Hannah Epperson is one among many applicants for the 102.7 The Peak’s Performance Project.
LOCAL BANDS VIE FOR $102,700
On June 11, 102.7 The Peak packed Fortune Sound Club with music fans awaiting the night’s crucial set of announcements: the Top 20 for this year’s Peak Performance Project (PPP). The PPP is the radio station’s annual competition for local artists to network with the music industry, grow a larger fan base and receive money (including a $102,700 grand prize) to develop their professional careers.
At the time of the announcements, PPP applicant Hannah Epperson was busy preparing for a 30-person-strong show in Quebec City. “I’ll be totally honestly with you. Andy Huculiak [from We Are The City] found a glitch on the Internet — the Top 20 were online before the Fortune Sound Club results. I felt pretty sneaky,” she admits. “It was pretty funny and a bit anticlimactic because we were all sound checking and Andy walked up to me and said ‘Guess what, Hannah!’ and I was thinking ‘What the heck?’ as he was telling me what had happened.” Last year, Epperson joined Dominique Fricot for the project’s week-long boot camp as part of Four on the Floor, who participated as Fricot’s backup band. “One of the most important things I learned from the staff last year is that everyone is human,” she says. “Building positive relationships and trust in people within the industry is the one of the most crucial things you can do at the end of the day.” Now, Epperson will embark on her own journey through the various stages of this year’s Peak Performance Project, which includes a series of showcases at Fortune Sound Club in September and online voting to determine the Top 5. But, first thing’s first: along with the Top 20, she will perform as part of the line-up at Kitsilano’s summer music and arts festival, Khatsahlano.
“I’m really looking forward to Khatsahlano,” Epperson says brightly. “It’ll be exciting to finally meet all of the other bands and to start building friendships with them. It’s going to be such a huge treat.”
The Peak Performance Project Top 20 will perform at Khatsahlano on July 13 on West 4th Ave.
By Kristina Charania
