DARCY FOX ANNOUNCED WINNER OF THE FREEZA PUSH START BATTLE OF THE BANDS
The 2013 – 2014 FReeZA Push Start Battle of the Bands Grand Final was held as part of The Push Pop Up Stage at The City of Melbourne?s Moomba Festival yesterday. Minister for Youth Affairs, the Hon Ryan Smith MP, announced solo artist Darcy Fox of Moe as the overall winner.
?After months of hard work behind the scenes, Ms Fox put in an incredible effort and is the first ever solo artist to win Battle of the Bands? Mr Smith said.
?The Victorian Coalition Government is proud to support the FReeZA program with a $2.4 million investment.”
This is the first time ever that a solo artist has taken out the top prize since the band competition started in 1994. Darcy wowed the music industry judges and the Moomba crowd with her with her infectious stage energy and engaging performance. She said ?I?m so excited to have won. I?m really honoured to play against these amazing bands and to have come out as the winner, it?s something I?ll never forget?.
Darcy took home an incredible prize package including a day?s recording package from Hothouse Studios and a Jack The Bear deluxe mastering session, CD pressing and graphic design layout by DEX Audio, digital distribution by Valleyarm, her own band t-shirts from Love Police, a kit of band supplies from Electric Factory, a feature article in Beat Magazine and thepush.com.au, $1000 prize packages from Shout Out Loud print, Plakkit posters and King Kahuna bean bags.
350 young artists performed across Victoria in 2013 ? 2014 as part of FReeZA Push Start. The nine finalists at Moomba, Alkali Fly (Croydon), Baking Blind (Dingley), Residual (Geelong), Listerdale (Wodonga), The Rims (Alphington), Bel Air (Ballarat), Worship The Fallen (Mildura), Darcy Fox (Moe) and Great John Himself (Airport West) gave their all and put on some truly admirable performances. Residual from Geelong received the APRA Songwriter Award for excellence in songwriting.
The Push Pop Up Stage at Moomba also featured stellar performances from crowd favourites The Smith Street Band, Allday and Remi.
Push Artistic Director Shane Wickens was pleased with the event, stating, ?The Push is thrilled to have partnered with Moomba to stage the FReeZA Push Start Grand Final. Moomba provided a fantastic space for the artists to showcase their music to a diverse audience. FReeZA Push Start continues to be an essential professional development program for emerging artists.?
The FReeZA Push Start Battle of the Bands is funded through the FReeZA program, a Victorian Government initiative.
