The Galleon - Portsmouth's Official Student Newspaper

Luke ‘LkV’ Varndell a third year student at the University of Portsmouth, has reached the regional finals stage of Live and Unsigned 2011.

Having already performed at a number of gigs around the area over the past year, Luke made it through the audition stages where he was up against hundreds of other talented musicians, and is now set to perform for the Regional finals, where he will be performing against the most talented unsigned acts across the region.

The finals will be performed in front of a large audience and under the typical talent competition formula, in front of a panel of judges, such as people from Radio One, Kerrang and NME Radio. Celebrities involved this year include former Slade frontman Noddy Holder, R’n’B star Shola Ama, Radio 1’s Annie Nightingale, Ras Kwame and Tom Deacon.

The competition is all in a bid to get the best unsigned acts from around the country together, and get them signed! The best acts will also get slots as supporting artists for major headliners, and the overall winner will gain a recording contract with Future Music, and an investment of up to £50,000.

This competition has received over 50,000 applicants in the past five years and promotes original and different artists, from many genres. This year there is also a £100,000 prize pool as well as a Live and Unsigned Festival, which will be hosted at the 02 Arena in London. On top of all this, there are also prizes such as a World Tour stretching 4 continents; an all expenses paid trip to India; an all expenses paid trip to Italy; a selection of BlackStar amps; as well as a slot at Europe’s leading music festival courtesy of Tour Music Fest.

Luke, who has been writing since the age of 16 and performing locally for the past year, draws upon inspiration from
bands such as 3 Doors Down, and singer-songwriter James Blunt. He has a lot to thank his father for, who taught him to play both guitar and bass at the age of 14. Luke has written and filmed songs that are available on YouTube, including a selection of covers and original material.

Live and Unsigned is not the first completion Luke has entered, as last year he entered the Music Room Acoustic showcase, where he reached the semi-finals after beating some well established local acts, and was also placed as a semi finalist in Express FM’s ‘All About the Song’ contest.

Luke says that entering into Live and Unsigned has “already helped my confidence, and I’ve gained some publicity, which is probably the hardest thing when you’re a small time musician”.

He has received rave reviews from The News who described his “blend of acoustic soft rock” as “the standout performance of the night”, and Call Upon The Author said that “his distinctive vocals and beautifully crafted songs captured people’s attention, as they applauded each track, especially the brilliant Preachers Daughter, of which I am a big fan”.

Though very modest, Luke says that he “would absolutely love to get through to the next round so I could play at the O2  arena, which would be truly awesome”.

The regional finals for Live and Unsigned will take place on Saturday 23rd April at Portsmouth Guildhall. Tickets for the event can be purchased at www.LiveandUnsigned.uk.com. Luke also has several performances at The Cellars and a slot on the Not So Royal Variety Show.

To listen to some of Luke’s tracks, visit: myspace.com/lkv88