SpinTunes 18 - Meet the Judges

With sign-ups closing on Friday, you still have a few days to throw your hat in the ring for SpinTunes 18! Each round, you'll receive feedback and get ranked against the other contestants by our panel of five volunteer judges. Who are these judges, you ask? Read their bios below; then, if you haven't already, head over to the sign-up page!

Also in Blue
Also in Blue is the nom de guerre of an overeducated, under-stimulated songwriter without a serious direction, who writes what he can, when he can (usually at the expense of doing the dishes or getting a reasonable amount of sleep). He is a long-time FAWMer, and winner of SpinTunes 17. This will be his first SpinTunes as a judge, and he’s super stoked about it!

Boy on the Wall
Hi, I'm Brian! I record pop songs for fun as Boy on the Wall and have competed in SpinTunes three times recently under that moniker. That includes barely missing out on the last slot in the finals of SpinTunes 13 to fellow judges Jerkatorium... not that I'm bitter about it or anything. I'm also the singer and songwriter of erstwhile Minneapolis-based band The Remembers, who even released one of my SpinTunes compositions as a proper single a couple years ago. SpinTunes has been a great boost to my own songwriting and I hope to play a role in the same for yours as a judge. I'll never dock you points for having fun on these tracks, I promise. 

Chumpy
Chumpy is half of the band Jerkatorium, where he sings, plays rhythm guitar, twiddles knobs, and occasionally writes songs. Chumpy is also a prolific song reviewer, with over 200 posts on SongFight's "Fight Discussion and Reviews" board, and has appeared on all 47 episodes of the Two Jerks One Vote song reviews podcast. Chumpy is most impressed by songs that make him feel something or feature harmonized electric guitars.

Leonie Connellan (Hot Pink Halo)

Sometime in 2017 Leonie moved from Melbourne, Australia to Dublin, Ireland. In 2019 she moved from Dublin to Cork, walked into Cork City Library and discovered a treasure trove of books about music, along with a replica of Rory Gallagher’s guitar. She borrowed a book called “31 Songs” by Nick Hornby, where Nick admitted that he had tried and failed miserably at songwriting. “C’mon Nick, it can’t be that hard…” thought Leonie. And thus, Hot Pink Halo was born.

Leonie has been submitting Hot Pink Halo songs to Songfight ever since. She’s also participated in two rounds of Nur Ein and one Spintunes, where she had the honour of being cut not just once, but twice. Prior to starting this songwriting adventure, she set up a tradition of buying a new instrument as a souvenir of every holiday, and will give anything a crack. She enjoys a wide range of musical styles. When she isn’t making Hot Pink Halo songs, Leonie works as a visual artist, illustrator, writer and arts educator. You can see her artwork and find a bunch of links to different projects at http://www.crumpart.net

Ryan Finholm
Ryan Finholm is half of Jerkatorium, half of All the Robots, half of Matchy Matchy, and all of Hanky Code.  Jerkatorium won SpinTunes 13, plus several Song Fight competitions at SongFight.org.  Ryan is also the co-host of the Two Jerks One Vote podcast, which does reviews of SpinTunes, SongFight, and Nur Ein competitions.  The Two Jerks One Vote podcast somehow made the list of the "Top 20 Songwriting Audio Podcasts & Radio You Must Subscribe and Listen to in 2019" at the Traveling Rockstars blog, the "Top 25 Songwriting Podcasts You Must Follow in 2021" at the Feedspot blog, and the list of "27 Best Podcasts for Songwriters" for 2021 at the Open Mic UK music competition website.