Blake Fullmer, UCLA second-year undeclared student, could be the next pop music sensation. The singer recently won the “Your Big Break” contest, earning his band a place on the stage at this year’s Wango Tango concert, taking place May 10 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater.
“Your Big Break,” put on by KIIS-FM, required entrants to submit a video of themselves performing. From there the contest for the best musician or band was in the hands of the fans, who placed their votes online.
After thousands of votes earned him a place in the top 25, Fullmer turned on the computer one day to see his name emblazoned across the KIIS-FM home page as the No. 1 voted-upon entry.
Fullmer, who began singing at the age of 10, has covered a wide variety of genres, from classical to pop.
He has also been fortunate enough to work with the likes of Seth Riggs, who was the vocal coach for Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder, and drummer Gary Mallaber, who has recorded with The Beach Boys, Barbara Streisand and other well-known artists. In 2005, Fullmer performed in the Kodak Theatre as the only English-singing artist among featured Korean pop groups such as Shinhwa, Jinusean and Koyote.
After experimenting with many different styles, Fullmer has found his niche by joining forces with his 18-year-old brother Austin Fullmer to write their own songs. By combining Austin’s rocker, Bon Jovi-influenced style with Blake’s mellow, romantic manner, the brothers were able to write original works reminiscent of Blake’s inspirations: Elton John, Billy Joel and Stevie Wonder.
“They had the powerful, love ballad type of stuff, but they also had stuff you could rock out to and have a party with,” Blake Fullmer said.
“Ballads are where I tend to shine the most, but sometimes I like to have music that’s more fun too. Right now I’m really trying to strike a balance; they’re different worlds musically.”
Judging by his recent victory, his distinctive combination of genres is a winner. The song that won Fullmer the contest with, titled “I Wanna Rock,” was one of the first Blake wrote with his brother after a period during which both of them had been doing covers rather than creating their own music. The pop/rock tune features lyrics like “I wanna rock / I got nowhere to go / I won’t stop,” reflecting the zeal Fullmer has for performing.
“I wanted to start being more creative on the writing side because that’s where the real fun is. We just decided to take a stab at it. We might suck at writing, but we might not. We just dove into it and kept writing,” Fullmer said.
While winning the contest was quite an honor, it has brought up quite a few responsibilities as well. Besides keeping up with his schoolwork, Fullmer spends his days organizing rehearsals for his bands, talking with KIIS-FM representatives to prepare for the big day at Wango Tango and generating a strong fan base around campus.
“I voted for Blake many times (in the “˜Your Big Break’ contest),” said Alexis Nelson, second-year art history student.
“He has what it takes in this industry. I can picture him as the next big Disney teenybopper heartthrob that acts and sings; hopefully he can dance too.”
UCLA students have been more than willing to deliver their support.
With the combination of support from his fans and his love of performing, Fullmer hopes to put on a first-class show in the limelight at Wango Tango.
“I just really think the UCLA Bruin support helped a lot, more than anything,” Fullmer said.