Central FL Hard Rock/Metal Band M99 Wins 1st Annual HEAR for the Holidays Contest

This past Saturday night, 101.1 WJRR's Native Noise Host (and Maverick Brand Ambassador) Supa Dave hosted his first HEAR for the Holidays Contest Show at The Haven, in Orlando. In October, bands from all over Florida had the opportunity to enter the contest and have their fans vote for them over the course of about a month. The top 4 bands who received the most votes then moved on to the Finals, which took place last Saturday. The top 4 bands who earned enough votes to advance were Breathing Theory (Melbourne, FL), Kill the Sound (Orlando, FL), Dark Summer (Orlando, FL) and M99 (Ocala, FL). The prize up for grabs: a $2,000 gift certificate for custom in-ear monitors from InEarz Audio and a Signature Band Endorsement by Maverick Apparel Co. 

All 4 bands marketed the event out to their fans on social and the crowd at the Live Show was amazing. Ocala, FL based M99 brought out a bus of fans who made the trip down from Jacksonville & Ocala. As the bus pulled up to the front of the Haven and fans began to disembark the bus, loud chants of "M99! M99! M99!" could be heard. Their fans then began to flood into the venue with energy, ready to support M99 on their mission to be crowned the winner. As fans entered the venue, each attendee was provided a ballot to cast their vote for one of the 4 bands. Each of the 4 bands came into the Finals with determination and played their hearts out on stage, providing those fans in attendance with quite a show. 

After the last set, Supa Dave tallied up the votes and at midnight, it was official...as Supa made his way onstage to announce the winner, the crowd continued to chant "M99! M99! M99!" as they eagerly awaited to hear who would be named the winner. M99 came out victorious, taking the stage to greet fans yet again with smiles and hugs to the cheers of their fans.

Maverick Apparel Co. Co-owner/Founder Brian Paul was asked about his thoughts on the contest and M99 being crowned the winner,  "When Supa first told me about the idea for the contest, I was already on board. We support Supa and he supports us, and events like this are exciting to watch unfold because it not only takes the bands effort, but also the effort of their fans. All four bands who made it to the finals put on a hell of a show...you could feel the energy in the room Saturday night." Brian went on to add, "Any of those four bands would make a great addition to our roster of endorsed bands, and in fact, one of them already is," he said laughing (referring to Kill the Sound who is already on their endorsed roster of bands). "We watched from a distance, on social media, leading up to the show, and what really impressed us was how the bands marketed themselves and rallied their fans to come out in support. When we heard about their [M99] bus idea, Jesse and I were like 'That is genius'...we love seeing bands think outside of the box in creating a unique fan experience, and M99 did just that."

Co-owner/Founder Jesse Florentine also added, "I was really impressed with the fan engagement at the show...the energy and excitement that the fans brought to the show was incredible. As Brian mentioned, we would have been more than excited to work with any of those bands, but the support that M99 had at the show was amazing. We are so excited to have added them to our family."

A couple of weeks ago, Maverick Apparel Co. announced that they were limiting the number of Signature Endorsed bands that they were endorsing, but due to high demand (by bands) to be a part of the Maverick family, the company rolled out a second level called "General Endorsed Bands". Brian spoke a little more on the topic adding, "We would love to endorse all of the bands, but we have to be cognizant of the fact that we do not want to take on more than we can handle in terms of providing our Signature Bands with the attention they deserve. Jesse and I talked it over and decided the best approach was to limit our Signature Endorsed Bands roster while adding another opportunity for other bands to still be involved with Maverick." M99 was one of the last bands to be added on as a Signature Endorsed band, with both Brian & Jesse adding that there is one other band that has been in the works to be announced for some time now, and will be officially announced in the coming week or so, rounding out their Signature Endorsed Band roster. Stay tuned to Maverick's social media pages for that announcement.

About M99:

Genre: Alternative NuMetal

Members: Ash Canzie (vocals), Shawn Hannigan (vocals), Cristofer Williams (guitar), Zech Connolly (guitar), James "Vegas" Castaldo (bass), Joey Yeater (drums)

You can find M99's music on all streaming music platforms, including their newest single "Queen".

For more information on Maverick's Signature & General Endorsed Bands, please see links below:

Maverick Signature Endorsed Bands

Maverick General Endorsed Bands