Estranged Individuals win Battle of the Bands at Milpitas Library
Moon Dough takes first place in the adult category
Estranged Individuals celebrate their victory in the teen category at the Battle of the Bands, held July 22 at the Milpitas Library. Members of the Milpitas-based band are Lucas Guzicki, left, on vocals and guitar, Mohamed Ibrahim on bass and Aiden Kawamoto on drums. (Photo by Mylene Stolpe/Charismatic Photography)
Teen and adult bands faced off live on July 22 at Milpitas Library at the Battle of the Bands produced by the Santa Clara County Library District.
With this second annual event, the district hoped to give a chance for these half a dozen bands to make an impression and maybe make it big, and to celebrate and encourage the local music scene in Santa Clara County.
The local bands competed in teen and adult categories. Interested bands first submitted their application online with an audition tape of one song. Over 5,000 votes from the community helped selected the top three bands in both categories to perform live. Each band invited to the showcase had 20 minutes on stage to wow the audience and the judging panel.
The teen division featured the Funky Monkeys, made up of Bradley and Zach on guitar, Josh on the drums and Isaac on piano. The Estranged Individuals, a Milpitas band, had Mohamed on bass, Aiden on drums and Lucas on vocals and guitar. Znnia took the stage playing the audience favorites from the ’80s to rock classics.
The adult division featured Charles Bronson & the Sundance Kid, a comedic experimental new wave duo based in the East Bay Area. Smokehouse and their lead vocalist Emma brought country rock to the auditorium, performing covers and originals. The last band of the night was Moon Dough, a Filipino cover band composed of Gavin, Christian, Yuri and Jude, whose set covered many musical genres.
Bands were judged by Juan Guzman, George Peter Tingley and Chris Dang for musicianship, stage presence and technical ability. Guzman is a professional mariachi musician with experience playing in jazz, classical and brass ensembles throughout his high school and college years. Tingley is a composer whose music has been heard on TV, in film and in concert performances; he served as composer for Olympic figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi in the 1990s. Dang is a Santa Clara County Library District employee who’s been playing guitar for 10 years and piano for 20.