Austen Morris Associates was a proud sponsor of Battle of the Bands for Heart to Heart Shanghai on May 24th 2015 at Mercedes Benz Arena. AMA was one of the select sponsors who supported the event by donating the Judges Choice award, a professional music video! Partner Matthew Riddington joined the event to present the prize and give a short speech to all of the schools and families.
Eight International Schools, fourteen bands, and over thirty volunteers came together to make this year’s Battle the biggest ever! Each band’s set included two songs which were judged by our panel of judges including Ned Kelly, GM at That’s Shanghai, Michael Enoch, GM of the arena, Phillip Jarrell, songwriter, producer, and owner of Jarrell Guitars and Gregory Smith, founder and owner of Shanghai live music institution; The Cotton Club. Throughout the performances, schools asked the audience for donations into individual collection boxes, especially if they liked their performance.
There were three prizes: The People’s Choice Award, The Judges Choice Award, and The Most Spirited School Award.
The winner of the The Judges Choice Award won a Studio Recorded Music Video donated by Austen Morris Associates in a famous studio with photoshoot by photographer Phillip Jarrell who has done album covers for Sony Music and The Rolling Stones. Winner of the award also gets to have their song played as Sherpa’s ringback tone, and will be selected by Andrew Bull to be played on the Disco Buffet at UVRC and across China. The winner of this prize was Western International School of Shanghai’s band From Somewhere Else (FSE).
As the name suggests, this band is truly From Somewhere Else. With backgrounds from America, Canada, Scotland, Peru, Mexico, England, Turkey, Hong Kong and now all living in Shanghai, there is no better way to describe this young talented group. Formed in February of 2014, they are working hard to make their mark on the vibrant Shanghai music scene. From Somewhere Else can be seen playing Classic Rock, Top 40’s and original songs throughout Shanghai. Much of their cover songs are performed with their own twist. FSE truly takes their music somewhere else!
The People’s Choice Award, was the winner with the most funds raised by audience votes. This year the prize went to Wellington College’s The Monday Solution. They won a 1,000 RMB Sherpa’s gift certificate to enjoy any of their favorite food from a Sherpa’s Restaurant, a 1,000 RMB Private Limo for 10 people donated by Dragon Events & Media, and the grand prize of a Jarrell Guitar donated by Philip Jarrell, played on stage by international rock stars!
The band members include students– Jamie Cook (singer), Sage Brandini (guitar), Alex Burton (guitar), Edward Jackson (guitar), Harvey Henman (Bass Guitar), and Zac Lamb (drums). All the members are students at Wellington College International Shanghai and won based on their performance of “21 Guns” by Greenday and “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay.
And the third prize, The Most Spirited School Award, went to Wellington College! This school was recognized as the school with the most spirit, which was determined by their donation, attendance, energy, and enthusiasm!
During this event, organized with the enthusiastic support from The Good Agency Asia, 59,000 RMB was raised! A special thank you to Funkadeli who donated 20% of all of their profits on the day towards the total amount raised as well as another thank you to the venue sponsor, Mercedes Benz Arena, That’s Shanghai and all of the media who supported the event as well as all of the schools who participated.
Thank you to the bands from Wellington College’s The Monday Solution, Concordia International School Shanghai’s Freeloaders, Guanghua Cambridge International School’s Relapse, Liaoyuan International High School’s The Disrespectful Masters, Shanghai United International School’s Missing Sox Rock Band, Soul Shine and Density, Shanghai Community International School’s ADHD and Kimchi Power, WISS’s From Somewhere Else, YCIS – Century Park’s Before the Storm and The Clyff and 6 Sleepless Nights. A final Thank you to the co organizers Jessie Hart and Katie Littlefield for their time and efforts.
Through Austen Morris Associates charitable events including Chi Fan for Charity they have been working with Heart to Heart for over 5 years and helped to sponsor over 20 heart surgeries and are excited to continue to support them in events and initiatives throughout China.
View all of the photo’s on the Facebook page here.
