South Shields Band Slate Label Gears Up for Hardwick Festival Battle

Festival season is approaching, and bands are hoping to win a slot at the region’s biggest music festival this summer. 

[Slate Label – (Bottom left) Eva Sanchez, (Top left) Daniel Nellist, (Middle) Joseph Meston, (Top right) Adam Stubbs, (Bottom left) James Horwood – courtesy of @dka_demon on Instagram] 

Hardwick festival is set to take place between the 15th – 17th August, where huge names such as Scissor Sisters, The Pet Shop Boys and Olly Murs will take the main stage. 

But another band is yet to be announced...

Road to Hardwick: Battle of the Bands is where (for the second time ever) bands will go head-to-head for a chance to play at Hardwick festival. 

One of the 20 bands competing is South Shields based Slate Label. Lead singer Joseph Meston said: “We’re buzzing to have been picked to take part in the battle of the bands. 

“It’s the best battle of the bands prize in the North East by far. It’s a main stage slot amongst names like the Pet Shop Boys; you don’t really see chances like that come up too often. 

“We’re ecstatic. We’ve been in similar competitions before, but the stakes are so much higher this time around. We’re just going to go out and give it our all.” 

The Hardwick Festival Event Organiser Jonathan Woodliffe added: “We’ve got some fantastic artists in the Northeast and some great ones coming through as we speak. We thought it would be good to keep nurturing that talent and help them along the way.

“It’s not only a case of the winner getting to play at the festival; they will also get a prize of recording time in a studio, some guidance from some music experts and we also have a guy that will do some press and PR for them. 

“We decided last year, rather than in the past we’ve just put an advert out going ‘wanting bands to perform at Hardwick festival’ and vetting them ourselves over the internet, we felt it would be a good opportunity to give bands the chance to perform at New Gate Social in Newcastle and run a competition. 

“The energy rush that you get from performing on stage in front of hundreds or thousands of people is something that you crave; it’s like an addiction. There are so many great artists out there. 

“For all the acts that have applied and have been successful, come to the competition and give it your best shot, you never know.”