South Range’s No Clue is ready for Rock Off

January 21, 2012 at 12:01a.m.

Clueless no more is what South Range High School act No Clue is feeling these days as the group prepares for its High School Rock Off debut at 3 p.m. Sunday at the House of Blues in Cleveland. The quintet — Luke Eusebio (guitar, sax, vocals), Tommy Kuhns (guitar), Trevor Lawless (guitar, vocals), Nick Scheetz (bass) and Adam Witmer (drums) — may be new to the battle of the bands but not to one another.

“We are a rock-alternative band that has been together for five years,” Eusebio said. “We started when we were in the sixth grade, and we sound like a mix between Green Day, Weezer and some classic rock like Tom Petty. The reason this is our first Rock Off is we were just freshmen last year. Someone tried to get us to do it, and we were just too busy. Now we feel like we’re ready, and this would be a great time to showcase what we’ve got.”

Admittedly nervous about the high-profile show, No Clue is planning a set that includes original tracks such as the blink-182-esque “Break From Conversation” and the Foo Fighter-sounding “Lose My Mind.”

“We’re also going to be covering Creedence Clearwater Revival’s ‘Fortunate Son’ and Switchfoot’s ‘Mess With Me,’ which is more alternative rock,” Eusebio said. “We thought we’d balance it out with some diversity. Being first year competitors, we really would be surprised if we made it out of the [semifinals]. Hopefully we’ll just take away the experience and some solid critiques out of what we did and apply them to our band next year. We’ll definitely be back.”

No Clue is one of 66 bands in the Rock Off.

One thing No Clue has in its favor is experience. Among the shows the band has logged in the past year or so are appearances at the Columbiana Drum Fest and the Columbiana Street Fair. And then there’s this:

“We did a grand opening for an Old Navy in Cincinnati,” Eusebio said. “Essentially a friend heard they were looking for a live band for their opening ceremony. We sent them a copy of one of our shows, and we were amazed they wanted us to come down and play.”

There aren’t too many bands that can brag about playing an Old Navy store. So, is there any gig No Clue won’t take?

After a brief pause, Eusebio laughed, “No, we’ve done parties. We’ve done things for five people or 1,000 people. We’ve done more free gigs than paid, but money isn’t a factor. So, no, there isn’t anything we wouldn’t take.”

Tickets for the semifinal rounds are $10. The Final Exam tickets will be $10 and will be available only from the participating Rock Off bands. For more information about the 16th Annual Tri-C High School Rock Off, visit www.kisscleveland.com/rockoff.