Status: Single
City: Byron Bay
State: New South Wales
Country: AU
Signup Date: 12/9/2005
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Tuesday, January 13, 2009
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Current mood:  blessed Category: Blogging
This is an active Media Release Blog, and will be updated as new public media release information is available. Please keep checking back for the latest information or subscribe!
2009 Short-Bio:
2009 Is set to be huge for independent success story “Very Unique Existence” Hailing from Byron Bay the band has managed to secure Video hits, Commercial Airplay, International Radio and major supports in two years off the back of an EP that is now set to take metro commercial radio by storm.
But that’s all fact and figures, achievements and highlights, which the band can boast more of than most major label bands, with just fan and family support and sheer determination as fuel.
The real deal however with Very Unique Existence is their unique ecletic music, and live vibe. Self defined as “Positive Consciousness Rock” the band donate part proceeds from each gig to a charity within the town they play, and focuses their music and lyrics along with their show on delivering “positive energy”. What would you expect from a ....Byron.. ..Bay.... band you might say! But there is something going on here that can’t be pinned down to hippy ideals wrapped in beautifully crafted electic Pop/Rock.
Very Unique Existence are connecting with people, in a simplistic, single message, single song, way that doesn’t cliché the age old concept of “music for change”. Each song is a little pill of positivity that gets inside you with a humble and almost naïve concept and bubbles out through sound and melody to make you “feel positive” and the fans base of loyal believers in the revolution of positivity are a testament to it’s credibility. God knows we could all use some positive energy right now!
--- October 2009 -
Musicians with a conscience give tocharity after every gig!
Very Unique Existence say the world is in trouble, but they want to do their bit to improve the situation
‘IT IS better to give than to receive’ may be the mantra for local band Very Unique Existence. Each gig they perform is actually a fundraiser. The band have decided that a portion of what they earn will go to a charity of their choice each time they entertain the crowds. “We throw it out there when deciding on the charity we support,” co-founder, guitarist and vocalist Rich Latimer said. “Recently an upset fan talked to us about the floods in the Philippines so some of our proceeds will go there this weekend.” Latimer believes that while some kids join bands to ‘enjoy’ the drugs and alcohol lifestyle VUE is taking their message in a very different direction. “We’re at a time in the world where if we don’t do something, we’re in trouble,” he said. “We’re doing our little bit. We are much more than just a rock band.
"The fans we’re developing are people with strong heart and soul connections but also like rock.” Latimer classes their music as positive consciousness rock which can be defined as ‘spreading positive energy and consciousness’. “People can’t understand that we give quite a bit of our sales away,” he said. “That we would give money to people beyond our family and friends”.
The band is about to put their positive consciousness words into action by performing a number of ‘Awareness Shows’ developed in consultation with Paul Johnson, co-founder of Brain Storm Productions. The shows are described as the only real world pop/ rock delivered, edutainment performance of its kind. Meanwhile, the next two gigs/fundraisers of VUE will be tomorrow night at the Lennox Point Hotel at 8pm with donations going to Ballina Coast Care and on Saturday night at the Billinudgel Hotel. Money raised will go to the Philippine Flood Victims. It starts at 2pm and is free and unplugged. – Samantha Elley
--- July 2009 - Review of Live performance in Pulse
Very Unique Existence, this Byron Bay quartet truly is one of a kind
If the Lennox Point Hotel had Chandeliers people would've been hanging from them during last Friday's gig by A Very Unique Existence. The band's set, well and truly disrupted any curfews to be home by midnight. Tunes howled through the windows and over to the beach keeping most punters bopping until the last riff.
The energy and happy-go-lucky stage presence showed these guys are not simply a no-name pub band there for cash and beers. Their tunes rival the dynamic energy of The Kaiser Chiefs and riffs match the fast pace of Rise Against. But what puts the 'unique' in their name is that they don't follow your average rock/indie formula. Ads Gardiner (drums), Rich Latimer (vocals), Wez Seewald (keys) and bassist Ben Grace (filling in for Mick Harris) have clearly gone around with a net, catching many different sounds and seamlessly crafted them together.
At one stage, when the Byron quartet broke into a sweet reggae jam, Wez ripped off his shirt revealing a yellow singlet that signaled his allegiance to Jamaica, It was quickly put back on for the next song but for a moment the crowd was floating along the Caribbean on the crest of sweet keyboard licks and beats with that ol' Jamaica feel.
Throughout the set the musical bonding was top-notch, and their originality cuts them out as a class apart from their peers. Perhaps if the songs were introduced more and there was added storytelling, the crowd would have a hard time distinguishing the band from the pack of friends they came with. Towards the end, Tsunami pumped throught the PA causing a torrent of movemnet on the dance floor. With songs as punchy as this, we will no doubt see great material on upcoming album Hear the Heart (slated for late '09 relelase).
