If you haven’t heard yet, the Underground contest was a huge success. We had about 2,200 submissions and four great bands rose up: Greenland, Ostrich Head, Pawnshop Roses and Maldroid. Not only are these bands extremely talented, but they are kind, funny and entertaining. We had a blast hanging out with them in New York. We worked hard to make sure that everything went well, and they worked even harder to make sure we had fun doing it. There was never a dull moment and one of the best parts was all the bands not only got along, but they became friends. There was a lot of intermingling of bands, and they jammed together as often as they could. I felt like it was the old days of rock 'n' roll, when bands were friends and played together constantly, unlike nowadays when it’s every member for themselves. We could not have asked for a better group.
We wined and dined them at the nicest spots New York has to offer, running up some hefty bar tabs, and schmoozed with press and record labels. One of the highlights was our appearance on
Good Morning America. The GMA experience was pretty surreal. We were hustled passed the crowed into the backstage room, where we hung out with NASCAR drivers (I think Jeff Gordon was there). Then we were hustled into the studio where each band was presented a “Golden Mouse” award by Sam Champion and Diane Sawyer. Later that day we set up a cocktail party at the Gibson Showroom, which is in the old Hit Factory in Hells Kitchen, with record labels, press and friends. There were photo shoots, jam sessions, tequila shots, guitar hero competitions and the Gibson VIP Tour Bus. We could not have asked for a better end result from our first YouTube contest.
And with that, here are the winning videos/bands:
GreenlandOstrich HeadPawnshop RosesMaldroid Cheers,
SpencerThe YouTube Team