Bands battle in Brewer for prize of studio time

For one young group, this weekend’s battle of the bands could be the first step toward bigger things.

Six central Maine bands will take part in the event, to be held 5-11 p.m. Saturday at the new Bouchard Arena, 90 Acme Road, in Brewer.

The competing groups are: Medicine Head, a psychedelic rock band from Bar Harbor; No Comply, a hardcore band from Eddington; Dugen, a punk band from Old Town; Billings Brew Band, a blues trio from Eddington; Sam Sarah, a hardcore band from Brewer; and Medicants, a hardcore band from Augusta.

The driving force behind the event is Curtis Bates, the owner of Rolling Hills Records, a new recording studio in downtown Bangor. He’s the co-promoter of the event with Lou Janicke, the arena’s owner.

A longtime producer behind such groups as Rustic Overtones, Active Culture and Waxworks, Bates has two purposes for the competition.

“My mission is supporting original music, fostering original music, growing original music,” Bates said. “It’s a way to introduce myself to the bands in this area. Also it gives the bands a venue, so they can play for fans in the local area.”

Each group will have an hour, which includes setup and breakdown of equipment and performance. Bates estimated that each band will be playing for about 40 minutes.

Three judges will rate the bands, based on the criteria of lyrics, music, performance and interaction with each other and the audience, with each category worth 30 points. In addition, the audience will vote, by applause measured with a decibel meter, with the winning band getting 50 points.

Every band entered gets two hours of recording time from Rolling Hills Records. The overall winner will receive 16 hours of multi-track recording time, four hours of digital editing, two hours of CD mastering, the finished CD and design of a Web page.

Bates stressed that the event was designed to showcase new music.

The strength of any independent record company is new music,” he said. These groups get rewarded for having their own identity, for playing original music.”

Tickets, which are $5, are available at Borders and Musicland or at the door.