That Good 'New' Rock And Roll

It's a rock and roll tradition as old as the Sock Hop, the Jukebox and the Dance Craze. It's The Battle of the Bands. A bunch of hungry youngsters in wildly-diverse musical aggregations, will face off against one another in a (non-violent) fight to the finish.

This time it happens at Rye Playland, on Friday night. If it seems hot at The Music Tower Theater, maybe it isn't the weather. But the groups burning up the stage.

"We've been doing these competitions since 2004," said Kevin Cook, Westchester Recreation Supervisor. "The first one we held was in January of that year, so we did it indoors at The County Center. Joe Lemischak, who held the supervisor's job before me, started the whole thing. We're doing two a year now. Obviously, these concerts have been a tremendous success."

The way Cook explains it, the groups who are solicited to submit CDs, are "Usually between the ages of 15 and 20. We get the word out to kids through press releases, telling school music teachers, posts on the Westchester website, any way we can. We generally get about 40 submissions and then we whittle the contestants down to around 6 bands."

Each group will get 15 minutes to knock the judges out or blow the the theater down. And, good news for rock's future, most of these bands will be playing original material.

"Every once in a while, we hear a group that does 'covers' really well, so we include them," said Cook. "But it's great that so many of these kids are writing their own material. That's how music stays vital."

Cook goes on to say, that aside from it being an honor for the finalists to play on the hallowed bandshell stage on Friday, all the band members will have a lovely evening for other reasons.

"They get a free pass to the park that night and, of course, they get to see the fireworks, like the other people who come to the show. They should have a fun time altogether."

One of the competing groups is the intriguingly-named Forever and After, from Hawthorne. Band member, Nick Squillante, spoke to Patch about his group, their present, their exciting-sounding future.

"I'd describe us as sounding very Pop-Rock," said the 18 year old Squillante. "The songs we do are original, very hooky and catchy, with big choruses and huge drumbeats in those choruses. We want people coming away humming our stuff."

Certainly their influences are tantalizingly varied. Everything from new alternative bands to Guns 'N' Roses and The Beatles.

"Yeah, lots of Beatles," said the enthused, but cool-sounding Squillante. "I have The White Album, in vinyl, and that's been a huge source of inspiration for me and the whole band."

Although, 'Forever' would certainly like to win on Friday night, Squillante and his fellow band members are looking toward the future, above and beyond this upcoming competition. 

"We've got a 3 song E.P. available for fans, but it's sort of a demo," Squillante said. "We're also in a competition, online at ReverbNation. So, go and vote for us. Our big goal is to have a 10 song CD ready by the Fall, with all originals and maybe one cover song. If all that goes according to plan? We're hoping to tour by early next year. Winning The Battle of the Bands would be sweet. But no matter what happens, we're certainly going to keep writing, playing and working on our material. That's the plan, anyway."

Info: The Westchester Battle of the Bands takes place on Friday July 22nd at The Music Tower Theater at Playland. The show begins at 6:00 PM. Parking is $5. Regular Playland Admission fees apply. The show is free to Residents (with ID) and $10 for Non-Residents. For more information, go to westchestergov.com and look for the Icon (Top Right) for Battle of the Bands. Rain Date is Friday July 29th