-Joe Lewis
--- June 2009 - Rolling Stone Magazine 'R+R' article - July 2009, in stores from June 3rd
Very
Unique Existence Frontman Rich Latimer caught up with Rolling Stone
Magazine Editor Dan Lander to discuss the band's concept positive consciousness rock and their upcoming debut album Heartheart in stores everywhere later this year...
What’s Up With . . .
Very Unique Existence
WHO:
These days, most people claim they’re doing their bit to save the
world. But talk is cheap, and that’s what makes Byron Bay band Very
Unique Existence so different. “We donate part proceeds from CD sales
and ticket sales from every single thing that we do to a charity in the
locale of that event,” explains guitarist/singer Rich Latimer. “So, if
we play in a town some of themoney from that show goes back tothe local
community.” It’s part ofwhat the band define as “positive consciousness
rock”, the idea thatmusic can be used as conduit forsomething bigger,
from savingforests to getting kids off the street.“Without being too
high-minded, pretentious and spiritual-bullshit about it,” continues
Latimer, “we’re writing music that comes from a place of consciousness
shifting within us, with the hopes that it maybe a pointer to the
listener.”
BACKSTORY Latimer – who founded the group with bass
player Mick Harris in 2004, augmented in 2007 by keyboardist Wes
Seewald and new drummer Ads Gardiner this year – still works between
band commitments, finding employment for the seriously down and out.
"Basically they send people to methat have just lost all motivation and
think
that our society is a fucking total load of shit,” he says. “Little
dothey know I agree with them!” Recently, V.U.E. have been notching up
some big supporters, including
Pete Murray (a regular at their shows) and John Collins from
Powderfinger.
“[Collins] was onradio in Sydney the other day,” says Latimer, “and the
presenter said, ‘It’s great that Powderfinger are doing a charity thing
like this,’ and in
response he said, ‘Yeah, it is good, but there’s this band from Byron Bay that do it every single gig.’”
WHAT'S NEXT V.U.E. have just finished recording their debut
record,
Heartheart. Like the band itself, the record has a heavyconcept,
featuring a continuity of songs that Latimer hopes will open minds
everywhere. “It’s a record for
people to go on a little journey of
consciousness, all wrapped up tidily in eclectic pop rock,” he says.
“This is more than a concept album – this is a personal consciousness
shift journey record.”
Dan Lander
Rollingstonemag.com.au
--- Febuary 2009 - Supporting NOVA Queen - Kate Miller Heidke ---
Kate's manager saw Very Unique Existence 3 years ago in Brisbane, tried to poach the bass player and said "Rock is not the go".
Now She has booked the band to support Kate on their home turf, Kate's pet station NOVA Bris are playing the bands etheral track "Looking Down" and no one can pin a genre title on these guys.
One song will float you and trick you into a U2 trance, another will slam you in the face with AC/DC power, then one will tickle your ears with playfull pop, but it all works somehow.
Catch them with Kate Miller Heidke Feb 28th
--- December 2008 - Video Clip to Debut on National TV ---
The Video Clip for hit single 'Take it Easy' will receive summer rotation on the coveted and highest rated music TV program in the country, Video Hits on Channel Ten.
Starting Saturday 13th of Dec at 10:30am this is a mile stone for any band let alone a completely indie band from a regional area and is sure to boost the national profile of the band enormously.....
Following this NOVA Bris and BAY FM Geelong have started rotation of second single 'Looking Down'.....
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--- October 2008 - Very Unique Existence Headline Greenfest 2008 ---
Very Unique Existence are a Byron Bay pop-rock band with a powerful message. They are headlining Brisbane’s Greenfest, which has been boldly dubbed as this decade’s Woodstock. Tsunami’s Carolyn Garner spoke to the band’s lead singer, Rich Latimer, about his quest for social change.
The self-proclaimed ‘positive consciousness band’ (meaning the proceeds of their touring shows go towards the community in which they play), have also established something called the Social Music Project, which involves suggestions, lyrics and input from the general public. Their MySpace page is a forum for people to share their ideas and thoughts, which are frequently adopted by the band. The band are advocates for changing the way people go about their daily lives and are relishing in the opportunity to be part of a festival with the same social message. “It’s just the nature of us guys. All of us are just positively charged… It feels good to be doing something positive; that’s what we are about,” says Latimer.
