Cary Battle of the Bands winner My Alumni
My Alumni have been playing together for two-and-a-half years, and have performed at dozens of Battle of the Bands competitions.
The Berwyn-natives traveled far to play the Cary Battle of the Bands, but they believe the trip is worthwhile.
“Half the kids we keep in touch with through Myspace, we met at Battle of the Bands,” said Kevin Flasza.
Connecting with fans and meeting new people at their shows are the highlights of My Alumni’s band philosophy.
“If we can get a smile out of someone, we’ll do it,” Flasza said.
Perhaps it was their crowd-oriented performance, or the fact they’re battle of the bands veterans, but My Alumni left the Cary Battle of the Bands victorious, pushing them on to regionals. Thus far, the band has won several local competitions, but have yet to win regionals.
“They’re looking for something different, and we’re more mainstream,” Flasza said.
He describes the band as pop-punk, with heavy All Time Low influences, akin to the Starting Line or, as a friend said, Motion City Soundtrack with an R&B singer.
While keeping a mainstream sound may hold them back at battle of the bands, it has helped them foster a growing fan base and even hire a producer to put their songs on plastic.
My Alumni spent the summer playing at Battles and touring—six days and seven nights through the Midwest, “just to see if we could handle each other,” said Flasza.
Their busy schedule has helped them foster a growing fan base and even hire a producer to put their songs on plastic.
Of the five friends, Mike Licari, Mike Griffin, Kevin Flasza, Sean Prendiville, Conrad Javier, four agreed to attend college locally to keep the band together; Prendiville is in high school. The band is gearing up for school again and planning more shows, which can be found on their MySpace.
“We don’t really want to do anything else,” Flasza said “We love playing.”
To read about Algonquin winners Copper Harbor, click here.
- By Michelle Stoffel, Triblocal.com reporter; photo submitted by My Alumni
