WMLU (91.3 FM) arranged the music of Longwood’s biggest event of the fall semester: Battle of the Bands. Although it is a competition for money, the sense of community felt between the bands was evident.
It was a hot, sticky night for Battle of the Bands. The crowd was sparsely spaced under the trees and other places that would provide some shade. Mostly, I felt sorry for DJ Rotunda Man, the radio station’s mascot, as I’m sure wearing that big head was roasting him alive. Despite the heat, everyone appeared to be enjoying the music, especially the closing band JACT.
Within a lengthy interview with JACT (comprised of James Adkins, Michael Jordan, Megan Geers and Andrew Sheffield), I learned that there’s more to being a band than just having funny bus stories. The lead singer, Geers, did admit that some spats do happen, but the rest of the band feels they fight “like brothers.” They admitted that, when it comes to being in what feels like a fulltime band, there are sacrifices but none of the members feel like they have wasted their time doing what they love.
Associate Professor of Biology Dr. David Buckalew was one of the judges. In an interview, he explained how he looks forward to the event every year.
He described the main criteria he looks for in the bands by saying, “I just like originality.”
He continued on with an analogy for how he admires the students who get up on stage, comparingittohisfirstdayof classes. “I know the way I feel first day in any class ... I’ve got butterflies.” He loves judging Battle of the Bands, watching the students put forth their raw talent.
There were many artists that played mostly cover works, such as third place winner Kyle Feathers. “[I] try to make it sound like a start, middle and climax,” Feathers explained about his music. He continued to explain that most of the covers he plays are “the crowd pleasers.” Later, he admitted that the idea of making music a fulltime career just isn’t for him. Even though he doesn’t plan on making it his career, Feathers plans to continue to please people with his music on and off the Battle of the Bands stage.
Last year’s Battle of the Bands champions She’s a Legend (Joe Fecondo, Kramer Anderson, Alex McDilda and Sean Flynn) returned this year. This group was one of the only bands that fully interacted with the crowd, often forcing WMLU’s security force toward the front of the stage to keep the crazy music lovers at bay. In an interview after their set, I learned the group really does have just as much chemistry as they made it seem up on the stage.
One group with their own type of sound was the entirely instrumental group dubbed Etherfish (Joseph Drzemiecki, Sean Clunie, Ty Harkins and Kevin Newcomb). The group is made up of all freshmen that met while living in the same building. Most of the time they have their jam sessions in one of the members’ rooms or in Wygal, using “pencils on a desk for drums” with the others bringing along their own instruments. Although the group is newly formed, their sound was the only one of its kind for Battle of the Bands.
Not to be forgotten, the first and second place winners of Battle of the Bands each brought to the table their own experimental riffs. First place went to the soloist Andy Jordan. Standing on stage with his acoustic guitar, he played mostly mellow songs with a few cover songs thrown into the mix. After his session, he surprised me by explaining how he wants to keep music in his life, but only as a hobby. He shared, “I really want to be an archeologist.” He does contend, however, that his musical inspiration came from Phish, whom he followed while they were on tour this past summer.
In second place was the band The Best Mistake (Tyler Webb, Luke Balmer, Cody Morgan and Hieu Nguyen). Most of their song set was comprised of hard rock music, but it did include some of their original songs. Some of their original pieces they felt they could no longer play due to their sound having evolved so much that, as they put it, “We’re on a different level now.”
All of the bands and artists were truly talented. It can be difficult for bands to come up with an impressive sound, but this year’s Battle of the Bands competitors managed to do just that.
