Volker will be in the prestigious jury of The Music Think Tank 2009, together with great international artists like Morgan Fisher, Martin Moscrop, Roger O’Donnell and many more.

We are reporting here the press release of this international awards & festival.
If you have a band, wherever in the world, you can submit your music on www.thethinktank.it.
There are over 50 awards and 60 honourable mentions.
The deadline for application is November 30th.

THE MUSIC THINK TANK: OPENED THE NEW INTERNATIONAL AWARDS & FESTIVAL PROJECT FOR INDEPENDENT ARTISTS

MORE THAN 50 AWARDS AND 60 HONOURABLE MENTIONS ASSIGNED BY AN INTERNATIONAL JURY OF ARTISTS & MUSIC INDUSTRY

A PROJECT MADE IN ITALY THOUGHT FOR AN INTERCULTURAL EXCHANGE

Milan, April 2009 – The cultural association Think Tank presents the annual international and independent musical meeting The Music Think Tank 2009 between artists, music industry, companies and professionals, spiritual & visionaries personalities, institutions and the public

The Music Think Tank is an independent factory that brings on innovative ideas supporting social aims and intercultural experiences thanks
also to EuroDesk

A qualified jury of successful artists and music industry will grant more than 50 awards and 60 honourable mentions for young creative minds, emerging and independent artists valued for their talent, originality and artistic depth

Songwriters, bands, performers, dj/producers, lyricists and visual artists of every age and music genre can submit their proposal with a subscription to the association of only 15 euro having discounts for the Festival tickets too

Artists have to send an online profile like MySpace with contents (mp3, gigs, biography, discography, photos, video, official website, etc) and fill out a form on the official website otherwise can apply through SonicBids.
Here some of the Awards:
- 1 FENDER Stratocaster ’70s Guitar customized Think Tank in collaboration with Casale Bauer
- 1 Artist selected for The Big Picture, the visionary project by Steve Zuckerman (2 Grammy Producer of Les Paul & Friends with Keith
Richards, Eric Clapton & Sting)
- 4 SHURE Microphone Set SM57 & 55-SH-II in collaboration with Sisme
- 3 Best Emergent Acts with a special page on YAHOO! Music
- 1 Critique Award with interview on ROCKSTAR Magazine
- 1 Critique Award with interview on LIFEGATE Radio
- 1 Critique Award with interview on MUSICBOX Tv (Sky 703) & Live! Tv (Sky 702)
- 1 Album Release (Distribution & Promotion) published by ECHOPHONIC RECORDS
- 1 Music Video realized by STARWORKS (Incognito, Deasonika, Mtv, United Nations, Benetton and more)
- 1 Mix & Mastering realized by Dario Dendi (Coldplay, Killers, Stereophonics, Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, Tina Turner, etc)
- 1 Single Studio Production realized by CASASONICA (Subsonica, Velvet, Cristina Donà, etc)
- 1 Single Studio Production realized by KITCHEN STUDIO (Andy [Bluvertigo], Bluvertigo, Antonella Ruggiero, Warner/Sony)
- 500 printed copies of 1 single/ep realized by BRIDGE Technologies
- 15 artist slots for a compilation published by ECHOPHONIC (with some headliners)
- 10 artist slots for the THINK TANK FESTIVAL (with some headliners)
- 1 Professional Studio Photo Set realized by PATINATE STAR (Rolling Stones, Rem, Muse, Vasco Rossi, etc)
- 3 Most socially active artist with the support of Vandana Shiva (activist) and Massimo Scalia (founder LegaAmbiente)
- 1 arstist selected to play at MEI – Meeting delle Etichette Indipendenti
- 1 Best Promotional Enterprise & 3 Best Female Acts

Artistic jury: Morgan Fisher (Love Affair, Mott the Hoople, Yoko Ono), Roger O’Donnell (The Cure, Psychedelic Furs), Curt Smith (Tears for fears), Richard Barbieri (Porcupine Tree, Japan), Jimmy Destri (Blondie), Alberto Ferrari (Verdena), Roger Joseph Manning Jr (Air, Beck, Jamiroquai, JellyFish, Jet, Johnny Cash, Mars Volta, Morrisey, Ringo Starr, Suede, Vines, etc), Mark Gardener (Ride), Max Casacci(Subsonica), Mark Morriss (Bluetones), Gianni Maroccolo (Litfiba, Marlene Kuntz, CSI, CCCP, Timoria), Andy Fumagalli (Bluvertigo), Bill
Ryder-Jones (The Coral), Martin Moscrop (A certain ratio), Volker Hinkel (Fools Garden), Mick Karn (Japan, Dali’s Car)

