NOISE Concert 09 Judges Announced

Press Release Issued 1^st September 2009

NOISE Concert 09 Judges Announced: Paul McLoone from Today FM, Catherine Dowling from Alphastates and Chris Wasser

Every October, NOISE South Dublin hosts a battle of the bands competition sponsored by South Dublin County Council that takes place over four heats.

The competition is for young musicians in South Dublin County, ages 15 25, who create their own original music. An award of 1000 is given to the winning band towards studio time or the purchase of new equipment. All bands reaching the final will receive a DVD copy of their performance, and each band submitting music will be featured on NOISE South Dublin (www.noisesouthdublin.com).

Deadline for submissions is September 18^th. Applications can be downloaded from www.noisesouthdublin.com

This years NOISE judges represent some great names in Radio, music and reviews. The competition judges are Paul McLoone, Catherine Dowling and Chris Wasser

Paul McLoone: Paul McLoone is a presenter on Today FM radio from Monday to Thursday, 7 10pm, where he plays some of the newest alternative music alongside modern classics. He has been working in the radio industry since his late teens, having been involved in various programmes for the BBC. He has produced a number of radio shows including The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show for Today FM and Tom Dunnes show Pet Sounds. He also co-created and co-wrote Gift Grub. He is the current singer of the pop-punk band, The Undertones.

Catherine Dowling (Alphastates): Catherine Dowling is chief composer and songwriter in critically acclaimed electro-pop act Alphastates. "Sometimes" penned by Dowling, taken from their debut album "Made from Sand" and one of the band's first radio hits, was voted in the top ten Irish singles in a 2FM poll. It also made numerous daytime play lists throughout Ireland.Songs by Dowling have been used in many Irish and International movies as well as the prominent TV Series The Big Bow. Alphastates played Oxegen and the Electric Picnic and have supported such big name acts such as Sinead O Connor, The Beta Band, Zero 7, Kristin Hersh, Deus,The Flaming Lips. Alphastates has recently signed an international publishing deal whose tracks are currently being put forward for major Hollywood productions. Dowling has judged many Band and Songwriting competitions including Wella Battle of the Bands, Levi Student Awards, Omro Showcase finals amongst many more. Dowling managed the Irish leg of global internet music provider Vitaminic. She provided all the music and journalistic content for the site as well as releasing music compilations to the Irish and International market on a regular basis. She is currently composing her solo album, which is to be released in 2010.

Chris Wasser: Chris Wasser is a dedicated music reviewer and writer. He first started contributing to the Evening Herald in 2006. Since then hes been the newspapers leading gig reviewer, interviewed dozens of Irish and International musicians, and contributed a large number of non-music related features and opinion pieces as well. He also writes a weekly music news column for HQ, the Heralds Thursday supplement. Over the last couple of years he has also contributed CD reviews and interviews to Herald AM and HotPress. Away from writing, he has a great interest in radio production and has produced two music related documentaries over the last 18 months. Chris has a Higher National Diploma in Journalism awarded by Rathmines College of Further Education.

This year, young people from throughout the county are helping produce the competitions events. The schedule is as follows:

October 3^rd, 8pm, RUA RED, South Dublin Arts Centre

October 10^th, 8pm, Mega-Bites Youth Caf, Griffeen Glen, Lucan Youth Service

October 17^th, 8pm, STARS Youth Caf, Ronanstown, Ronanstown Youth Service

The final takes place at the Civic Theatres main auditorium in Tallaght on October 27^th, 8pm.

For more information, please contact Victoria Durrer, Youth Arts Coordinator of South Dublin County Council at 08604795365 or vdurrer@sdublincoco.ie