The Wall in the Wilkinson Student Center will be hosting Battle of the Bands during the week of March 11 to March 15.
Local bands will take the stage each night at 7 p.m. to duke it out for prizes and bragging rights. Twelve different bands are scheduled to compete this year.
“Most of the bands competing have members that either attend or have attended BYU, but all of them are local Utah performers,” said Hayley Sierck, events and catering manager at The Wall.
Sierck said a few of the bands performing are Slapback Routine, Mt. Everett, Vertical Minds, 9th East, Goose and DAD BOD.
Katy Martin, member of 9th East, said the band has been together for just over a year, and that their style is “alternative pop-rock, similar to AJR and Imagine Dragons.”
Mt. Everett, the brainchild of Everett Dalton, is a new band that doesn’t yet have any recordings. Dalton said their music is difficult to describe.
“Indie rock or alt-rock would be the best way to describe it, but that’s pretty broad. We’re kind of like a Twenty One Pilots with less backing tracks,” Dalton said.
DAD BOD started because of a group of friends’ passion for music.
“We are very inspired by Mac Demarco, Tame Impala, Andy Shauf, HOMESHAKE and many others. We also love more classical jazz style music and take from that as well,” said band member John Michael Marinos.
According to Sierck, Cold House Recording Studio is sponsoring the Battle of the Bands event and will give out different prizes to all of the event’s participants.
“The winner receives four hours of free studio recording time, finalists receive two hours of recording time, and all participants will get 50 percent off of a studio mix of one of their songs,” she said.
Sierck also said The Wall will be contributing a $200 cash prize to the winner.
Sierck said in addition to the judges panel, BYU students and the local community can get involved with the event. Bands can win prizes based on audience votes after the last band performs each night.
Sierck said when it comes to what kind of music may be performed at the event, they never know exactly what the bands will be playing until they are up on stage.
“Most bands choose to play their original songs, with a few covers sprinkled in there,” Sierck said. “We have seen some very creative music in the past, and I’m sure that will be the case this year as well.”
Band is looking to join in the next Battle of the Bands event can submit entries on The Wall’s website. The Wall’s social media will begin announcing details in the fall for the next Battle of the Bands competition.
The Battle of the Bands will run March 11 to March 15. Tickets will be available for $5 at the door.
