Liam Barrack

Song: Sick Kisses

Song: A Love That Cannot Live But Never Dies

After a hotly contested competition that ended in a photo finish, we are happy to announce that Liam Barrack has won the IMSTA Song Competition 2020 Edition. Both Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the competition finals received songs of the highest quality. The Phase 2 finalists were given a theme, which was "A Love That Cannot Live But Never Dies". However, the competition was interrupted by the pandemic and the suspension of the Song Camp at Blackrock Studios in Santorini for 2 years. In the end, Liam edged out strong entries from the second place finisher Seyblu and closely in third Farrah Mitha. Liam Barrack is a singer/songwriter who has been learning and playing music from a very young age, and his goal is to pursue a career in music full time.

Born and raised in Toronto, Canada. Liam Barrack is currently in university for a double major in music and computer science. He started doing music from a very young age; his parents made him take ten years of piano training, and, ironically, he hated every second of it. It wasn’t until around grade 10 that he started getting interested personally in music, and began teaching himself guitar and jamming with anyone who was interested.

Since then he has been working with a producer and various other people who help him create fully fleshed out versions of the songs he write. His goal is to have his music career permit be self-sustaining, so that he may focus on it full time.

For more of Liam Barrack, please check him out on his links below:

IMSTA INTERVIEW
INSTAGRAM
YOUTUBE
LINKEDIN

Lee Byung Wook

Song: See Me Now

Lee Byung Wook heard about IMSTA FESTA Seoul just a few days before the 2018 event. On a whim, he took one of his songs in to be reviewed. Not only did the song pick up a Wild Card for entry into the Korea finals, the song won 1st place. Then he was re-entered into a draw, competing against the 1st place winners of Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Berlin, Toronto and won again. Lee won the Grand Prize and took a trip to Black Rock Studios on Santorini Island - said to be the most beautiful studio in the world. Congratulations Lee!

Lee came into the competition as a relative unknown and early on went up against older, more experienced K-pop songwriters from Korea who are already getting their work placed. He delivered a contest entry that outshone every other song at the regional competition in Seoul and later found similar success in the final round of judging. With his song, he demonstrated a mastery of Western pop and his talent working with recording and mixing technologies. Since winning the competition, Lee has been picked up by a Seoul-based production group, becoming a professional member of the field.

Black Rock will be among the first stops along Lee's future path. A combination luxury villa and world-class recording studio, Black Rock has hosted numerous chart-topping songwriters, artists, and producers. Over the course of four days, Lee will join other songwriters from different cities and countries to write four songs. He'll have the opportunity to make industry connections spanning the globe and to carry on international collaboration following the songwriting camp.

Mademe X

Song: Q.U.E.E.N

Congratulations to Mademe X who has won the grand prize of going to a songwriting camp at Black Rock Studios on Santorini Island in Greece.

In Toronto, Mademe X made money selling music at a record store by day, to make music at night. “I wrote, produced and arranged everything, but I still needed someone to press the damn buttons and bring it to life while I sang in the booth,” she says. “Doing it on your own is like playing a jukebox, the music only plays when you insert the coins.” And coin by coin, her first single was born.

Q.U.E.E.N sounds like an introspective slow burner at first, but it warns you it will catch fire in lyrics like “I know just what I’m doing, I know just where I’m supposed to be,” which segues into an empowering and powerful chorus that clings to your head. You soon realize that the song reads like a battle plan, one that spends little time dwelling on the casualties of life’s daily wars, choosing instead to clamour for a crown; and your ears.

Hailing from Toronto, Mademe X has been getting her elbows greased in the industry for some time. Since 2011, she had found her way into the pit of the industry, working behind the scenes with fashion designers for many well known recording artists. After a few years of being behind the curtain, a manager of an artist she was working with shifted her journey to musical composition.

You can find a gallery of her trip to Santorini Island here.

Adam Avery

Song: Half Way to You

Congratulations to Adam Avery who has won the grand prize of going to a songwriting camp at Black Rock Studios on Santorini Island in Greece.

Adam Avery is an ASCAP songwriter who lives with his wife and four children in Burlington, Vermont. He earned his first cut in 2012 when his song Redefined, was recorded by Chicago based band, Daniel's Window. His other recent songwriting accomplishments include:

• Song placement in the 2014 film, Touched By Grace
• Finalist in the 2014 USA Songwriting Contest (over 45,000 entries)
• Finalist in 2014 International Songwriting Competition (over 18,000 entries)
• Winner of the Songwriter Universe Song of the Month Contest in July 2014
• Finalist in the 2013 Great American Song Contest
• Finalist in the 2013 Show Me The Music Contest

Adam focuses primarily in the pop & country genres, but is always looking for co-writing opportunities that grow and stretch him as a writer. If he's learned anything about songwriting, it's that the destination is the journey.

You can find a gallery of his trip to Santorini Island here.