Surreal Sounds

Your all very welcome to St. Brigids Vocational School's mini company, Surreal Sounds!

ALL BANDS INTERESTED IN GETTING INVOLVED IN LA OR BUSK IN THE CONNACHT REGIONALS, GO ONTO www.bebo.com/blastG2 AND LEAVE A COMMENT!! :)

Surreal Sounds started with a few company aims, and one of which was to get ourselves out there and known while helping promote artists that possess the vision, talent and passion to create something amazing and wonderful. We can honestly say, we feel we have done ourselves proud.. :) We owe alot to Blastbeat for it's amazing opportunities and for the wonderful people we have met through it's events, and we will forever be grateful..!

Our surreal awards:

Best CEO won by Fergal Gormally
Best PR won by Sandra Duane
Best Teacher won by Ms. Tegler
Best Band Promoter won by Surreal Sounds
Best Blogger by Fergal Gormally

*Second Best MMC Overall*

CONGRATS TO AUDIO CIRCUS-WE'RE BEHIND YOU GUYS AND GALS ALL THE WAY! :)

*Surreal Sounds was delighted to be asked to help out the LA or Busk competition this summer!! The Surrealists asked to help out consisted of
Fergal,
Sandy,
Aoife Harris,
and Padraig!!
Of course everyone else will be helping out too!! Yay!*

Definition Of Surreal:
sur•re•al /səˈriəl, -ˈril/ [suh-ree-uhl, -reel]
–adjective
1.having the disorienting, hallucinatory QUALITY OF A DREAM; UNREAL; FANTASTIC
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The following are the managers in our company:

CEO- Fergal Gormally
Public Relations Manager- Sandra Duane
Finance Manager- Padraig Stapleton
Online Promotions Manager-Aoife Harris
IT Manager- Paul Shaughnessy
Secretary Manager- Fiona Kelly
Assistant CEO- Amy Murray
Talent Scout- Amy Spain
Events Manager- Rachel Finnegan
Journalist- Meadhbh Lawless
Art and Design Manager- Sean Frawley
Sales and Promotion Manager- Jane Mangan
Photographer- Henrietta Coniglio, Niamh Skehill and Emma Niland
Multimedia Manager- Karen Fahy
Lighting and Sound Managers- Lee Haverty and Brian Howley
Security Managers- Garry Curley
Stage Crew Manager-David Porter

Of course we cannot forget about our loyal assistants and everyone who are putting blood, sweat and tears into this...!!
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OUR VALUES / MISSION STATEMENT


As a company, and as individuals, we value integrity, honesty, openness, personal excellence, constructive self-criticism, continual self-improvement, and mutual respect. We are committed to our customers and bands and have a passion for music. We have taken on a big challenge, and pride ourselves on seeing it through. We hold ourselves accountable to our customers, shareholders(TY students), bands and teachers by honoring our commitments, providing results, and striving for the highest quality achievements. We are devoted to seeking and embracing artists who possess the talent, vision, and passion to create something new and impactful.


As a company, we strive to create awareness of our organisation among young people in the local area and eventually nationwide and to promote amateur bands that we believe have the capability to progress, learn and continually improve and develop. In Reef-Stained, we believe we have a band who posses all of these characteristics. Individually, we seek to ensure that we reach our full potential by completing our own personal objectives to the highest possible standards for the ultimate benefit of the company. We aspire to make our company profitable by hosting competitive and promotional gigs and by selling official Blast:beat® CDs among our many other marketing ventures. We have shaped our company around our ultimate objective of winning the Blast:beat® Battle of the MMCs and endeavour at every opportunity to accomplish this goal.

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We, the TYers, here at Surreal Sounds headquarters (St brigids v.s.) would like to thank our sponsors and everyone who helped us with our concert, posters...etc.
unfortunately we do not have enough room to list all of our sponsors but we really appreciate their contributions
thanks again from all at Surreal Sounds

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Here at Surreal Sounds we like to look objectivly at our company and see past our brillance and look at our faults (not that there is many!)

Our Positive Attributes
-We have a vast amount of talent at our disposal, especially in the Art and Design department! Also with several of our company involved directly in Music we are more aware of whats ahead of us!!
-We have so many people who are willing to get down and dirty for the company (not literly of course) which is so important because Show Biz is not all glam!!
-We have, strangely enough, Surreal Imaginations which mean that our ideas are pretty endless and quite litterly have no limit!!
- Also we have great fundraising skills, no we don't blackmail people, but with such ideas at our disposal the sky really is the limit!!!
- We have an extremely high work rate which is evident in our blogging!

Our Obstacles
-Like i said we have so many ideas flowing in that we have to choose! But sometimes the democracy of our meetings breaks down leaving the "peace" much to be desired! Fortunatly we've improved and have learnt the divine skill of Compromise!!
-There is a lack of internet access in our school as our computer classes are soley for our ECDL course and access to Blastspace is limited!
-Communication is also rather slow between company members as it is hard to hold meetings with the two classes during class times so word of mouth is sometimes the only way to allow news to travel!!But it gets around no doubt!!

