Audition PROCEDURE
Protocols for auditioning to perform with The Rumba Kings
We’re an original band that performs in theaters with a pretty large musical ensemble, anywhere from 15 to 22 musicians, vocalists and dancers are in the show. We are primarily an instrumental band, but we feature guest vocalists throughout the show. For instance, when we perform at The Triple Door, many times we'll feature three different vocalists, singing in different styles and languages.
Although the show is built around instrumental music, we incorporate dancers and singers for variety, but the audience is primarily coming to see the instrumental show. This is a great opportunity for up-and-coming singers to perform in front of a sold-out house for performances at such venues as Triple Door, and other large theaters in the Pacific Northwest (at this time), with a large orchestra behind them which includes a string quartet.
We’re always a looking for the best of the best musicians, vocalist, and dancers to include into our productions.
The best way to get a sense of what we’re doing is to check out the live videos on our website.
Our Auditioning Process:
The first step is to send us three examples of your prior work via mp3, youtube links, or streaming links.
If this is approved to go to the next step, we'll prepare a packet for you with the materials you'll need and send you via email or wetransfer.com.
Most auditions are done remotely, whereas the musical director, Johnny Bacolas, would send you the music and lyrics, (if you're a vocalist) and you would record your parts over the provided material in your DAW and send back to us as demonstration recordings. If you don’t have access to recording equipment, you can schedule a time to come to Johnny's studio and record your tracks there. This is the same process for all musicians regardless of the instrument.
Once the demonstration recordings are completed you'll send them back to us and they'll be reviewed and we'll get back to you in a timely manner with either an approval, a decline, or a request for a revision. The revision process can take several attempts. Performances will generally be approved or declined within four (4) revisions. We'll usually know by then if your contributions will be a good fit for our music and our live shows. Please be patient during this process as it's critically-important in deciding whether or not we'll add you to our team of highly-skilled artists. We not only take into account your performance, but also your communication, your attitude, your efficiency in getting material back to us, and if you're good for your word when you give us a timeline that you'll send the material back to us for review.
This is one of the most popular shows in the Pacific Northwest, and we plan on expanding to other markets soon. We’re very selective on who joins us on stage and on our recordings. We only work with professionals and take pride in the fact that we have some of the best musicians and dancers in the world on our team. Good communication is critically important, as is an overall professional work ethic and conduct.
As mentioned earlier, Johnny Bacolas is the Musical Director for the shows. He's also one of the founders of The Rumba Kings, the band’s bassist, and the producer/engineer of the band's recorded music.
Please let us know if you have any further questions by contacting us directly at the email address below, and please check out the videos of live performances in our website or our youtube channel.
You can send any demos or videos to the following email address.
Please read our Artist Agreement's policy for auditioning below this section. It's more detailed. The Artist Agreement must be signed and returned to us at the email listed below prior to any audition and/or performances with The Rumba Kings.
If we approve your demo recording of our music and once we receive a signed Artist Agreement, we'll provide you access to the team Dropbox folder with all the recorded music and other material and info you'll need for your performance (set list, day of show itinerary, etc). We'll also also add you to the stage plot and input list. Please let us know if you use In-Ear Monitors and have a good system such a a Shure PSM300, and if you run it stereo or mono.
Also, once approved, please immediately (within 48 hours) send us a short HD (1920x1080) video clip of you performing live (with no other musicians in the clip), and/or 2-3 high res photos for promotional purposes (video commercials, print ads, flyers). You can send these via email or via www.wetransfer.com. Also please send us signed W9 Form which you can get online.
Please read and download The Artist Agreement below.
Also, if you're a singer, please advise us what languages you can you sing in the email you send to us with the signed agreement.
Send submissions to:
Subject: Audition Submission
(by permission only)