SA groups hit top 10

By Stephanie Ellett for Microsoft
Johannesburg, 28 Jun 2007

Two South African musicians, Carrice Goossens and MadLove, are competing as top 10 finalists in the Xbox 360 soundtrack competition, fighting for the chance to record their soundtracks with Universal Studios.

In the top-rated tracks list, Angels Fall by MadLove is in fourth place, while Goossens's band Gently Scar'd's track, Psycho Chick, falls in at seventh.

Shahir Chundra, lead singer of MadLove, says the band could not be happier with its position. "It's awesome. We entered and we hoped to get through, but to see your name in the top 10 is great. We are really pleased."

Goossens says she is overwhelmed with the success of her position. "There were over 20 000 entries and this has been cut down to just a few bands. I did not think I would get this far," she says. "When I entered, I did not have any motive and now it is unbelievable."

The local artists were short-listed out of hundreds of international entries and 65 local entries. Music industry specialist and SAMA Awards CEO, Sean Watson, and YFM DJ, Dineo, judged the South African entries and narrowed them down to six finalists. Other local bands competing for the top spot are Private Republic, Six of Nine and MPI Project.

The success of the soundtrack initiative shows that South African musicians are passionate about music and gaming, says Microsoft. In addition, it's a good platform for aspiring musicians to win studio time, courtesy of Universal Music, as well as a music phone from Samsung.

Goossens says the exposure will be huge for South African musicians. Already, MadLove is gaining radio play through the competition. "Julio Garcia saw us and we got onto 94.7," says Chundra. "It was our first time on air; we really are only a band that is just starting."

Although some have referred to the competition as a form of online Idols, Microsoft home and entertainment manager, Cindy White, disagrees. "It is more about understanding the emotional elements of the trailer and developing a soundtrack that establishes an emotional connection to the game as a whole," she says. "At the same time, the track also needs to be able to stand alone and engage the consumer without seeing the trailer."

Musicians were asked to create new music tracks for the latest Xbox 360 high definition games, which includes Dead or Alive Extreme 2, Halo Wars, Halo 3 and Pro Evo Soccer 6.

The finalists' soundtracks were uploaded to www.xbox.com/enza/music, where the public votes for their favourite soundtrack, ultimately producing the winner.

Voting closes 19 July.