Event allows young musicians to play for prizes
At 6 p.m. on Feb. 27 at San Benito High School, the deep red
velvet curtains in the auditorium rose and the Battle was on. The
Battle of the Bands, which lasted until 10 p.m., was a showcase of
music by young aspiring local high school bands that love music,
and were determined to win.
While Inevitably Spicy lead vocalist Jacob Oates, and lead
guitarist Erik Wittry, the president of the Rock Guitar Band, sat
in the lobby attempting to sell merchandise and promote their band,
they tried to keep a positive outlook on the competition.
”
Well, I know we won’t get seventh place because there are only
six bands,
”
Oates said.
Event allows young musicians to play for prizes
At 6 p.m. on Feb. 27 at San Benito High School, the deep red velvet curtains in the auditorium rose and the Battle was on. The Battle of the Bands, which lasted until 10 p.m., was a showcase of music by young aspiring local high school bands that love music, and were determined to win.
While Inevitably Spicy lead vocalist Jacob Oates, and lead guitarist Erik Wittry, the president of the Rock Guitar Band, sat in the lobby attempting to sell merchandise and promote their band, they tried to keep a positive outlook on the competition.
“Well, I know we won’t get seventh place because there are only six bands,” Oates said.
While Battle of the Bands consists of high school bands playing for fellow students and locals that are passionate about music, the battle was more of a friendly competition.
Inevitably Spicy reminisced on gigs that hadn’t gone as smoothly.
“We had one bad gig at Mars Hill,” Oates said. “We covered a Baptized in Blood song, and it didn’t go over well. But I don’t regret it.”
“It was definitely a fun night,” Wittry said.
All of the band members love music and love to play gigs, but their band started for a more basic reason.
“We were bored,” Wittry said. “We were sitting at home and thought, ‘Let’s start a band.'”
After that, the name Inevitably Spicy was discovered soon after when they googled Band Generator, and the rest is history.
Inevitably Spicy has been together for two-and-a-half years, but Oates joined the band a year after they first started out.
Unlike popular music in society today, Oates has high hopes and admirable aspirations for the future starting with the song “Millennial Shout.”
“Everything in this generation is pop-y and commercial,” Oates said. “We wanted it [Millennial Shout] to have heart. I think that the next generation should have more heart. Everything should; books, movies, and music.”
Their most popular song is Long March of Hunger, Oates said.
“And we finally finished it today,” Wittry said.
When the topic of pursuing music as a career was addressed, Oates and Wittry remained down to earth about fame and immediate success.
“If the opportunity arises then great, but we’re not one of those bands that’s like, ‘We need to get signed.’
Fugu, is another popular band at SBHS and if there is a local show going on, Fugu will most likely be involved. The band consists of three members, Robert Brown as lead vocalist and bass guitarist, Kevin Thome on lead guitar and Adam Davis on drums. The trio has also played at Cafe du Nord in San Francisco.
The venue has showcased artists like Fountains Of Wayne, Ingrid Michaelson, Cage the Elephant and American Idol winner Taylor Hicks.
While waiting for their stage call, Fugu answered a few questions, including one about their band name.
“Fugu is a non-poisonous fish. Like in sushi, we’re the good part,” Thome and Brown said.
“We were looking through a dictionary, and we found Fugu. We had a few other names to choose from, but we ended up with Fugu.”
For some of the bands that played, Battle of the Bands is the highlight of their year gig-wise, but for Fugu it’s just their Saturday night.
“We played a show at Mars Hill last night,” they said. “We’ve had a good week.”
“We are playing at Mars Hill on March 20 and a March 6 show is a maybe,” Thome said.
When it comes to practice, Thome remains modest yet realistic.
“Adam [Davis] just finished wrestling and I’m in volleyball so we practice when we can but it doesn’t help much.”
While some bands write about love or take the opposite approach and take part in the teenage angst trend, Fugu goes where no one else has, Brown explained.
“‘Empty Street’ is probably the most popular. It was inspired by Nazi zombies. Zombies are real. And ‘Snicker doodle’ means the most to us because we love food.”
When high school ends, the band members hope to continue playing.
“We definitely want to pursue music in the future,” Brown said. “We want to play with Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers.”Â
Another band, Tragic Comeback, competed in Battle of the Bands for the first time without their drummer.
In between songs, Michelle Vargas, lead vocalist, guitarist, and pianist, made an effort to connect with the audience, including asking if anyone knew any good jokes.
During their set of six songs, Vargas began to play “Paper Planes” by M.I.A., which is a cover. At a benefit concert that would be accepted, but at a battle, all the songs have to be original.
As Tom Rooth, Rock Guitar Club advisor and San Benito High School English teacher, reminded the band of the rule, the crowd began to chant, “Let them play,” and they played.
After the set, while Vargas was backstage putting her instruments away, she gave insight to Tragic Comeback. Tragic Comeback is also a trio consisting of Michelle Vargas, Robert Blasingame on bass guitar, and Danny Perales on drums.
Although the band hasn’t been together for very long, band members Vargas and Perales have been interested in starting a band for a long time.
“We’ve been a band for about a year,” Vargas said. “Danny and I grew up together. We’ve been playing since sixth grade … In middle school we went to a Battle of the Bands just to see what it was like.”
“We haven’t really played enough to have a most popular song, but if I had to choose one it would be ‘Is.'”
After Tragic Comeback booked a gig in San Francisco, they decided to take the motto “practice makes perfect” seriously.
“When we played a show in San Francisco last November we practiced every day for two months,” she said. “But after it was over, we took a break for about one month.”
“We’re just having fun,” Vargas said, though she admitted they entertain thoughts of being signed. “It’s not the most feasible.”
A twist was added to the competition this time when Tool Shed Records upped the stakes by offering the winner a free three-song demo.
The $100 Guitar Center gift card and free demo went to Inevitably Spicy.Second place and a $75 Guitar Center gift card went to Fugu, and third went to Burned on the Stake along with a $50 gift card.
Tool Shed Record is a recording studio in Gilroy. Other bands to play included Iron Storm, Jump Start and Never Was.
Representatives Brian Gibbs and Forest Wilson graduated from SBHS in 1992, and were involved in Battle of the Bands when they were students. They both later attended the Berkeley School of Music in Boston.
For more information on Tool Shed Records, call Gibbs at 617-980-1717 or Wilson at 297-0310.
