Though they are no strangers to the stage, for first-time competitors Young Floods, this Friday’s Battle of the Bands brings a new kind of performance.
“This is our first time gigging that kind of thing. We’ve done quite a few shows recently so we feel pretty experienced, not like super experienced, but we’re not really sure what to expect from the competition,” social relations and policy sophomore Devin Young said.
The Battle of the Bands is an event that has been going on for quite a few years at MSU, according to University Activities Board music director and political science senior Emily Fenger.
The event will feature approximately nine bands, each of which contains at least one MSU student.
Young Floods is unique in that only half of its members attend MSU.
“We’ve got a really interesting group because three of us are here and three of us are at U of M,” Young said.
In terms of how their spread-out members manage rehearsal schedules, Young and his bandmate, computer engineering sophomore Alex Olivero, said organizing rehearsals isn’t always easy.
Six members spread out over two cities, combined with hectic college schedules, can make for trouble coordinating time to practice together.
The band members have learned how to utilize the time they are able to spend together.
However, Young said they know when it’s time to put their noses to the grindstone and get back to work.
“When we have an opportunity to get together and really get a lot of stuff done, we really take advantage of that,” Young said.
While they aren’t completely certain what to expect going into this Friday’s competition, both Olivero and Young look forward to the opportunity to continue to perform in front of an audience.
“When we listen to our music there (are) parts where I could see myself dancing or having a good time and looking out into a crowd and seeing the audience moving to those same parts that I had kind of imagined they would,” Young said. “It’s pretty cool.”
But while they look forward to getting the chance to engage with an audience, the members of Young Floods are also very aware of what winning the competition could mean for their band.
“There (are) 10 hours of recording if you win, and we’ve recently been doing some recording with a friend of ours that runs his own kind of recording thing, but it’s not on that scale of professional recording,” Young said. “We’re excited to play as much as possible, but also I think that winning something based on something that you’ve created would be really rewarding.”
