In creating a band, musical ability is probably the most
important component. But as the groups entering San Benito High
School’s Battle of the Bands contest know: Creativity in coming up
with your band’s name comes in at a close second.
Hollister – In creating a band, musical ability is probably the most important component. But as the groups entering San Benito High School’s Battle of the Bands contest know: Creativity in coming up with your band’s name comes in at a close second.
That’s why at tonight’s competition, you’ll see bands with names like Dark Horse Battalion, Bear and Bull Fights and The Final Hour. Most of the bands search out a band name that not only sounds cool, but also has a particular meaning for the members.
Soon after San Benito students Robert Tabrizi, Bob Martindelcampo, Elijah Pollard, Adam Davis and Allan Aguirre decided to form a band, they knew they had to come up with a fitting name.
“We had been winning competitions, but no one knew who we were. So we were the dark horse,” said Martindelcampo, 16.
He admitted he had heard the phrase before, but looked up the exact definition of “dark horse” on the Internet.
“Battalion” was added later – discussed and agreed upon over a meal at Burger King.
The five-person band is one of 10 high school groups playing at San Benito’s third annual Battle of the Bands on Saturday. English teacher Tom Rooth, who serves as adviser to the Rock Guitar Club, organized the event.
For most of the bands, who practice in the high school’s band room or in their parents’ garages, events like this are their one chance to show off their skills and hard work to peers.
For the members of Dark Horse Battalion, playing together came naturally.
“We got together and jammed and it just worked,” said Davis, 15.
Most of the boys, who range from sophomores to seniors, have played together in the high school’s marching band for several years.
“We just had a lot of downtime between and after class and marching band practice and we just started to jam,” Martindelcampo said.
Getting together and jamming is how the band comes up with songs, Davis said. He explained that the guitars would start a riff. Then he would add a beat with his drums. And then the bass would come in. After deciding on a melody they like, they add lyrics.
Song lyric ideas are scrawled down during class. Martindelcampo admits that some of his best ideas came to him during biology class.
The other bands describe similar creative processes. Members of Beeftone, which plays alternative or hard rock, said that a lot of time the jamming inspires creativity, but doesn’t necessarily produce songs.
“We just jam until a song gets made,” said Dean Friedman, 16.
This can mean playing for extended stretches of time without actually creating a song.
“In the past year, I think maybe we’ve written a total of two full songs. We change our minds a lot,” said Tristan Kane, 16.
Beeftone’s members said they were influenced by Radiohead and Queens of the Stone Age.
Martindelcampo described Dark Horse’s music as a blend of blues and power rock. Elijah Pollard, 17, said he has a metal influence, citing Metallica as heavily swaying his style. All agreed that despite its intimidating name, Dark Horse Battalion’s musical style couldn’t be summed up by a single genre or style.
“It depends what kind of mood we’re in,” Davis said.
“Music is our genre,” said Robert Tabrizi, 16.
Rooth said that by no means do students in the Rock Guitar Club fit into one genre.
“We’ve had classic rock bands, nuevo-classic crock, ska, heavy metal bands, punk and grunge, funk and farce bands,” Rooth said.
Vallan Fuss, 16, a member of RSP – “Really Stupid People” – describes his band’s music as “hard-core punk,” citing Sublime and Black Flag as bands to which they look up.
“I like the hard-core stuff,” said another member, Miles Munoz, 15. “It just kind of fits us.”
Nyles Holt, 15, a member of the two-man band Baptised in Blood, said his band’s genre is Norwegian black metal, which is more “raw” and “thrashy” than other black metal styles.
Holt and band mate Bryce Butler, 16, even came up with stage names for their band: Lord Morket and Darlig.
But playing an obscure genre doesn’t always win points with the judges. Both boys agreed they don’t expect to win at Battle of the Bands.
“Our style is not really mainstream, and it’s really loud,” Holt said.
Win or lose, most of the members of the various bands entering Saturday’s contest agreed it’s a good opportunity to listen to other musicians.
“Hopefully at the gig we’ll see some good competition,” said Aguirre, 17, of Dark Horse Battalion.
And the competition will also give them a chance to attract some attention of their own – a big draw of joining a band.
“I started a band just for the ladies mostly,” Munoz said, “just to get known.”
“But mostly for fun,” interjected Fuss.
