Kids are all right, rockin’ Rock Off

By John Benson

With the 13th annual Tri-C High School Rock Off back in business now through Jan. 31 at the House of Blues, a few area bands hope to follow in the footsteps of Youngstown-area band Another Found Self, which won the popular event in 2006.

While most acts have spent the better part of the past year preparing for the battle of the bands competition, Boardman High School’s 9 Two 5 appears to be the exception.

“We’re just your typical rock band, and we just formed actually a week before Christmas to play the Rock Off,” said band member Pat Matey, 18. “We’ve been in bands before, and we played at the Rock Off in other bands, but we all just came together because we like playing the same kind of music.”

So far the band has three originals, albeit currently untitled, and one cover (The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back”) ready for its Jan. 24 Rock Off gig. Matey, who played the 2008 High School Rock Off with local band Lakeshore, is confident that what 9 Two 5 lacks in longevity it makes up for in excitement and talent.

“We’ve been practicing and working our butts off,” Matey said. “I have the utmost confidence we’ll show up, rock our guts out and hopefully make it to the finals.”

Another area act performing in the same evening is Adam’s Taxidermy, which features juniors Zach Scocchera (guitar, vocals), Steven Wright (guitar), Elliot Kiske (drums) and Marisa Laguardia (bass) from Poland Seminary High School and Cardinal Mooney High School.

“I was in the Rock Off last year with Radio Back-up,” said Wright, a resident of Poland. “We did well. We didn’t advance, but we had a good time. After last year, two of the members graduated, so that band disbanded and this band formed over the summer.”

Described as sounding all over the place with an alternative rock foundation, Adam’s Taxidermy has planned a Rock Off set full of originals. This includes the heavy “Close My Eyes” and the new wave-sounding “Want.” Considering the band’s previous Rock Off experience, Wright is both optimistic and pragmatic.

“Well, we probably have a better chance this year just because our vocal talents are a lot better than last year with Radio Back-up,” Wright said. “And that’s what [the judges] said they were looking for, so that’ll probably give us a better chance of winning than last year.

“Really, we’re just kind of doing it for fun. Not entirely to win it. We’re all juniors, so we’ll all probably try to do it again next year.”

Another band doing it all for fun — and something more — is Ugly Kids With Cute Features, which has a Jan. 18 date at the Rock Off.

“Technically, we’ve been together since 8th grade, but this current band has been together since July,” said guitarist Zack Orr, 17. “We just got together because we’ve always been interested in music and we all wanted to get girls, basically.”

With a pop-punk vibe in the same vein as All Time Low and We the Kings, Ugly Kids With Cute Features – Orr, Clarence Gordon (vocals), Zak Kidd (guitar), Jimmy Kennehan (drums) and Tony Tommer (bass) – plans on playing original songs such as the synth-driven “Control-Alt-Delete This Relationship” and the upbeat “Always.”

Whereas many other acts are focused solely on the Rock Off, this Austintown-Fitch High School band filled with seniors is looking beyond both the upcoming battle of the bands gig and graduation day.

“Well, our heart is in winning it because this is what we want to do,” Orr said. “We’re all looking forward to trying to do our best and win the whole thing. We’ve already been playing out a lot. Most of our shows have been in Cleveland, and a few months ago we won another battle of the bands at this church in Austintown.”

He added, “So we’re looking to use the Rock Off to try to get out of Austintown, Ohio and into the music business.”

As for impressing the ladies, it sounds as if Ugly Kids feels it has already made some headway.

“With the ladies, we’ve got some looks and talk around the school,” Orr said. “So I guess that’s going pretty good.”