VIMA Hall Of Fame : Issa Rodriguez

We kick off our special VIMA 2010 Indie Hall of Fame series, paying tribute to the 7 new inductees.The award is given away to individuals/media who have supported and championed the local music scene over many years.

The previous recipient of this award include Ahmad Izham Omar, OAG, Jason Lo and Jake Abdullah.

Our first inductee is Issa Rodriguez, the National Director of GBOB (Global Battle of The Bands)

Other inductees into the VIMA 2010 Hall Of Fame include Too Phat, Dato Sri Shazalli Ramly, Jasmine Low, Junk Magazine, Clair Vanessa Rozell and Paul Moss.

ISSA RODRIGUEZ

After a ten-year career in broadcast journalism in Manila, Issa Rodriguez moved on to marketing communication and publishing in Kuala Lumpur which has been home to her for the last eight years.

A live music enthusiast at heart and a former vocalist for Rage, one of Manila’s top rock bands in the ‘80s, she first came across The Global Battle of the Bands (The GBOB Challenge) in 2005 when a friend, who was the National Director of GBOB Philippines introduced her to the Founder of GBOB International Ltd. in the UK.

Established worldwide in 2004, GBOB is the world’s biggest live music competition for bands playing their own material, meaning, no cover songs and no pre-recorded music.  And it is the only one that is of a truly global magnitude – over 30 countries to date – open to all bands in all musical genres – whether young or not-so-young, professional or amateur, signed or unsigned by a recording label.  World championship in GBOB is the one true formidable award an aspiring musical group could hope for with the most attractive rewards in terms of artistic gratification, a colossal US$100,000 in prizes, global exposure and every band’s dream for worldwide promotion.

After a stringent qualification process which took more than a year, GBOB International finally awarded Issa the license for GBOB Malaysia in 2007, appointing her National Director.  She was subsequently given the license for GBOB Indonesia, too, in 2008.

A strong believer in Malaysia’s musical talent, Issa has brought the competition to the Malaysian landscape in 2007 to give raw or established musicians the opportunity to springboard into the international music scene. Since then, local band hopefuls that had won the GBOB Malaysia title had risen to the ranks of other world-class musical talents by competing amongst the world’s best bands at The GBOB Challenge World Final held yearly in London.

Whilst GBOB doesn’t necessarily guarantee an instant springboard to fame, it has given bands the opportunity to get noticed by the artist & repertoire departments of big record companies.  GBOB is meant to be the one true breeding ground for home-grown emerging musical talents to be judged and noticed by the most respected figures in the international music business.

As an added feather to her cap, Issa recently received GBOB International’s appointment and exclusive rights for Malaysia to become Host Country of The GBOB Challenge World Final in 2010, the first time ever for the world championship to be held outside of London.

This global event will be the culmination of a series of qualifying heats and concerts held all over the world uniting thousands of international musicians and music fans from all parts of the globe.  Bands from up to 46 countries representing Asia, America, Australasia and Europe will be joined by their followers, music enthusiasts, international music journalists, industry professionals and international judges for a musical showpiece that will attract world attention and hopefully establish Malaysia as a regional hub for international live band music festivals