Audition PROCEDURE

At the heart of our musical journey is an original band, harmonizing within the grandeur of theaters alongside an expansive ensemble. Our shows are a symphony of artistry, bringing together a collective of 15 to 22 musicians, vocalists, and dancers. We're primarily an instrumental show, yet we gracefully weave the voices of guest vocalists into our performances.

For instance, when performing our shows, our audience is treated to a diverse vocal tapestry, often featuring two to four distinct vocalists, each singing in unique styles and languages. It's a testament to our commitment to offering a vibrant, multilayered experience.

While our foundation is instrumental, we infuse our performances with the mesmerizing movements of dancers and the soul-stirring voices of singers. 

However, it's the instrumental magic that takes center stage, captivating our audience's hearts and souls. This is what our show was built from over 9 years or performing live This unique blend is what draws our audience in, with instrumental music as the main attraction.

For aspiring singers, our shows at venues like the Triple Door and PAC's present a remarkable opportunity to shine in front of a sold-out audience, backed by a magnificent orchestra, with beautiful well-crafted arrangements, that includes a dynamic string quartet. It's a stage that elevates emerging talent to new heights.

Our quest for excellence never ceases. We are continually on the lookout for the crème de la crème of musicians, vocalists, and dancers to enrich our productions. If you're intrigued and want to grasp the essence of our musical odyssey, we invite you to explore the live videos on our website. They offer an immersive glimpse into the captivating world we create.

**Our Auditioning Process**

Step 1:

The first step is to send us at least three examples of your prior work via mp3, youtube links, or streaming links.

Step 2:

If step 2 is approved and green-lighted to go forward, we'll prepare a packet for you via a dropbox link with the materials you'll need to rehearse to, and if you have a home studio, to record over.

Most auditions are done remotely, whereas the musical director, Johnny Bacolas, would send you the music backtrack and lyrics of 5 songs, (if you're a vocalist) or the backtrack and charts of 5 songs (if you're an instrumentalist) 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 in Kirkland, WA and record your tracks there.  This is the same process for all musicians regardless of the instrument.

Step 3:

If we approve you to move to the next step, an Artist Agreement must be signed by you at this time and sent back to us, as well as a W9 Form, in order to proceed to the next step of actually collaborating with us.

Step 4 (final step):

Once the demonstration recordings are completed you'll send them back to us as mp3's via email, or via a file delivery service such at wetransfer.com or dropbox, and we'll review them.  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 from our experience.  We'll usually know by then if collaborating with you 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.   We not only take into account your performance, but also your communication, your attitude, conduct, 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.

Our Show:

The band recently signed to The Gersh Agency, Beverly Hills, CA.  This is one of the most popular shows in the Pacific Northwest, and we plan on expanding to other markets soon across the US.  We’re very selective on who joins our team 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.  We want to stress that good communication is critically important, as is an overall professional work ethic and professional conduct.

As mentioned earlier, Johnny Bacolas is the Musical Director for the live shows.  He's also one of the co-founders of The Rumba Kings, the band’s bassist, the music producer & chief engineer of the band's recorded music, and video producer/director/editor.  All correspondences should be only directed to him.

ARTIST AGREEMENT

Please read our Artist Agreement's policy for auditioning below this section.   There is an updated version for 2025..  As mentioned above, The Artist Agreement must be signed and returned to us at the email listed below prior to any collaborations with The Rumba Kings.  

If we approve your demo recordings 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 pro level system such a a Shure PSM300, and if you run it stereo or mono.  We'll need a detailed list of the equipment you'll be using for the input list and FOH engineer.  We have a pro IEM system you can use if you dont have one.  We use a Presonus studiolive 32 mixer with a splitter.  You must provide your own ears (earbuds)

Photo and/Video for Promo Material

Also, if you're approved, and upon request only, please  send us (within 48 hours) 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 (for our 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 The Artist Agreement below.  We send you a revised version for 2025.

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. 

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.

Send submissions to:

Subject: Audition Submission

johnny.bacolas@gmail.com

Team Dropbox Folder Access

(by permission only)