By Meghan Cody
COLUMNIST
For qualification of this year’s Music Fest, Hofstra Concerts held their annual “Battle of The Bands” in the Netherlands Core this past Friday night. The Battle of the Bands winner Van Vega consist of Trevor Forrest, Jake Marconi, Chris Reilly and Tito Beautiful.
The band ultimately won by a landslide. Van Vega is the psychedelic-infused hard rock that you’ve been waiting to play air drums to all your life. You may have heard them perform at our Coffeehouse last week, but if you didn’t catch them there you can listen to their music at SoundCloud.com/Van-Vega.
Forrest, a 23-year-old graduate from Hofstra, is native to Long Island. Van Vega was originally his “pet project” in November 2013.
Trevor was a part of a previous band who opened for Walk the Moon in New York City. Before they caught on they broke up and since then, Trevor longed for a new band.
Chris, a music student at Hofstra, saw Trevor’s flyers, but was too busy to act on it. Eventually, because they had the same composition professor. Chris knew Tito Beautiful the “amazing guitarist” and it began to piece together. Found at the jazz concert, Jake was added, and their band Van Vega was founded two months ago.
Since Jan. 26, the four have been collaborating on a band vision. With influences like Queens of the Stone Age, Led Zeppelin, Tame Impala and Muse, they achieved an old-school, flannel-wearing, Doc Marten-breaking rock revival.
With no intentions of winning the competition, Van Vega said that the band decided to email Hofstra Concerts and go for it. Marconi, expecting to come in second at best, was somewhat shaken when the two runner-ups were called, and it wasn’t them. That is when they knew they had won.
With a new synth-pop bounce that accentuates Forrest’s vocals, they’re going to make it somewhere. For now, it might only be Hofstra’s Music Fest, but look out for them in the future.
Besides Van Vega, there were several other talented artists who competed.
The first admitted artist was “nonSense,” who placed as one of the runners up in the competition. Frantz Lucien Jr. is a rapper from Newark, N.J. who goes by the stage name “nonSense.” NonSense is a backpack, conscious and lyrical rapper. He’s done numerous shows in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He has also competed in numerous showcases, was a two time champion at the University of Scranton, came in second place in a Hot 97 showcase and was a top three competitior in the Faces in the Crowd Competition twice, just to name a few. NonSense once performed on stage with B.o.B and he has an amazing stage presence. With lyrics charged with positivity, skill and a hypnotizing flow, he captivates his audience and evokes thought and change.
No One Says Eureka also performed, who describe themselves as: “It’s that bluesy-jam-rock-hip-pop-indie-funk-choir s***.” Unfortunately, they did not place in the competition.
The fourth confirmed artist for the Battle for Hofstra Music Fest was Isaac LeSage.
LeSage describes his music as “acoustic-pop-folk-punk” and you may have caught him performing at one of Hofstra’s Coffee houses. You can listen to more of his tunes on his Soundcloud page: SoundCloud.com/IsaacMusic.
Jay Cass, who was also a runner up, was the last to perform at Battle of the Bands. If you want to hear more you can check out his Soundcloud page at SoundCloud.com/Jay_Cass.