Originating from Byron Bay, the stereotype would suggest they sport dreadlocks and play folk music, yet their pop rock sound and look are quite the contrary. “To be honest with you, it has been really hard for Very Unique Existence to communicate and get across clearly what the band is about because we don’t have dreadies, we don’t play acoustic guitar and we’re not doing the bluesy-rootsy stuff,” admits Latimer. The frontman believes the festival will be a catalyst for social change. “Changing the way people think and feel about stuff is the underlying message. Before you are going to change your ecological footprint, something is going to have to happen to you,” he says. Very Unique Existence and festival creators alike are hoping the festival will be that something; creating a situation where “people come to an event thinking, living and operating in one way, and leave the event thinking, feeling and operating in another way”.
As Latimer emphasises the festival’s message with such passion and conviction, it is clear why Very Unique Existence are headlining the event, and why their song, ‘Looking Down’, was chosen as the festival’s theme song. He audaciously compares Greenfest to the Woodstock of the naughties. “It’s not just environmental; it’s a social thing. In all honesty, I think it’s like Woodstock - this decade’s version of Woodstock. I just hope people get it…Woodstock was meant to be a symbol of change and peace sort of thing. And this is even more real than that - this is free.”
When asked what he hoped would come from the festival, Latimer says “change”, with a long pause, as if no other word could possibly sum it up. “That’s it… Like actually change your life, change the way you live and do it right now… I really hope when we perform that night at Greenfest we can communicate that vibe, because that is what is important to us. One aspect of that change is the environmentally charged stuff, but there are many other things; like looking at the way you operate socially.”
Very Unique Existence are playing at Greenfest, which will be held at South Bank from Friday October 10 to Sunday October 12.
--- August 2008 - Commercial Radio Australia Top 30 New Artist to Radio ---
After submitting radio tracks 'Take it Easy', 'Pop Song' and 'Looking Down' the Commercial Radio Australia's New Artist to Radio comp, Very Unique Existence received a letter confirming that they had made it into the Top 30#.
“The Network Program and Music Directors remarked on the excellent quality of the entry. They also asked me to let you know that they were very impressed with the tracks submitted!” – Joan Warner Commercial Radio Australia....
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--- August 2008 - Planteray Group USA to service 15,000 Units of debut Video Clip Take it Easy ---
Planetary Group USA www.planetarygroup.com recently offered Very Unique Existence the chance to have 15,000 copies of their debut Video Clip for Take it Easy (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6LOL_NWJu8 ) serviced to film and TV industry and fans in the USA!
This level of exposure for this new clip, is masive in a market that showed huge interest in the Colleg Airplay of the debut Ep 'Eveyone'
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--- July 2008 - Brisbane Mayor to announce Very Unique Existence 'Looking Down' as GREENFEST theme song! ---
This Thursday 10th of July at 10:30am the mayor of Brisbane Campbell Newman will announce Very unique Existence single 'Looking Down' as the theme song for Brisbane's Green Fest 2008 held October 10th at South Bank see www.greenfest.com.au just before the band from Byron bay play it live to the media launch attendees, at the proposed festival site at South Bank mall.
In attendance will be major Green Fest sponsor Ron Barker CEO of Austereo (Triple M & 2Day Networks) and his national PD Sophie Gatward, who will be watching the song played live by Very Unique Existence for consideration for a national ATB add.
The song will be the backing to the TVC (Channel 7 Media Partner) and Radio campaigns and available packaged as a premium download from the Green fest site and Itunes.
In a time when the music business is focusing on 'song by song deals' Very Unique Existence have demonstrated they have 3 strong songs on their debut CD/DVD 'Everyone' with track 4 'Roll On' similarly being championed by the Newcastle Shoot Out Film Festival held July 13th see www.theshootout.com.au and track 1 'Take it Easy' soon to be added to Channel V, MTV and Video hits along with NOVA.
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--- July 2008 - Shoot Out Film Festival Newcastle ---
Incredibly Very Unique Existence seem to have yet another strong radio track on their debut CD/DVD 'Everyone'.
The 4th track on the CD/DVD 'Roll On' has been selected as a VIP track added to the music library for the Newcastle Shoot Out Film Festival held 10th to 13th of July, along with being pitched to Radio and involved in the promotions of this awesome event.
Whilst 'Take it Easy' is the first and current single (soon to be added to NOVA and Clip to Video Hits) and Looking Down is scheduled as the follow up radio track. 'Roll On' has come crashing to the fore ground through it's involvement with The 10th Birth Day of Shoot Out see www.theshootout.com.au
Very Unique Existence will soon be launching their 'Take it Easy Tour 08 – Supporting Regional Charities' where part proceeds of every gig go towards a local charity in the town they are playing. This is a constant thing and part of the bands Positive Consciousness Rock ethos for every gig!
