Battle of the Bands aims to build community among local musicians

The title for Bloomington’s Battle of the Bands is slightly misleading.
While indeed there are bands competing every Tuesday night this summer at the Bluebird, the onstage rivalry takes a backseat to creating friendships with other bands.

“What we’re really aiming to do is to progress local and independent bands,” Josh Johnson, the creator of the competition, said. “We wanted to put something together that’s competition based, but we also want the bands to get something out of it.”

The Battle was an idea of Johnson’s when he started the competition by himself as a local promoter in 2005. He said doing a lot of shows for places like Uncle Fester’s and Club 902’s gave him a promoter’s insight when it came to knowledge of which local bands to book and how to get them.

Jeff Shew came on to help him run the Battle in 2009, and the pair still run the competition, which had more bands than ever this year at 46.

The Calumet Reel reached the semifinals both this year and in 2010. Vocalist/guitarist David James said their reason for returning was two-fold.

“I mean, we’ve made enough money to pay for recordings and stuff, but the chance of winning $1,500 is definitely appealing,” he said. “But there’s also the chance to meet new people, which is a good part of it, too.”

The event has prizes for the top three of $1,500, $1,000 and $500 allotted for first, second and third places, respectively. The top 12 bands also win a day of studio time.

Half of the performers from each night move on to the next round, decided by a panel of six judges, which include the audience and five persons involved with the local music scene in some capacity.

“We want to support any local music regardless of genre or experience,” Johnson said. “It’s a good cross-section of Bloomington talent.”

That talent, Johnson said, is also quite diverse. Bands from funkadelic jammers the Main Squeeze to hip-hop collective Apollo Quad to Americana rockers like the Calumet Reel play tight 20-minute sets to create a “very eclectic mix that genre would normally prevent,” Johnson said.

Corey Frye, the vocalist for the Main Squeeze, said exposure for fans and the bands are both important.

“You have 50 different bands with 50 different styles. Fans get exposed to genres they normally wouldn’t,” he said. “You also find out stuff about bands you didn’t know existed, get to see what they’re all about and how they do things.”

Brian Johnson, frontman from Brian Johnson and the Acquitted, said his rock group really enjoyed one band they didn’t expect to, so much so they wanted to have a show together.

“We got to see Apollo Quad, who’s like a hip-hop group, perform on our night, and the next time they play I’m gonna go because it was a spectacular show,” Johnson said.
Even the Squeeze, who was eliminated in the quarterfinals, had a great experience despite their disappointment.

“We were a little taken aback at not advancing, but we were really happy with our performances,” Frye said. “We were really happy for all the people who wouldn’t normally perform on a stage like that to get their foot in the door.”

Johnson echoed his sentiment, even in his seventh year of the competition.
“This year we have a lot of great new local groups. We always have a strong local scene here,” he said. “It’s just a good way to be a part of it.”