Good group, shame about the name. Celebrity Drug Disasters, a five piece band from New South Wales who fuse rock and dance, has won the highly competitive New Artists to Radio (NA2R) event at the national radio conference and awards.
The band has been given a shot at stardom by winning the event, which includes $100,000.00 in radio advertising across the four major radio networks: Austereo, Nova, Australian Radio Network and Macquarie Regional Radioworks.
The band’s debut single, “Getting Better” has also made it onto high rotation nationally from this week on Nova; and also on Macquarie Regional Radioworks Hot FM, Star FM and Sea FM.
Commercial Radio Australia CEO Joan Warner says the airplay and advertising will be a great kickstart to the band’s career, in what was an extremely competitive marketplace:
“This band represents what the NA2R event is all about – discovering home-grown talent that strikes a chord with radio audiences.”
Celebrity Drug Disasters features Drew Toule on guitar, Steve Allison on drums, Daina Demillo on keyboard and the vocals of Larry Lovejuice (Paul Lockwood) and Sheriden Nelson. The group supported George Clinton in early 2005 and has performed a number of headline shows in Melbourne and Sydney. Their album “Art or Porn?” will be released in October.
The band was chosen from four finalists and more than 160 submissions of emerging artists who had yet to sign a record deal. The selection process by commercial radio heavyweights was intense, with the winner decided after a live performance and voting by both a judging panel and also sms by audience members.
, Austereo Network Programming Integration Director Grant Tothill says:
“Any of the four finalists could’ve easily won with all of them having a great commercial radio sound, and it was a very tough call to come to the final winner. In the end we went with Celebrity Drug Disasters based on the votes in the room on the night and the panel’s final decision. Celebrity Drug Disasters have a great unique sound and will appeal to a broad listening audience. We wish them well and will give them as much support as possible as commercial radio’s New Artist To Radio winner.”
The other three finalists were Mark Wilkinson, a Sydney singer/songwriter who credits U2, Coldplay and Jeff Buckley among his influences; Bobby Kidd, a Melbourne pop/rock musician who plays a diverse range of instruments and Kurtis, a Byron Bay outfit performing mostly funky dance tracks.
Warner says the commercial radio industry takes its commitment to finding, and fostering, new talent seriously. NA2R has launched the careers of Delta Goodrem, Thirsty Merc and Jade Macrae, to name a few, which shows how successful the initiative has been.
NA2R was also supported this year by MySpace website, attracting significant interest across Australia to the event.