Tip of the Week: Fixers - Majesties Ranch
Post categories: Radio 1,ÌýTip of the Week
| 13:10 UK time, Monday, 10 January 2011
All this week on Radio 1, it's Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing Week!Ìý All week, DJs will be playing tracks from some greatÌý acts that have we've supported, plus we've teamed up with NME, Mixmag and Rock Sound magazines to offer six brilliant new artists recording sessions at Maida Vale studios and airplay on Radio 1.
Listen to Huw Stephens, Pete Tong and Daniel P Carter's shows this week to hear tracks from Senator, Axis Of, Tribes, Two Wounded Birds, Robert James and Jordan Peak. You'll find all the info here.
What's more, we've announced a huge event which will take place on February 3 2011 - the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing Musicians' Masterclass. It's an opportunity for aspiring artists to learn from established acts and music industry professionals, with talks and hands-on sessions taking place in Abbey Road and Maida Vale studios.
We've got some big names lined up, and we want you to join us! Working with local Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing show teams, we've invited musicians from all over the UK, but we've got 40 more passes to this unmissable event to give away. Registration opens at 7pm on Monday 10 January on our Masterclass page.
And as if all that wasn't enough... ladies and gentlemen, our Tip of The Week is about to go massive! Starting from today, a new act will be put forward by Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing every week to go on the Radio 1 playlist. Yes, that's right, the official, real deal, seven-daytime-plays-a-week-on-national-Radio 1 playlist.
This is a huge moment for Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing, as Radio 1's Head of Music George Ergatoudis knows all too well:Ìý
Guaranteed exposure on daytime Radio 1 is an amazing opportunity for aspiring musicians, with millions of listeners set to hear their music. But it’s not just the plays that will make a difference: the Radio 1 playlist is influential on a global basis, with music industry executives and radio programmers around the world keeping close tabs on the tracks we add each week.
So - how are weÌý going to decide who gets added?Ìý Well it all begins with artists uploading their tracks right here on the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing website. Any UK artist or band can upload their music, which is then listened to by presenters and producers of their local Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing radio show. Local teams make recommendations to a panel inside Radio 1 that consists of DJs like Huw Stephens, producers of In New Music We Trust shows and members of the Radio 1 playlist team. It’s an efficient filtering system with the very best tracks from a wide range of genres ultimately earning a place on the playlist.
It has never been cheaper or easier to make and record music and there are literally thousands of artists around the UK who are striving to be heard. It’s a very competitive business, and the biggest difficulty is actually being discovered. While there’s no guarantee of success for anyone in the music business this opportunity will definitely provide a brilliant first step on the ladder, and listeners hungry for new music will discover some great new artists.
And hungry we certainly are, George. So hungry, in fact, that we're going to skip the starters, the pre-drinks and the girlfriend's pretty outfit compliments, and get stuck right into the main course. Sharpen your knives and forks people, as we're about to tuck into (ahem) "a gorgeous summer salad of west coast psychedelia and spaced out, lysergic sunshine pop".
Ladies and Gentleman, the first band to be added to the Radio 1 playlist in 2011, introducing... Fixers.
Fixers are an experimental surf dance quintet from Oxford. Now it's not everyday you can listen to experimental surf dance on Radio 1 (not during the day, anyhow) but this week you can, and that's exactly what this is all about!
They've only been playing together for just over a year, but they've already performed on the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing stage at T in the Park 2010 and attracted the attention of Huw Stephens and Zane Lowe. They also had loads of early support from Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing in Oxford after uploading tracks to us.
The band draw influences from the likes of Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, and although I'm sure The Beach Boys sound way better on a hot sunny West Coast beach surrounded by long blonde haired beauties catching the surf. Let's just close our eyes and pretend it isn't freezing, wet and dark...
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They've been picked up by former DIY label of the week Young and Lost Club, and if you want to hear what the label liked about the band, check out Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing in Oxford's unsigned music guide for an interview with the label owner, Sara Jade. There's a lot of great advice on there, too.
Fixers are going to be busy boys in February, as they embark on a tour of Sheffield, Brighton, Southampton, Manchester, London, Cardiff, and Bristol. Of course, if you can't catch them live in person, you can still enjoy their performance at T in the Park last year right here:
You can hear Majesties Ranch on Radio 1 all this week.Ìý
UPDATE - Fixers also performed in the Live Lounge with Jo Whiley on Saturday 15 January. Listen again and check out the photos on the Radio 1 site.
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Comment number 1.
At 11th Jan 2011, xxyy119 wrote:All the people you feature seem to have MAJOR PR coverage and or/ huge management and sometimes labels behind them. It’s a shame you don't go for actual under the radar bands.
I've read about The Fixers maybe 20 times on different blogs recently. Same with Yaaks a while ago.
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Comment number 2.
At 12th Jan 2011, Richard Ö÷²¥´óÐã wrote:Hi xxyy119 - thanks for your comment
In a way, we're glad you've already heard of Fixers! You obviously keep your finger on the pulse when it comes to music blogs etc. But although they might be old news to you, to the majority of people the band are still very much under the radar (even if they have got to the stage where they've enlisted the help of a manager or plugger).
One of the reasons we wanted to highlight Fixers on the Radio 1 playlist is because of their journey with us - we've been supporting them since August 2009 when they uploaded their track Sophie and were first played by Ö÷²¥´óÐã Introducing in Oxford. The team in Oxford put them forward to play our stage at T in the Park the following year. So it's not really to do with any PR - it just seemed to us the logical next step for the band, and we're proud to support them.
Hope this helps!
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