After sifting through many submissions, Concert Board has picked five bands that will compete in a battle royale at 5 p.m. Saturday at Hotung Café. These final five have made it through a competitive selection process and are prepared to bring their A game to the stage. The winner, as always, will earn an opening spot at Spring Fling on April 26.
Sophomore Rachael Hogan, a production assistant for Concert Board, explained the selection process. "After hearing samples of two songs for each band, Concert Board members write down their top three [bands] on an anonymous ballot," she said. "The five bands with the most total votes are selected to play [Battle of the Bands]." She also noted that none of the board members are told the bands' identities; the process is thus completely objective.
"At the Battle, there will be a live panel of four students, one from each class, and one faculty member," Hogan said. "They will score the bands in five different categories, and the winner will be announced that night."
When listening to the bands' demo recordings, the board members place emphasis on what they think the community at large, with many different tastes, will favor. "In general, I think a main factor for people is how they think the band's sound will go over at Spring Fling," Hogan said. "People listen for a more upbeat style and an overall polished presentation that they think will be fun to watch at Fling."
After listening to 13 different demos, Hogan was impressed at the talent demonstrated by the entries. "It is really surprising how much talent is on campus," she said. "All of them really impressed me. It's apparent how much effort people put into their music, and I really respect them for that."
Most of these groups are fairly new to the Tufts community, so many students may not have heard of any of these bands. To help shed some light, the Daily sat down with each band to find out what they are planning to bring to the table on Saturday.
The Situation
Made up of freshmen Nate Ingraham on vocals and guitar, Patrick Anderson on bass and Nate Typrowicz-Cohen on lead guitar and sophomore Mike Gleichman beating the skins, The Situation is one of the newest bands on the Tufts scene. It was just this winter that Ingraham approached fellow South Hall residents Typrowicz-Cohen and Gleichman about putting together a band.
"After deciding to give the band a try, we recruited Tilton resident and friend Patrick Anderson to play bass," Ingraham said. "After a few jam sessions, our first gig at Hotung was scheduled, and it took off from there."
The Situation draws influence from a variety of genres and artists including John Mayer, Sam Cooke and Maroon 5. Ingraham describes the style as "a fusion of rock, jazz, funk, blues, reggae and soul. As musicians who have played in jazz groups in the past, it is important for us to bring a strong groove to our music while also taking in influence from our favorite artists."
In order to get practice time, the band holds ad hoc acoustic rehearsals in their dorm rooms in South but moves to the Aidekman Arts Center practice rooms when it's time to take the volume up a notch.
From the band's live show, Ingraham said viewers can expect "a combination of energy, groove, subdivisions, harmonies, melody, ripping solos and a tenacious desire to do what we love." The band has found that it's not hard to find Tuftonians willing to listen to good live music. "We could not be in a better place for expressing ourselves," Ingraham said.
Jinah's Music Administration
Fronted by senior Jinah Kim, who has been honing her craft for years, both in Boston and abroad (she did a stint at Oxford), Jinah's Music Administration has recently come together to bring a more rocking sound to Kim's songwriting skills. Aside from Kim, the band includes seniors Amod Rajbhandari on guitar and Fabian Chang on bass as well as grad student Daniel Kehr on drums.
Jinah's Music Administration, which got its name from a sign for "the administration only" on a rehearsal room door, will bring its own special brand of indie pop-punk to Hotung. Kim lists her biggest influences as Alanis Morissette, Joni Mitchell, Pete Yorn, Aimee Mann and Nick Drake.
Surprisingly, this is the first show the group has done as a whole. Kim has done numerous shows alone with her guitar but is excited to bring a bigger sound on Saturday. Rajbhandari guarantees "jaw-dropping, blood-pumping, face-melting solos on stage."
While building a name on campus, Kim has found a favorable response. "I think it's relatively easy to break out in the Tufts music scene because the on-campus venues are very receptive to having student performers," she said. "I guess it's just about knowing where to look and who to go to about getting the gigs. Word of mouth is also huge, so the more people know that you play music, the better."
The Ride
Another fresh-faced young band, The Ride came together in the first few months of the fall semester. The funk/rock/jazz group is made up of six freshmen: Josh Friedmann on bass, Rob Resnick on drums, Justin Binder on guitar and a horn section of Alex Hoffman and Zach Meyer on alto sax and Aaron Cannon on trumpet.
The band is mostly funk- and rock-oriented, with Binder citing John Scofield, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Parliament and Weather Report as some of its many influences.
At live shows, the band emphasizes keeping the energy up and the audience involved. "We like to play upbeat songs that make the audience want to move," Binder said. "The horn section provides driving lines that the audience can groove to. We improvise a lot and maintain an element of spontaneity in our playing so that the audience won't get bored."
Getting a large group together to rehearse has proved a bit difficult, but all the members find time once or twice a week to meet up in the Aidekman practice rooms. Binder notes that frat houses also provide a good spot to work out song ideas and pull the band together.
In a short time, the band has played at Hotung twice, at a few fraternities on campus, at the Phoenix Landing in Central Square and even in the far and distant land of Brown University in Providence, R.I.
The group agrees that the music scene at Tufts is quite fertile and supportive of new bands. "Tufts has a thriving music scene with a lot of student bands and opportunity for performance," Binder said. "Parties are always looking for live music, and the members of our band have been very resourceful in finding new gigs to play."
FunkSouLove
Having been around for almost a year, FunkSouLove is one the oldest bands in the Battle of the Bands. Consisting of Tufts junior Paula Dormon and freshman David Dormon on vocals and sophomore Zach Camara on drums, as well as Berklee junior Tim Suby and sophomore Mario Fanizzi on bass and keyboards, the band brings a fresh look at R&B and rap to the Tufts scene.
Camara calls the live show "an energetic, groovin', soulful performance." It makes sense, then, that the band's name is taken from one of the group's first songs, "Funk Soul Love Connection." The presence of both an emcee and a singer backed by a live band sets FunkSouLove apart from most other acts on campus and in the Boston area.
After putting in six to eight hours of practice time every week, the band's members have begun to put their personal spin on their hip-hop and R&B backgrounds.
"It certainly isn't easy to break out into the music scene," Camara said. "But with a lot of effort and commitment towards a common goal of really developing a band to its full potential, it can be done."
Spelt Melk
The origins of Spelt Melk (full name: The Spelt Melk Jug Band) are shrouded in mystery. Comprised of seniors Andrew Hastings-Black on lead vocals and harmonica, Jimmy Hughes on guitar and vocals, Jon Goldmann on mandolin and vocals and Rory McGarry on banjo and junior Robert "Grayson" Murphy on bass, melodica and vocals, the band is proud to bring Tufts a unique bluegrass sound.
Hastings-Black said that the band came together "while burning the midnight oil in the wee hours of spring 2005." Hastings-Black lists the band's biggest influences as Tony Rice, Flatt and Scruggs, The Grateful Dead, Waylon Jennings, and Earth, Wind and Fire.
"We play up-tempo drinking music," Hastings-Black said. "Pickin' quick to get beer in your belly and a lover in your arms." Who can argue with that?
With the five finalists locked in for the 2008 Battle of the Bands, the stage is set to pick a winner. Come by the new Hotung at 5 p.m. Saturday to cheer on your favorite, and be sure to look for the bands' Web sites to check out their music in advance.
