So once again, TBFM Factor is upon us. Seems not so long ago since the last one but this is a biennial event so it really has been a while.
We once again beat our application numbers from previous years with a massive 408 bands applying from 26 countries. But we have to make that hard decision of cutting the numbers down to 100 and it has not been easy.
Once again the prize pool for the competition has been fantastic. With 2 PR packages, a tour package, paid gigs, front cover of the TBFM printed magazine, a management deal, a professional lyric video and a guitar strings endorsement all on offer, this really is a win win for the bands taking part!
The prizes are not just for the winner either. There are prizes for all the bands that make it into the final 10 so its worth pushing start to finish. The higher up the bands get, the bigger the reward.
We have listened to all 3 tracks from every single band, sometimes more than once to make sure the 100 bands we put through are the best we can choose. That said, the bands that didn’t make it through were almost all absolutely brilliant and will get plenty of airplay on the station over the coming months.
So over to the final 100 bands and this is what happens now. As we announced live on radio, the bands are now split up into 10 heats of 10 bands. These heats will be live on radio every Sunday afternoon at 5pm UK time and at the end of the show where we preview tracks from each band, the voting will open and it will stay open for 7 days, closing the following Saturday at 11pm UK time.
We will then verify all the votes to make sure there has been no foul play before we announce the top 2 bands on the next heat show that will go through to the semi-finals.
At the semi-final stage it will be 3 bands through public voting and 2 more from special guest judges. All this information, the terms and conditions, how to vote and what prizes are on offer can be found at http://www.tbfmfactor.com
So, this year we can announce the bands from all 4 nations of the UK as well as from 13 other countries (Norway, Finland, Spain, USA, Switzerland, Canada, Sweden, Hungary, Portugal, Ukraine, India, Denmark and Italy) are as follows:
Heat 01 (Sunday 17th January 2016)
A Vulgar Picture,
Alien Ken,
BaDow,
Daggerplay,
Daze of Dawn,
Gévaudan,
Hamerex,
Husk,
JingerKroa,
Sellsword
Heat 02 (Sunday 24th January 2016)
All Consumed,
Corrupt The System,
Dead Dog Cafe,
Eleanor Rising,
Gothzilla,
HTH: Hope Through Hostility,
Ironclad,
Jupiter Falls,
Stonepit Drive,
Superhooch
Heat 03 (Sunday 31st January 2016)
A Higher Demise,
Black Whiskey,
Deified,
Fate’s Right Band,
Firkin,
Kaine,
Kill All The Gentlemen,
Koncept,
Mongrel,
The King Lot
Heat 04 (Sunday 7th February 2016)
Dead Before Mourning,
Destroythm,
Final Coil,
King Leviathan,
Loft,
One Click Malice,
Orchard Hill,
Ramage Inc,
The Royal Blasphemy,
Tyler Milchmann
Heat 05 (Sunday 14th February 2016)
Bigfoot,
Cross Eyed Mary,
Detoxen,
Dirty Judas,
Firebomb,
Lost At Sea,
Maxdmyz,
Rise Through Ruin,
Roulette,
Vantage Point
Heat 06 (Sunday 21st February 2016)
Donkerkarnuffel,
Donum Dei,
Four Skulls,
Luna Reign,
Montagu,
Mordrake,
Sertraline,
Sexwolf!,
Vain Galen,
Witness to the Reform
Heat 07 (Sunday 28th February 2016)
BlitZ,
Carbonine,
Eden In Progress,
Eternal Returns,
Foxer,
Metasoma,
Nycosia,
Pelugion,
Rovers Ahead,
Striped Sight
Heat 08 (Sunday 6th March 2016)
Castor Troy,
Dead Animal Assembly Plant,
External,
Gabriel,
Outright Resistance,
Psychobabylon,
Puppet Kings,
Sinnergod,
Six Sins till Sunday,
Sweet Exile
Heat 09 (Sunday 13th March 2016)
Beneath The Lights,
Circle Of Reason,
Dogmate,
From Eden To Exile,
Hardcore Troubadour,
Pizza Tramp,
Quiet the Thief,
Siderian,
Silent Jack,
Synaptik
Heat 10 (Sunday 20th March 2016)
CSOD,
Dead Happy,
E’nemia,
Hawka Hurricane,
Jameson Raid,
Second Rate Angels,
Selene,
Tribal Wisdom,
Underclass UK,
Unheard Before The Wake
We wish all the bands the very best of luck. Happy voting everyone!