BLASTBEAT CONCERT! (AKA THE GIG) Reef~Stained Rock!!

OUR BLASTBEAT CONCERT WAS ON IN TEMPERENCE HALL, LOUGHREA, CO.GALWAY

8TH MARCH
DOORS OPENED 7PM. CONCERT STARTED 7:30PM


Guest Starred: DJ Rodge
PREBOOKED TICKETS- €8
ON THE DOOR- €10

"Finding a good band is like finding a good wife. You got to keep trying till you find the right one."
~Ace Frehley

HERE WAS THE LINE UP FOR THE NIGHT:

Reef-Stained - http://www.blastspace.com/REEFSTAIN ED
What can I say about Reef Stained? Well they are the band that won our Battle of the Bands and they were absolutely class! They are from Portumna and brought their drum kit that saved us money. I would like to thank Reef Stained again for coming to our concert and rocking the house! I hope you guys go far in the rest of the competition! Surreal Sounds are behind you all the way!

Thorn - http://www.blastspace.com/Thorn
We ll this was our band from out of town. This was also our band from out of the county! Thorn are a heavy band from Westport in county Mayo. They played really well on the night and everyone loved the moshing! I just want to thank Thorn again for making the trip down from Mayo and playing in our concert. That’s all I have to say about Thorn. Hope to see and hear from you guys again!

Crossfire - http://www.blastspace.com/crossfire
What can I say about Crossfire? They are our own local band from here in Loughrea. They have two members in Surreal Sounds both of who are on Light and Sound. Brian(Crossfire's lead guitarist and signer)was in charge of lights and Lee(Crossfire's Base player and also Surreal Sound's wooooooo Lee!lol)was in charge of sound. Crossfire are the real deal and can only get better. I told them what to do if they wanted to win. When they were doing sound checks, I said to Lee,"There are two things you can do to guarantee Crossfire win. One is to get someone to smash their guitar. Two is you need to crowd surf since you're the lightest. We'll catch you if anything!" They did neither of these things and as a result, they lost. I would like to thank Crossfire for playing in our gig and hope to see them again next year even better than this year.

There is still so much to talk about! I was just referring to the next part of our concert which just happens to be the interval!lol. Anyways, the interval was on after Crossfire finished playing. We had planned to have a dance off during this interval. Catriona and Karen were in charge of this dance off. Five random members of the audience were selected to come onto the stage and bust a move! We first had a few members of Surreal Sounds that take dancing lessons go on stage and show us their moves. This got everyone in the mood and the five contestants were encouraged into dancing. This dance off ran a little over schedule and the curtains were pulled too soon. Nothing too serious! It was just meant to be a laugh anyways! Each contestant received a ten euro voucher to Supermacs kindly sponsored by our local Supermacs. The winner of the dance off won an extra fifty euro to spend in whatever way he pleased. The dance off was a great success in my eyes other than the minor problem. It got everyone laughing and into a good mood. It also calmed down The Rivals, our next band, which was an added bonus. I would like to thank Catriona and Karen for organising the dance off and also the contestants for being brave enough to dance. I also want to thank the DJ, DJ Rodge, for playing some lively songs that everyone knew.lol. That’s all about the dance off and interval.

The Rivals - http://www.blastspace.com/CathalGob shite
The Rivals are a band from Athenry. They played after the interval and as I mentioned before, they were relaxed after our dance off. This was another good band that I hope to see more of in the future! I would like to thank The Rivals for coming to and playing in our concert. I hope to see and hear more of you guys!

Negative Result - www.blastspace.com/NegativResult
T he next band to play was Negative Result. They are a band from a big place known as Galway City. They, like Thorn, played some heavy stuff and gave us something to mosh to. I want to thank the members of this band for coming to and playing in our concert. I hope to see and hear more of you guys!

Traffic In The Sky
The final band of the night was Traffic in the Sky. They are another good band from Woodford. They played really well on the night and were unlucky not to have won. I would like to thank the members of Traffic in the Sky for coming to and playing in our gig. I hope to hear and see more of you guys soon!

ALL THE BANDS DID A FANTASTIC JOB AND EVERYONE ENJOYED THE GIG!! WELL DONE TO THE WINNERS REEF-STAINED!!!

Our Musical Pursuits!

“I love songs about horses, railroads, land, Judgment Day, family, hard times, whiskey, courtship, marriage, adultery, separation, murder, war, prison, rambling, damnation, home, salvation, death, pride, humor, piety, rebellion, patriotism, larceny, determination, tragedy, rowdiness, heartbreak and love. And Mother. And God.” ~ Johnny Cash

We like everything!^^ There are different varities of music appreciated in SurrealSounds, and each person respects every person's individual taste in music, which is probably one of the reasons we all get on so well!! :) With a wide range of "musical flavours" within our company we listen to all sorts from dance, RnB, hip hop, to rock and metal. Most would agree that when asked about a musical preference the most common answer tended to be
"uh..I dunno, anything that's good i spose!"

As Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche said..

"Without music, life would be a mistake."

We also firmly believe that people should make and perform music for their enjoyment...which is why one of our managers has composed a short rap in appreciation of the Company CEO.
PS...it probably sounds better in my head because I know the beat but here goes...



