January 5 2014 – 94.9 The Rock steps up once again to be the beacon of Rock in the GTA! We had a chance to speak the radio station’s program director Doug Elliott about a new exciting live rock showcase called Generation Next Live that kicks off on January 23rd at the Phoenix Concert Theatre. We here at T-Mak World akso try and support Emerging Artists and have done spotlight interviews with over 100 of them which can be found here.
We have a contest for 2 pairs of passes to get in for free! To enter click here or email us with the subject line “94.9 Rocks” and include your name (note this is a 19+ show). The first Generation Next Live will showcase Breached, Bleeding Lights, Lost Cause and Blind Race and is presented with support from Canadian Musician Magazine.
Doug, 94.9 is stepping up and launching a wicked indie showcase of Canadian rock bands. What is the objective?
We started with Generation Next (a radio show on 94.9) 3 years ago, giving emerging artists the chance to get their music on the radio. There’s so much amazing talent ready to do big things, a lot them just need a little help to get to the next level. Getting your music to hundreds of thousands of people is the key and 94.9 the Rock has a great platform. The radio is where people still want to go to find out what’s going on, what’s cool, and what’s gonna be cool. Having the platform for these bands to get exposed and their music introduced to people is a big responsibility and a key piece of trust with our listeners, they trust us to lead new music discovery. The next logical step after the radio show is a live show. That’s when we get to see who really has the goods and not just a great PC with protools, but the chops to do this live. We were really lucky to be able to partner with the Phoenix who have been doing live music for a long time, they’ve had everybody play there. It’s a premiere venue for this. You get to play on the same stage the the Rolling Stones graced, that’s pretty cool. Toronto’s music scene is more vibrant now, arguably more than it has been in years and this city has a long history of a great rock scene, let’s ramp it up a notch or two.
How do you pick which bands get featured?
We start with the radio feature first, getting your best foot forward with your music. 5 cd quality songs to Lee Eckley who is the curator for the Generation Next feature. We have about 20 entries a day from all over the world. We also get digital submissions as well.
Once you get your airplay we then pass all information to the booking agents at the Phoenix and they coordinate their end with finding the bands to populate the Generation Next Live shows at the Phoenix.
Will this be an ongoing live show with a regular schedule?
This will be monthly, our first one is January 23rd and our second is February 5th. We’ll keep everybody up to date at therock.fm or at generationnext.com and how to get tickets and join us for the shows. {Ed. Note – information will also be put up at T-Mak World as we are in full support of this initiative}
Let’st talk about the radio show on 94.9 called Generation Next, what is the response to that from the listeners? Are people open to listening new bands?
Response has been extremely overwhelming. First there’s all the friends and family of the bands who get all over social media to talk about it and tell all their friends to listen. Then there are the more passive listeners who come here and make an appointment to tune in to hear what’s going on. As much as we all love the Stones and Zeppelin, there is much more music that they haven’t heard. Radio’s responsibility in a music environment is to curate the next batch of musicians who will be the next Beatles, Stones, Pistols, I Mother Earth, Our Lady Peace or Foo Fighters. We can’t just cocoon into 1974 and “ostrich” life with your head up your ass. If that was the case we would have never stopped watching Mash, Cheers and All in the Family.
Doug, as one of the biggest influencers in the GTA as to what music we listen to, what advice can you give a band dying to get their tunes heard on the radio?
Play, play play. Get as many shows as you can and start to build a following street level. You have to have a great base that is organic in nature, people actually have to like your music, not just your Mom and Aunt Betty on facebook, it has to be real.
Progress, music, patience and hard work. Play as much as possible and never stop trying to get better. Be as original as possible, never stop writing and honing your art. Get you submission for Generation Next to Lee Eckley as well.
Doug thank you so much for your time, just as a wrap up what are your personal favorite rock bands of all time?
Too hard of a question for a music lover, so here’s a bunch.
old school – Zep and Sabbath
90’s – Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Chili Peppers, I Mother Earth and the Hip.
now – Foos, Royal Blood, Glorious Sons and the Headstones
There you have it folks, also please check out T-Mak World’s Top 10 Indie Bands of 2014 – all the bands have been or should be on Generation Next Live with full T-Mak endorsement!
What band would you like to see at Generation Next Live – leave a comment below!
