ABC’s Exhumed comp, ‘this is not The Voice’

702 ABC Sydney's James Valentine created 'Exhumed' as a comp to run on his radio show. It ended up exhuming 250 Sydney bands.

Now, the ABC are expanding this comp to be nationwide on ABC Local Radio, ABC Multiplatform, ABC Open and ABC TV.

Valentine says, “We want to applaud those who make music for the fun of it. We want to find those who play for their friends, at fundraisers, at street fairs and school fetes. We want to say, we think you’re fantastic, it’s great what you’re doing and don’t stop doing it.”

“This is not The Voice. We are not looking for a great undiscovered singer. It’s not X-Factor or Idol – we are not about to create a new pop sensation. This is about recognising that there’s a lot of great, passionate, inspired music making going on purely for the love of it."

All unsigned, unrecorded, unheard, and until now, unwanted bands, will be able to enter the comp from June 24. Band members must be over 30, in a band of two or more people, and can play any music genre, but must be amateur.

Entries close on July 15 then each ABC Local Radio station will announce their markets winner in August. From them, 6 finalists will be chosen to have their story and music documented on a 5 part series on ABC1. ‘Best Bands You’ve Never Heard Of’ will be hosted by James Valentine and will screen in November.

See more at their website here or on Facebook here and Twitter here.