Battle of the Bands Voting

Scroll down for Battle of the Bands biographies!

Alphabet
Our band is called Alphabet, we formed in the musty dusty hallways of NewNorth between (myself) Mattan Cohen, Preston Walker, and Lindsey Schiffman . We’ve been mostly recording last semester and plan on self releasing an album some time later this year.

Caitlin Notey
Caitlin is a singer/songwriter from Topanga, a mountainous suburb of Los Angeles. She has been singing since her birth in 1846, a fine year. She enjoys freedom, beauty, and superstition. Although she has only been writing music for a short while, she has a lot to say and can’t wait to tell you about it.

Connor Evans
No biography available

CULPRIT
A band from the LA area called CULPRIT, somewhat in the vein of Circa Survive and Thrice.  The band just released their debut EP Analogue in April of 2011 and just finished up a 3 week Southwestern tour with Happy Body Slow Brain (ex-Taking Back Sunday) and The Paper Melody.

Delphic Concepts
A multi-talented group of artists from the Greater Los Angeles Area, Delphic Concepts features the talent and creativity of Zarkhi, T-Ran, Joe Flow, and Keat The Giant. In June of 2011, Delphic Concepts became a part of a bigger group, The DC Movement, Est. 8/8/11 along with the drop of “8 Flavors” the Mixtape V.1, the first project in the disc lineage of the group.

Felix Nobody
No biography available

John Perea | Mr. Metronomo
As a senior and musician it has been a long standing-desire to perform at USC springfest!

Jonny Come Lately
Jonny Come Lately formed in the Spring of 2006 in Upland, CA, and shortly after received national recognition with their Top 20 finish on Season 2 of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent”. Today, with all four original members, JCL has a growing following across Southern and Central California. They have performed at several different venues and bars in the Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, and San Luis Obispo areas. JCL puts on wild live shows featuring Izzy’s (of Pepperdine University) howling vocals and guitar licks, Adrian’s (of the Gypsy Academy) infamous harmonica and didjeridoo playing, Julian’s (of the Slap Institute) magical slapping of the double-bass, and Angela’s (of USC) rock steady beats. All combine to create one memorable and genre-defying experience for all.

Lindsay Rae Spurlock
Falling somewhere in between Regina Spektor, Björk, and Imogen Heap, Louisiana-raised, Austin, Texas-based singer/songwriter Lindsay Rae Spurlock honed her chops decoding complex time signatures while playing and singing with a progressive rock band in college, but it was her knack for crafting perfectly seasoned pop confections that would eventually land her a sizable audience. Spurlock’s first taste of success came after songs from her home-recorded debut EP were licensed for television, appearing in both commercials and prime time. After making further refinements to her clever, catchy piano pop, Spurlock took to the studio with producer Ben Allen (Gnarls Barkley, Animal Collective) to record her second EP, 2008’s Heart On.

Lucky & Wild
Lucky & Wild, a new band on the scene, earned immediate online attention as the featured artist on Purevolume.com with the release of their first single ‘Wrecking Ball.’ L&W followed up, releasing the ‘Maniacs EP’ which hastily reached the No. 4 spot on Purevolume’s most downloaded releases in July 2011. Lucky & Wild most recently performed with GLEE actor Corey Monteith’s band as well as participated on Purevolume’s ‘All About You Tour.’  Currently Lucky & Wild is being featured by Macbeth Footwear as the December 2011 Artist of the Month.

Although Lucky & Wild is a new band, songwriting and performing is nothing new for the young artists. Drew Grethel, Sean Sobash, and Ed Larsen grew up as neighbors in a small beach town outside of San Diego performing music in a vast array of projects. Lucky & Wild represents over a decade of Drew, Sean, and Ed’s undying friendship, through the thick and the thin of growing up, L&W is the culmination of their past, and soon to be present.

Modern American Theater
Modern American Theatre thrives on finding a balance between tradition and innovation. Since day one, the Los Angeles-based ensemble has made the music they want to hear, blending disjunct rhythms, complex, polymetric sonorities, and musical traditions from around the globe into effortlessly infectious pop songcraft. The sound is organic and immediately accessible—but these definitely aren’t your everyday pop songs. Modern American Theatre makes that clear from the first note to the last.

Bands we have performed with: Hawthorne Heights, The Ataris, Melee, The Material.

Venues we have headlined: The Whiskey a Go Go, House of Blues, The Roxy, 118 West Studios, Slo Brew (San Luis Obispo) Bottom of the Hill (San Francisco) Kimos (San Francisco)

Notepad
No biography available

Super Duper
We’re a 6-piece, over-the-top, fun band with some songs sharply political (if satirical) and others just meta-consciously silly. We have costumes, and sometimes have dancers with a variety of costumes from T. Rex to German beer girl to shiny spandex. We call our brand of music “Glampocalyptic Rocksplosion”: the idea being that we make party music for the end of the world. And what better year to ring it in than 2012?

The Young Guns
The Young Guns, The Ultimate 80’s Band- Playing the most recognizable, the most danceable and the all out smash hits of the 1980’s. The Young Guns are a high energy, action packed live band that combines great dance moves, hilarious onstage comedy and 80’s attire that will take you back to a decade of music that may be more popular today than it was back then.  The Young Guns are professional, easy to work with, and great at adapting to the needs of the client.

Wild Betsy
Long winding drives down boulevards and twisting hills. Days at the beach, and nights spent in dark bars where everyone is together in their loneliness. All of these things are reminiscent of Los Angeles, and that is just what Wild Betsy captures with their sound. Mixing elements of garage, psych-rock, and surf, Wild Betsy sound can be heavy and melancholy at times, yet it can also break into moments of levity.  This duality of the light and dark complement each other in creating a sound that can take you on a journey through different worlds all in the same set.

Wild Betsy recently released a six song EP that gives a sampling of the bands range.  Showing off their talent and musicianship, these songs are a good example of what a well-rounded album can sound like. The songs span the spectrum from upbeat surf rock on the opening track “Sundays at the Devils House” to mellow psych gems like “reverse” and back, mixing in some classical instruments in for good measure.

Now I’m all about a good recording, but it doesn’t really hold much weight if the band can’t deliver the same sound during a live set. I had the opportunity to check out Wild Betsy at their EP release at Footsies in Cypress Park.  Their set is full of energy and they had no trouble engaging the crowd (the bar filled up fairly quickly prior to their set). Drummer Mark Mallory is a machine on percussion and stylishly carries the band strongly on the heavier songs, while Tad Ha vocals float ominously through the air. The energy of their performance holds up through the entire set and you can tell they enjoy playing, which makes them even more fun to watch.  Be sure to check these guys out at their next show.

Young Beautiful in a Hurry
Young Beautiful in a Hurry is a high energy foursome, dedicated to bringing you all organic thoroughbred rock/pop tunes, with a dash of glam you haven’t heard this side of the late 70s. Their influences range mainly from Bowie & Queen, with a little Elvis mixed in to sweeten the deal.  The band has two USC alumni on personnel, namely Brendan McCreary on guitars and vocals, plus Merrick Mosst on keys. On drums is the titillating Bryan Taylor, and Sam Beumier on bass. Young Beautiful in a Hurry just turned 1 in January and has been very busy in their first year, releasing their debut record, playing the Troubadour, and opening for Steel Panther at the House of Blues. Also, they just finished their first music video for the song I Don’t Want to Die a Virgin featured in the horror anthology film Chillerama. Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NktwL-7szdY Currently working on their second record, YBH has their sights set on Spring Fest 2012!