Look on www.thevue.com.au for Sydney.. and ....Newcastle.... dates, where they are looking to support the Westpac Life Saver Helicopter.
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--- May 2008 - Rogue Traders & Hot 20 ---....
Very Unique Existence have been selected by The Rogue Traders and their management for a special guest appearance May 24th at Lismore Workers Club. The band/management who rarely uses supports selected the band after a listening session of their debut CD/DVD Everyone.......
This is the second amazing achievement for the band this month having also climbed the national Caralis Network Charts from 19 to 1 and holding for 5 days!! in the Australian Hot 20........
After playing to the 1200 strong crowd and brining a large following it was obvious the home town knew and loved the boys with their three radio singles 'Take it Easy', 'Pop Song' and 'Looking Down' receiving thunderous applause!........
After the show the boys were literally mobbed by fans wanting autographs and sold out of merch in an hour.........
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--- March 2008 - Bondi Rescue & State Focus ---....
Very Unique Existence, have landed not one but two TV slots this month and this is without management, publishing or a label. The bands debut single 'Take it Easy' used on Episode 19 on Bondi Rescue.....
This followed up by the band appearing on Channel ten's State Focus May 11th, discussing their 'Positive Consciousness Rock' and unique charity work.....
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-- Jan 2008 - Byron Bay Band Very Unique Existence break through, independent success story! ---....
Big vocals, classic rock, great hooks! Referential to the past but considered and delivered with enough confidence to be considered contemporary.' – Todd Wagstaff (AnR Legend signed The veronicas, The Vines, and Holly Valance)
In this time of transition from the traditional major label model to a more artist driven industry many barriers still exist for a young act aspiring to commercial recognition but one new aussie band from the new south wales north coast seems to be breaking them down quite comfortably with radio adds both in Australia and the USA as well as Retail Chain airplay in Europe.....
'When it comes to inde bands today, you wouldn't be surprised to find them two for one at Aldi. Very Unique Existence however, definitely aren't your bargain bin variety. With their debut Ep receiving airplay from the US to France and their reputation as a crowd pleasing act spreading through pubs and clubs across Australia, these four Byron Bay boys look set to stir up the scene' – The Music Network Jan 21st 2008....
Since testing songs mid 2007 on an early issue of their EP and receiving spot plays on Triple J, MMM Brisbane and regional stations as well as amassing a huge presence on myspace with an intriguing idea of fully involving their audience and feedback in all aspects of the bands career -all leading to the current figure of 99000 plays and counting. The new remastered, repackaged CD now includes a bonus DVD and has already scored the band the Music Network Hit Pic and Emerging Artist piece in the Jan 18th issue.
This has already resulted in no less than 16 ATB Adds(see Feb 4 TMN) across regional commercial radio across NSW and Queensland for the first single 'Take It Easy' with commitment to second single 'Pop Song' and third 'Looking Down' - stations such as NEW FM, 2ZZZ, Power, Max, Hot 91, 104.7 Grafton and many more have all embraced the bands own self defined brand of 'Positive Consciousness Rock' .The SBA Network have added both the single and video while Mood Media/DMX have taken things one step further with 4 of the five tracks added to their play lists and the single championed as the number one pick from Australia for their European Channels-see www.moodmedia.com.au
The European response is totally in line with the bands strategy of expanding their audience reach using new technologies to get their music everywhere possible and the USA is no exception - the simultaneous radio push going on there as we speak has so far resulted in the band breaking into the TOP 30 College Radio charts in only the second week of promotion with some stations reporting Top 10 plays as well as high level rotation to over 2.5 million internationally on the Moozikoo and Radio X network.
To back up the release there is a 45 date regional and metro tour already booked which commenced where else but the Beach Hotel in Byron on Jan 31st - the tour takes in towns such as Lismore, The Gold Coast, Bellingen, Port Macquarie and more before heading into the cities - for full tour dates see http://www.thevue.com.auThe CD EP with bonus DVD clip (high rotation on Nightlife Video) is distributed by MGM and with more radio support sure to come on board and management already sniffing the future looks bright for these 4 guys from Byron Bay.
Blending influences from Silverchair to the lighter side of Kyuss, Take it Easy will play well on multi-formats. The group, which has built a strong fan base by actively involving fan feedback into song writing and delivering rocking live shows locally and internationally, is a more than healthy introduction to local radio. Don't take it easy on adding this one! The Music Network JAN 18 2008
'Very Unique Existence have created something that first grabs a hold of you tight and close then all of a sudden lifts you to dizzy heights' - Beat Magazine - DEC 2007....
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4:31 AM
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