Battle of the Bands Ready to Represent El Paso, Melt Faces
Alex Vargas is a band promoter, music producer and the owner of So Not Psyched Studios which will be hosting it’s 5th Annual Battle of the Bands event on September 7th and 8th at Tricky Falls, 209 S. El Paso St.
Music has been an integral part of Vargas’ life from a very early age and in his early 20’s, started a band called ‘The Consultants’. The experiences that he gained while performing and the observations he made about the local music scene motivated him to begin his promotion company and production house in an effort to do all he could to put El Paso’s evolving music scene on the map.
Vargas recognizes that the music scene in El Paso has been growing more robust as time has passed and wants his studios to be a relevant part of that growth. He proves his dedication to the music by ensuring that the studio is never tied to any one genre. He’s proved this by opening his doors to a variety of styles from Punk, to Electronica, Rockabilly and Hip-Hop. Some of the notable El Paso bands that Vargas has recorded in his studios are the Slicks, A Lucky Tragedy, Bloodshot Bandits, and the Hillside Gamblers, whom have just returned from a West Coast tour.
At the time of writing, So Not Psyched Studios has registered The Jolly Moors, The Aykroyds, Formal Intent, My Anima, Vain Nation, Revati, Electric Social and The Wreck to compete in the Battle of the Bands. Interested groups can register for $40 at ‘Hero Music’ located on 7924 Gateway Blvd. East up until September 2nd.
Judges for this year’s event are Mike G. from 92.3 The Fox Jukebox, Alex Duran aka Jambi of Fusion Magazine, EPCC music professor Arim Harrison, Metafisix representing underground music website Fuya Radio, Ryan Martinez writer for What’s Up and Glenn Garza from local rock station 95.5 KLAQ. Sponsors for the event are Wartime Records, Etched Beauties, Vaboom Studios and Fuya Radio.
The prize package for the First place winner is a $300 gift card at Hero Music, $200 cash, 15 t-shirts for the band, 100 buttons, 100 stickers and 5 free song recording sessions at So Not Psyched Studio. Second place winner receives $100 cash and a 3 song demo recording session and Third place receives half price off a recording session.
Tickets are $5 in advance and are sold by the bands that have registered. Tickets can also be purchased at the door for $7 each. More information can be found on www.facebook.com/sonotpsyched
TXT: Crysti Couture @crysticouture
THE AYKROYDS
The Aykroyds are an experimental rock group deriving from El Paso, TX. The band formed May 2012 and started performing at local venues. The Aykroyds originally started with guitarists, Marcela Rodriguez and Angel Yglecias. Having gone through a bassist and drummer, they finally landed with Sean Salcido of Cheeky Orange and Joaquin Aragon of Komari Vosa. Joaquin and Angel have played in past projects together such as More Like an Emu, so this wasn’t an exception. With each member bringing in different influences, the band grew in sound and became more concise with the atmosphere they wanted to convey. The band name originated from none other than Dan Aykroyd. The Aykroyds was chosen through the sudden death of Marcela’s uncle who passed away in February. Her uncle, Hector Rodriguez, used to be in a band back in the day called The Belushi’s, thus reuniting Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi.
Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/TheAykroyds
Reverb account(where our music’s at): http://www.reverbnation.com/theaykroyds
El proyecto comienza a principios del 2011, con la finalidad de hacer musica original y crear un sonido propio.
La banda esta formada por Guillermo, Jonathan, Gabriel, y Manuel que se encontraron en un punto determinante de sus vidas.
La conexion fue al instante, pasaron varios meses de fiesta y mas fiesta hasta que deciden sentar cabeza y hacer lo unico que sabian hacer mejor. Comienzan a escribir y los temas comienzan a surgir, la noche, la fiesta, la gente, los sueños y las ganas de vivir, forman a “Los Deambulantes”. Los muchachos conocen el ambiente de la musica electronica, y aunque el rock & roll es su genero principal, este tipo de fiestas inspiran a los muchachos a crear un ambiente mas parisero.
“De alguna manera simpre supimos que podiamos hacer musica, y no hablo de tocar algun instrumento o seguir a tus compañeros en algun cover, hablo de crear un sonido, mandar un mensaje, poner a la gente a bailar, pero principalmente expresar lo que sentimos, pensamos, y vivimos dia con dia, esa era la idea.”
www.facebook.com/losdeambulantes
www.reverbnation.com/losdeambulantes
LINKS
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videos:
“SUN CITY NIGHTS”
“NO COVER”
So Not Psyched Presents:
5th Annual Battle of The Bands
@ Tricky Falls 209 S. El Paso St.
El Paso, TX
$5 dollars in advance tickets by the bands $7 day of show
All age event. Doors @ 6:30 p.m. Show Starts at 7 p.m. both nights
To get tickets contact any of these bands:
Sept 7th:
7:00 – 7:25 Pistol Whipping a Blind Kid
https://www.facebook.com/
7:35 – 8:00 Compton Effect
https://www.facebook.com/
8:10 – 8:35 Los Deambulantes
https://www.facebook.com/
8:45 – 9:10 No Application Fee
https://www.facebook.com/
9:20 – 9:45 Revati
https://www.facebook.com/
9:55 – 10:20 The Wreck
https://www.facebook.com/
10:30 – 10:55 Electric Social
https://www.facebook.com/
Sept 8th
7:00 – 7:25 Chingalow
https://www.facebook.com/
7:35 – 8:00 San Quentin
https://www.facebook.com/
8:10 – 8:35 Jolly Moors
https://www.facebook.com/
8:45 – 9:10 The Aykroyds
https://www.facebook.com/
9:20 – 9:45 Formal Intent
https://www.facebook.com/
9:55 – 10:20 My Anima
https://www.facebook.com/
10:30 – 10:55 Vain Nation
https://www.facebook.com/