His name is Fergal Gormally.
I’d like to thank him formally.
For all the work he’s done,
while still remainin’ fun.
Laughin’ ‘n’ jokin’,
never just orderin’
Always the same,
he’ll win us the game
WEHEY!

He is Surreal deal,
with approval on his seal!
He’s gonna blog his way
into BlastSpace Hall of Fame.
It his game,
not our shame!
And though he’s tough,
He knows his stuff.

He is Der Furer
...SS’s leader,
(don’t you know)
Into battle he does go
Flyin’ our flag
Our company’s name on his tag
Upholdin’ honour and truth
All for Rob, Jon and Ruth.

So there! Now that’s the Fergie G
He is the best he can be.
I look to him for guidance,
since I'm manager for Finance
Playin’ Reef Stained on stereo.
He’s Surreal Sounds CEO.
And we’re proud to have him
lead us to our Blast beat win!

Sin mo spin...


Pure gold...I know!
Hey!...Where's my record deal???

BEBO

We also have a bebo account if you want to go and check that out!! It's savage, go on!!

http://www.bebo.com/surreal -sounds

Just copy and paste into your URL
and add as friend!!
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INSPIRATIONAL SAYINGS
"That someone can achieve great success, is proof to all others that anyone can achieve it as well."
"Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination."
"To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream, not only plan, but also believe."
Don't limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as you mind lets you. What you believe, you can achieve."
"If not us, who? If not now, when?"
"The reward of a thing well done is to have done it."
"Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together."
"impossible is nothing"
"people who plan, find success"
"It's how you deal with failure that determines how you achieve success."
"Where ther's a will, there's a way...and Surreal Sounds always have ways!"
"We cannot discover new oceans unless we have the courage to lose sight of the shore."
"For success, attitude is equally as important as ability."
"Where hope grows, miracles blossom."
"The brave person confronts fear and moves toward it. It then gets smaller."
"If you do not look at things on a large scale, it will be difficult to master strategy."
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Firstly, Blastbeat is a social enterprise and music business competition for second level or High Schools. Blastbeat hopes to promote young and talented musicians. They do this by having competitions called “Blastbeat Battle of the Bands”. Usually six bands compete at each competition. At each competition the bands play three songs to try to impress the judges. The judges then choose the best band on the night and they advance to another “Blastbeat Battle of the Bands”. Eventually a winning band is chosen and they receive the offer of a record deal from independent record label BlastSpace Records to record a studio album that will be distributed internationally. This band will also do a round the world tour, visiting and playing BlastSpace gigs in cities around the world.

This is a pretty cool contest for the bands with an amazing prize but the schools aren’t left out either! Each school establishes their own Music and Multi media Company (MMC). Each MMC is made up of between eight and fifteen pupils directly participating in the MMC and acting as a manager of a certain aspect of the MMC. Within a structured three-month period, they will complete and implement their own business plan, marketing activities and financial management, as part of organising and staging a “Blastbeat Battle of the Bands”.

The MMC will then compete against up to thirty other MMC’s from other schools. Each MMC will showcase their work and achievements at the Blastbeat Finals that will be held in Dublin on May 1st 2008 this year. The winners of the all Ireland finals will also go on to represent Ireland at the international finals held in Dublin.

It is a tough and strenuous competition as we learned this year at Surreal Sounds but it has had its positives as well. This competition has brought us closer and has taught us how to work as a team. It has also taught us what it takes to run a company effectively. This competition has also taught us how to organise and run a concert. It also taught us how to deal with a company’s finances and try to make a profit.

In conclusion, Blastbeat is a competition that has many rewards in the sense of prizes and having new experiences.

Charities!!
As you know it is always a good thing to give money to charities so we have decided to donate half of our profits to two very worthwhile charities. As all our members are very kind hearted and are always looking out for other people, I think it is great that we can do this. Our two charities are
-DOWN SYNDROME IRELAND- Voices for Galway
-Grá for Autism
Voices for Galway is a branch off of Down Syndrome Ireland and the money goes towards language and speech therapy and occupational therapy for the local schools around Galway.


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Down Syndrome Ireland
Down Syndrome Ireland, the national organisation of parents and guardians of people with Down syndrome, was established in 1971 to provide a support network at a time when the provision of services for people with disability was in its infancy.

Down Syndrome Ireland has a membership of over 3,000 family units and provides support to both the person with Down syndrome and their families.

The organisation operates from a head office in Dublin and a network of 24 county branches, providing access for people with Down syndrome to a range of localised support services which help to improve their quality of life.

The vision of Down Syndrome Ireland (DSI) is to promote a society in which individuals with Down syndrome can fully participate as citizens and thereby live to the best of their ability.

Down Syndrome Ireland continues to expand its delivery of established services of the National Resource Centre. The National Resource Centre currently employes full-time specialists working in the areas of Early Intervention, Counselling, Medical Services, Education and Independence serving all people with Down syndrome.

With our specialists working full-time on behalf of Down Syndrome Ireland we are now closer to building a Down Syndrome National Resource Centre to facilitate our objective.


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