IN the area of popular song writing, there's a general humb used by musicians and adhered to by almost everyone else: if a new song played acoustically, or un plugged", on either guitar or piano doesn't sound right, then: no amount of studio or production wizardry will make it any better - you'll just be able to hide a song's deficiencies more easily, that's all. There are, of course, exceptions to the rule, but these are primarily the preserve of ambient/atmospheric songs that begin and end in the minds of the techno boffin.
And in case you think that the unplugged format is yesterday's thing, remember that rock bands such as Oasis and REM still use the acoustic format as a pace setter in their live shows. Not forgetting Nirvana's landmark MTV Unplugged show, which proved that even the loudest and apparently most revolutionary of guitar rock bands had at its core not only a profound sensitivity but also good songwriting techniques. This, then, is the reasoning behind the Bacardi Hot Press Unplugged Band of the Year Competition.
Organised by Hot Press general manager Jackie Hayden, in an exercise to highlight the proficiency of instinctive song writing talent by (generally unsigned) Irish bands, he and a judging panel had to listen to 280 demo tapes. Surely life is too short for such a potentially horrific experience?
"It's always quite difficult at the beginning," explains Hayden of the listening process, "because you have to concentrate quite a lot. After a while, though, a standard seems to emerge, which means you start getting through the tapes much quicker. Generally speaking, you're looking for bands that give you a sense that they know what they're doing. That they know they're competent and capable in whatever area of music they've chosen to operate in. Bands that make you think you'd actually like to see them play live."
According to Hayden, the general standard of forwarded tapes was quite high, with merely five of the 280 tapes consigned to the quality control rubbish bin. "Rarely anything was sent in that would remotely make you laugh. Bands these days have enough common sense to know there is no point sending in badly recorded, incompetently played demo tapes. The old days when you would receive tapes so horrific that you just had to play, them to your friends are gone.
The first regional heat of the 1996 Bacardi Hot Press Unplugged Band of the Year Competition takes place at Trinity College Buttery, Dublin, next Friday. Bands featured are The Afternoons, The Cellar Club, Little Sister Sage, Off The Track, and Strawman. The next heat takes place at Queen's University, Belfast, on January 30th with Brian Houston, Cuckoo, Disraeli Gears, Novena Babes, and Strawberry.