It’s here, it’s arrived, it’s Screaming Fields 2015! Get ready for a new round of young school-band (and solo artist) talent starting from sign up day, Friday 24^th April, until the actual performance day of selected artist on 11^th July.

Just in case you haven’t heard of Screaming Fields before, the concept is quite a simple one – seek out music talent to represent their school or youth club, and compete to play the festival day on the big Rockhal stage.

Along the way those artists will have to create promotion campaigns, generate public support, and generally prove they are worth getting up on that stage and performing to big audience. They won’t be doing it all alone though as the Rockhal’s Music & Resources department will be helping and guiding them.

So let’s go through the steps of Screaming Fields, what to do and when etc…

Awakening The Seasons

Step 1 – sign-up!
This is the easy part. From 24^th April to 25^th May it’s sign-up time! Go to the website www.screamingfields.lu click on “Aschreiwung” and off you go! Fill in all the details add links, photos etc – make sure it all your best stuff that sells you well. The earlier you sign-up the more time you’ll have to tell everyone about it.

Step 2 – online voting
This kind of runs at the same time as sign-up so as mentioned above, the earlier you sign-up the better. It starts on 30^th April and runs until 29^th May. You have a specific place on Facebook where fans can vote. More details soon.

By 29^th of May though, the public votes will be clear which acts have the most votes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean most votes guarantees the 11^th July stage as step 3 will tell you.

Step 3 - Jury vote
A jury of local musicians will spend time on 30^th and 31^st May sifting through the talent and high voters, and picking out their favourites.

On the jury this year are:
Georges Goerens - Seed To Tree
Claude Ewert - Retrace My Fragments
Fred Barreto - Porn Queen & Fred Barreto Group
David Galassi - De Läb
Victor Ferreira - Sun Glitters

With both the jury selection and public vote combined into a nice and talented list, we arrive at step 4!

Step 4 – line-up announcement
Yes, this is the moment, 1st June, that the eleven finalists who will perform in the Rockhal on 11 July are announced. Already at this stage all those musicians have won a prize – they all have access to the next Rock Tools training sessions at the Rockhal Music & Resources which will be in October this year.

Danny Boland “Coup de Coeur” winner 2014

Step 5 – Preparation
This is the preparation stage as the qualifying acts won’t simply be thrown on stage and told to play. They will go through an educational and helpful training phase to help them play on a big stage, courtesy of Music & Resources. Stuff like, how to get the best sound, learning technical info, stage presence etc. This means that come the big day, they will be ready and have the confidence to play in front of a “screaming” crowd.

Step 6 – the festival
So on 11^th July it’s the big day when all the acts will perform. Not only that, they will be competing for more prizes, most related to the night’s show, but some on how they worked through all the steps.

High Impact

Prizes are…..
1) Music & Resources “Coup de Coeur” – a follow-up from M&R, rehearsal sessions in Rockhal’s rehearsal rooms and recording sessions in Rockhal studio, training, and various other workshops
2) Best live performance – a slot at the On Stéitsch festival that takes place at CarréRotondes in September, a slot at the Fête de la Musique festival 2016 in Dudelange and live performance training with Rockhal’s Music & Resources team.
3) Best song – a cash price of €500 from SACEM Luxembourg
4) Most creative promotion – €500 from ING Luxembourg for promotion
5) Food For Your Senses Prize – a concert organised by FFYS.

New for 2015 - A photo contest!
Organisers of Screaming Fields have noticed that over the years, many of those off the stage work for bands and need to be recognised too. Young photographers are a perfect example and this year they will be honoured too!

Decipher

From 24th April to 29th May, young photographers can sign up to submit their best live performance photos of artists. Just go the website: www.screamingfields.lu and click on “photocontest” before completing details. A jury of professional photographers will then study all entries and announce a winner on 15th June. The contest winner will get the chance to have their photos displayed in an exhibition at the Rockhal on 11th July during Screaming Fields and also be offered a photography workshop by CNA.

For the rest of us not performing or taking photos, it is important to check out all the artists, support them and vote for them. You too need to check out the Screaming Fields website and their Facebook Page too!

Here’s looking forward to a great Screaming Fields 2015!