Music industry jury is composed by Steve Zuckerman (2 Grammy Awards producer of Les Paul & Friends), David Knopfler (founder Dire Straits), Daniel Marcoccia (director Rockstar, Rock Sound & Groove), Andrea ‘Teskio’ Paoli (managing editor Groove, editor redactor Rockstar & Rock Sound), Dario Dendi (engineer Coldplay, Franz Ferdinand, etc), Giordano Sangiorgi (president AudioCoop/MEI), Umberto Virri (Walt Disney), Diego Spagnoli (engineer Vasco Rossi), Murat Gonullu (director for commercial & music videos), Chris Myhre (director All Music), Matteo Cruccu (jorunalist Corriere della Sera), Francesco Barbiano di Belgiojoso (Tlc press office), Massimo
Visconti (Virgin Radio dj), Massimiliano Leva (journalist Repubblica/Rolling Stone)

The closing day to send proposals is November 30, 2009. The festival will be held in Milan, Italy. Production & Artistic Direction by Marco Ortensi

MAIN & MEDIA PARTNERS: MySpace, Rockstar, MusicBox, Live!, LifeGate, Yahoo! Musica, RockSound, Groove, Fender, Shure, Self, Mei, SonicBids, MusicClub, Busta, EuroDesk, Mi-Indies

Press Office Think Tank – press@thethinktank.it – www.thethinktank.it

Here is a first review of the new EP “Heaven And Hell“, written by Simone Giorgi and published on the Italian webmagazine Rock PV (http://rockpv-rockpv.blogspot.com/2009/03/recensione-hinkel.html).
The English version follows the original Italian one.

“Hinkel, progetto dell’omonimo artista Volker Hinkel (ex chitarrista dei Fool’s Garden, gruppo tedesco divenuto celeberrimo con il brano “Lemon Tree”) ci presenta il suo ultimo lavoro un EP pubblicato interamente in digitale.
L’EP contiene quattro brani, di cui due cover (Heaven and Hell di John Entwistle e Baba O’Riley degli Who) e due brani originali, di cui uno in versione live.
Il disco come si può intuire dalla scelta delle cover si propone come un tributo alla band inglese degli Who.
La produzione dell’EP è veramente ottima sotto ogni punto di vista e persino il brano live risulta oltremodo preciso e pulito nell’ascolto.
La caratura tecnica del gruppo si sente tutta, ogni brano risulta molto ben suonato.
Il disco globalmente si presenta con un’anima molto british, dalle cover degli Who ai pezzi originali, che evolvono i loro suoni di pari passo con l’evoluzione del suono d’oltremanica (dai Beatles agli Oasis, giusto per citare due esempi concreti).
Unica critica che si può muovere al disco è la scelta di arrangiamento di Heaven and Hell in cui il basso suona meno “virtuoso” di quello di Entwistle impoverendo un po’ il pezzo.
In conclusione, l’ep è un piacevole diversivo “Brtitish” per le orecchie, e si propone da un lato come tributo ad una grande band del passato, dall’altro come un piccolo assaggio di quello che sarà il nuovo album di Hinkel.
Giudizio finale: 76/100″

© 2009 Rock PV (www.rockpv.it)

English version:
“Hinkel, project of the homonymous artist Volker Hinkel (guitarist of Fools Garden, German that band became very famous with the song “Lemon Tree”), presents his latest work: an EP exclusively released in digital.
The EP contains four tracks, including two covers (“Heaven And Hell” by John Entwistle and “Baba O’Riley” by The Who) and two original tracks, one of which is a live version.
The disc as you can guess by the choice of the covers appears to be a tribute to the English band The Who.
The production of the EP is really great under every point of view and even the live track results extremely precise and clean during the listening.
The technical value fo the band is completely evident, every tracks is very well played.
The disco globallys presents a very British soul, from the covers by The Who to the original tracks, which evolve their sounds by following the evolution of the sounds beyond the English Channel (from Beatles to Oasis, just for reporting two contrete examples).
If a critique can be done to the disc, this is the arrangement choice of “Heaven And Hell”, in which the bass sounds less “vituous” than the one of Entwistle, thus empoverishing a little bit the track.
In conclusion, the EP is a pleasent British amusement for your ears, and it propose itself on one hand as a tribute to a great band of the past, and on the other hand as a little taste on what the new album by Hinkel will be.
Final evaluation: 76/100″

The so-longly expected EP “Heaven And Hell” by Hinkel is finally here!
You had to wait a bit but the result is really worth.

Do you wanna know more?

Here it is:

This EP includes a brand new song, titled “Speed”, two fabulous covers by The Who, and an exclusive live version of “Run”.

Do you wanna listen to something of it??
Just check out the new EP preview track on our music player!

Moreover you can see the band performing live “Speed” (brand new song) and “Baba o’Riley” (the who cover) during our gig in Milan, in the following videos:
Speed: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=53099521
Baba O’Riley: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=53140830
or in the previous blog post.

Do you wanna own it??
You can!

You can get it ONLY on: http://www.hinkel-music.de/songshop.htm
Only 3.49 euros and all mp3’s are DRM free!
The download also includes the cover.

ENJOY!

You can finally see the photos we have taken before, during and after our first gig in Milan, 2 weeks ago.