The Collegian

Issue date: 11/6/08 Section: Arts

A barefooted banjoist singing about murder and some football jocks will take center stage Nov. 14 this year in Phi Mu Alpha and Pi Beta Phi's Battle of the Bands at 8 p.m. in McNamara Hall.

Heating up Hillsdale's music scene, the third annual fundraising competition will feature nine different college bands competing for prize money.

Three judges will rate the bands in musicality, originality and an enjoyment factor on a scale from one to 10. This year, the judging panel may include Assistant Professor of English Justin Jackson, Associate Professor of Music James Holleman, Assistant Professor of Economics Ivan Pongracic or Assistant Professor of Biology Angelica Pytel, said senior Drew Gonshorowski, a member of the band Juny and Phi Mu Alpha's point man for the event.

Each professor approaches judging differently, with different musical backgrounds and appreciation.

"How am I qualified? I'm not," Jackson said. "I don't play any instruments. I don't read music. I literally have no musical talent. I do have a very eclectic taste in music."

Jackson links cover bands to medieval literature - they both expound on and transform a theme common to society - and recognizes each band's style.

"I don't think all bands should be diving into the audience," he said.

Throughout the evening, audience members vote for their favorite band, and final tallies are combined with judge's scores to determine a winner. The combined scores are weighted 50-50, but in past years, judges' good opinions gave the edge to bands that failed to score as well with audiences, Gonshorowski said.

Although music is taken seriously at the Battle of the Bands, the event is still principally philanthropic. Pi Beta Phi and Phi Mu Alpha will divide admission revenue - tickets cost $3 ahead of time, $5 at the door - from Battle of the Bands, with each organization contributing to local charities.

"We'd be thrilled if we have a huge turnout and supported the town," Phi Mu Alpha president Max Warner, a junior, said.


Hilltop Moonshiners
Genre: Bluegrass
Band members: Sean McDermott, Dan Miloch, Calvin Stockdale, Drew Gonshorowski, Jessica McCaleb
What sets them apart: Their genre. "We started out old-timey and are going more folk," said junior Calvin Stockdale. He expects the Hilltop Moonshiners to "clash" with the sound of other bands but, he said, "We're not out to win it - we're out to have a good time."

Juny
Genre: Indie Rock
Band members: Dan Miloch, Nick Tabor, Rob, Drew Gonshorowski
What sets them apart: "Dan Miloch," laughed senior bassist Drew Gonshorowski. "Dan writes the music, but each of us brings our own perspective to the music - it's a really unique sound."

The Jockstraps
Genre: Rock
Band members: Quinton Meece, Jared Veldheer, Ben Wood, Jordan Knudsen, Max Weischedel
What sets them apart: All members of the football team, the Jockstraps cater to their audience. "We try to give the crowd a good show," said Quinton Meece. "Last year the bands were really good, but it didn't seem that the crowd was really into them. We want to give the people a good time."

Flatline
Genre: Alternative Rock
Band members: Chris Stephens, Brandon Rigsbee, Charles Fischer
What sets them apart: An all freshman band, Flatline has two guitarists and a drummer, giving Flatline its unique sound, says freshman Charles Fischer. "We'll be pretty drum heavy -we're one of the few bands that's drum-centered."

Vinyl Roots
Genre: Blues/Cover
Band members: Mark Goss, Kyle Smithers, Brandon Carmack, John Rutter
What sets them apart: "The versatility of our sound," says junior Mark Goss. "It's a different style from song to song - not something you hear a lot of here."

Maxband and the Elastics
Genre: Alternative Rock
Band members: Max Warner, Alex Green, John Hamm
What sets them apart: "The majority of our music is original work that we've written ourselves. All the members of the band are 5-foot-10 with brown hair."

The Fur Coat and All Its Children
Genre: Indie Rock
Bandmembers: Daniel Chasen, Hilary Lewis, Alex Green, Jason Carr
What sets them apart: "We're experimental - we like to do whatever we want," junior Hilary Lewis said. "I think people will have a lot of fun with it."


The Hotness
Genre: Acoustic Rock
Bandmembers: Jordan Holsinger, Brandon Muri, Alex Green, Max Warner, Brandon Carmack, John Hamm, Andrew Dodson
What sets them apart: "All the songs they play have been written by The Hotness, especially Brandon Muri," said junior and newcomer to the band Max Warner. "It's kind of an exciting band, in that a lot of the music is really up-tempo and very dynamic with different instrumentation. Unpredictable."

Cardigan
Genre: Powerpop
Band members: Fritz Nuffer, Doug McAlister, Isaac Johnson, Nathan Sarver
What sets them apart: "This is a style of music so puerile and saccharine that you'd swear you were at a high-school prom," senior Fritz Nuffer said. "We got our name from Saga Steve when he asked to have a second look at the student ID of our drummer, who, coincidentally was wearing a ridiculously ugly sweater at the time."

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