See everyone in McGuire Hall tonight 8-10pm for Battle of the Bands! We have 3 great student bands competing: Folding chairS, Panic at the Fine Arts Department and Crown Me King! And, as always we have a selection of industry folks as judges because it wouldn’t be fair if we judged it! What kind of folks are judging you ask? We are glad you did because we’ll tell you it’s all about getting pros who can help the bands grow. So here are the 2022 Battle of the Bands judges:
Matt Weitzel is a Former DJ and Production Director for WLOY and his band Breakforth won Battle of the Bands which led to working with Evan (also at the judges table) and recording their new album at Stages Music & Arts. He’s the lead singer and bassist for Breakforth who you can catch at Angel’s Rock Bar in Powerplant Live on April 29th. It’s a show called Rock Revival with tribute sets to Pearl Jam, Green Day, and Foo Fighters. After a stint in promotions, production and then programming at 98Rock, Matt is now the Digital Content Director and Morning Show Producer for Huber in the Morning 100.7 The Bay.
Evan Kornblum is a record producer, studio engineer, mixer, and life-long classically trained multi-instrumentalist. He works with artists in rock, indie, folk, country, jazz, and gospel genres. Evan is the founding member of the amazing award-winning local band Pocket Bells, who have also featured on WLOY’s stage at Honfest (which will hopefully be back in 2023). You can find him at the Stages Music Arts Recording Studio in Cockeysville MD as a staff engineer and studio manager. His latest music project is playing synthesizer with the band Amazing Destroyer.
Saleem Heggins is a producer, rapper, front man and DJ plus dad to a college-bound kid so if you see him napping, just understand he needs some rest. Saleem has been blazing his trail through hip-hop’s indie scene for several years. Performing with luminaries such as Common, The Roots, KRS-One, Rakim, and The Wu-Tang clan, to name a few, tends to hone and sharpen your skills. His band Saleem & The Music Lovers put out an excellent album last year “The Year That Was 2020…” including the single “Baltimore Anthem” featuring Redman. He hosts the amazing show Hip-Hop Revisited every Saturday 2-4pm on WLOY and the band just opened for the legendary KRS-One at Soundstage this past Saturday. Did I mention he might need a nap?
Paul Joyce has been playing music since he was a teenager with a mullet. He has written for, recorded, and played live music in diverse musical projects including funk, rock, jazz, and hardcore punk bands for the past 20 years. His current projects include F City, and Megazillion which is about to release a new album. He is an avid composer and multi-instrumentalist who has written and recorded original soundtracks for movies, theater, and commercial recordings for the past decade. Beyond his contributions to multiple short films and independent projects, he has fully composed, recorded, and edited music for the full-length feature films Isle of the Damned and 7th Day. He may or may not have played in a band with one of the guys from Event Services but they all deny it.
Each of the 3 bands will be performing for 15 minutes and then receive feedback from the judges about their performance. And our format tonight will include a bonus. Instead of just telling you who wins when we’re done, the winning band will also get to play a bonus closing 10 minute set! We have giveaways for you to win while the judges deliberate at the end so everyone please stick around to the very end so you get to hear the whole show and win some cool stuff.
Just a quick reminder what these bands are competing for tonight – One winning band will become the opening act at Loyolapalooza for TWO FRIENDS!
