In their home town of Nis in Serbia, EYOT has been cooking up a tasty mash of jazz rhythms, classical piano and electronic fusion for three years now. That Eastern European flavor, unrepresented on far too many stages, seeps from every measure. EYOT stands ready to put the sound on the map, and they did just that with their participation in the 2012 midem off Showcase Competition, for which they were named a finalist. Now the boys are busy packing for Cannes, hoping they meet just the right distributor or label rep, and hoping to enjoy that South of France sunshine.
How'd you hear about the midem off Showcase Competition?
As a member of Sonicbids I check posts on regular basis, that's how I heard about this contest. I've known about MIDEM from an early age, and just the fact that we were a part of such a competition was great.
Why did you want to perform at midem? How will a performance like this affect your career?
A chance to promote our music to a wider audience was reason enough to enter the contest. This MIDEM competition is one of the best ways to do it.
It has already affected our career, it's already a huge step for us, regardless of what will happen in Cannes.
We have the experience from several big gigs, I think we are ready to give our best at this one. And then you never know.
The contest involved getting fans to vote for you - how did you rally your fans?
We owe a lot to our fans and friends. It was a great campaign. We created a Facebook support group, invited people, and day- in-day-out we reminded them to vote using funny video clips. We buzzed on Twitter, YouTube, some local news websites also helped us, we used everything we could find on the Internet to boost the campaign.
What was your reaction when you found out you were playing midem 2012?
Happy enough to smile throughout all of 2012.
What's the thing you are most looking forward to at midem?
Everything. The performance, a chance to meet people from the industry, enjoying Cannes.
Any tips for bands who are looking to harness the power of their fans online?
Music comes first. Work hard on your music. As thousands of blogs say - use everything you can on the Internet to promote yourself.
Analyze successful indie band and above all, enjoy that whole game, you are already a good band, just make sure that a lot of people find that out.
Starting the year off with an international showcase ain't to shabby - what's next for you and your music in 2012?
This year we'll be working on a tight schedule. After the showcase in Cannes, we are playing in Paris on February 1st. We have some festival gigs and concerts already booked in Italy and Serbia, and some are about to be booked.
There are also negotiations for a Russia and Scandinavia tour. We have found a promoter for the USA; the campaign will start in spring which will hopefully lead us to a US tour in 2013 or the end of 2012.
Last month, we recorded our concert here in our home town of Nis, for a live DVD release. Maybe we can find a distributer at MIDEM.
In the end, we hope we'll record a new album. The material is done, demo recordings are finished, and in a few months we'll be ready to enter the studio.
