Is Manslaughter later this month. Despite its run of success – the band recently won the equally snappily named UAE-based competition, Musician's Warehouse Metal Asylum RAM Battle, a title that it will defend this summer – this will be their biggest show yet. It is one, says the bassist Liam Ruddell, that means a lot for the band.
“It’s huge. For these bands to have the opportunity to play in front of the judges – who are a big part of the entertainment industry here – is a big deal. The money is also a big incentive because it will help whoever wins to develop as a band. From upgrading equipment to paying for recordings, this competition is a big deal.”
The UAE has been waiting a long time for something like this, he adds.
A mixture of “metalcore, nu-metal, hardcore, screamo, and punk”, the band has already performed widely in the UAE, and is in the midst of preparations for a tour this summer, in Malaysia.
“Most of us were born and raised here so we’ve been involved with the music scene early on, around 2000,” says Ruddell. “But it basically just died out about five years later. Shows just stopped happening and people stopped bothering putting on shows. But you can see now it’s picking up. People are starting to get the bug again and they’re quite excited to perform.”
Osprey
Surprised to be chosen (“we didn’t see it coming at all,” says a softly spoken Mannan Ibrahim, the lead singer), the band formed in 2007 as a two-piece, the current line-up having been in effect for only the past few years. They call themselves “metal core”, although, when pressed, are unable to pin down their sound. “Our music is a melting pot of all our influences,” adds Ibrahim. “Our sound comes from all our experiences from life and,” he adds laughing, “although we would categorise it as heavy metal and post-hardcore, is hard to describe.”
The band will perform four songs from its back catalogue tonight – “we currently have six songs that are ready” – before returning to the studio to finish recording a new batch of songs.
They see the competition as a wake-up call: “We’ve been busy with university and work and, as a result, we had kind of neglected the band for a while. Out of nowhere we just got this slap in the face and it was such a surprise. At the moment, we’re working on a tighter set which hopefully everyone’s going to like.”
Nevertheless, they do intend to give it their best shot. “We know its really hard to make it here but we have the passion. We have this fire inside us,” says Ibrahim.
The Flaming Trees
Most of this group’s members are still at school, but that has not prevented the young outfit from making it to the final stages of the competition. Forming in 2008, the band went through several personnel changes before settling on the current line-up, after recruiting a new bassist in the form of Matt Secker.
“We’re a five-piece band, based in Dubai, who play alternative hard rock,” says the founding member and guitarist Elias Sabella . “But,” he adds, “according to people who have seen us play, our style is very mixed.”
The show will be their biggest yet, and one that Sabella says came as a big – “shocking, to be honest” – surprise. But a welcome one: “It’s a great feeling, after all, to play on a big stage with some great bands,” he says, acknowledging that although the group thought they might have the potential to make it to the final, they had faced some stiff competition.
Recognising the importance of the Yas Rock Factory, Sabella says such events allow bands to “showcase their music” as well as opening up new genres to the UAE community.
He confirms with a grin that in preparation for the gig the band have all been “working their backsides off”: “We’re practising to our full potential. We want to win this so we’re putting in a lot of effort.”
Danny Band
This six-piece, led by the charismatic frontman Danny Shirran, has already opened for a number of big names, including the Fun Lovin Criminals and Bob Geldof. “I came to Dubai in 2002 after joining a band that were touring here,” he says.
Finding life in the UAE good for a professional musician and his career easier to establish here than back home in Canada, Shirran stayed behind when the band left. He laughs when asked the genre of his music: “I don’t know, it’s so hard! Everyone always asks me that. Somebody told me once it was like radio-friendly rock.”
As for the competition, it was a great piece of news for the singer, who also plays the guitar. “I didn’t expect to make the list because my music style is completely different from most of the bands who entered. I didn’t think I stood a chance, to be honest.”
No stranger to big audiences, having recently performed in a cover band at the Dubai Rugby Sevens, Shirran says that this will nonetheless be his biggest gig yet, at least in terms of playing original material. “This will be the biggest crowd I will have played my own music to,” adds the full-time musician.
The Brownies
They list some of their influences as "Family Guy, telemarketers who think they are actually selling something useful, and George Carlin", but there is nothing comical about this band's passion and drive to succeed as musicians.
Formed over a decade ago, its first gig taking place at a school in Abu Dhabi, the quartet has reached the level it is at now, says the lead singer Vijay Savio, thanks to its members’ passion for performing. “We’ve been together for a long time now and you just have to keep that passion going.”
A singer by “day and night”, with an engineering job to feed himself, Savio adds that although the members of the band have been putting in extra time ahead of tonight’s show, their overall aim is to enjoy themselves.
Drawing on a mix of jazz, blues, and rock influences (“we just put all our influences together and, somehow, it works,” says the bassist Sachin Mendonca) they were, like all the other finalists, shocked to find themselves on the shortlist. But despite the publicity the competition will bring, fame is not something, says Mendonca, that the band aims for.
“As musicians, we love doing this [performing]. It’s not about having a big crowd or a small crowd to play to. As long as there is one person at our show enjoying the music, we’re happy to play. It boils down to the fact that we love playing music. We’re not really in it for the rock ’n’ roll element.
“I think I can speak for the band,” he adds as an afterthought, “that we’re just in it to play.”
• The Yas Rock Factory takes place tonight (March 10) at the Flash Forum on Yas Island from 7pm. Admission is free.
Follow us on twitter and keep up to date with the latest in arts and lifestyle news at twitter.com/LifeNationalUAE