Musical duo reach final of national talent competition
Sophia Jones and Aaron Thompson, collectively known as Asophonics
A CARLOW musical duo have made it to the final of the New Local Hero national competition, which has been running throughout the month of September.
Dubbed Irish Music Month, the initiative is run by magazine in association with independent radio stations nationwide. It is funded by Coimisiún na Meán under the Sound & Vision scheme with support from IMRO, RAAP, Live Nation, Rubyworks and Camden Recording Studios.
Countless musical acts across 21 radio stations took part. Carlow’s Aaron Thompson and Sophia Jones, collectively known as Asophonics, won the support of listeners to KCLR with their song . The pair have now been chosen as part of the final six acts invited to perform live at a special showcase at The Academy in Dublin on Tuesday 15 October.
Speaking to , Aaron said: “It hasn’t fully set in yet. It’s very strange. People have been voting for us, people have been pushing us through, listening to our music and it’s very surreal.” Aaron said that he and Sophia have been playing together for nearly a year so the live performance in the next round of the competition will mark their achievements.
“The local talent pool is incredible so we’re unbelievably grateful to have been chosen to get to this stage. The two of us are very proud of ourselves,” he said.
There’s a whopping €5,000 cash prize, plus an additional €5,000 worth of recording time at Camden Studios up for grabs, as well as song release on the Rubyworks label, with guaranteed airplay on radio stations across the country.
Asophonics play at The Barracks in Carlow town every second weekend and have a gig coming up in the ‘Good Room’ in Scraggs Alley on 11 October. Tickets are available on their social media platforms and their winning song is available to download on streaming platforms.
