Graduation signifies that time of year when an elite class of highly trained men and women prepare to tackle the rest of their lives, whether their mission is graduate school or entering the work force.
For the rest of UT and the city of Knoxville, however, it simply means it’s Volapalooza time in Tennessee once again.
Also returning as a precursor to this year’s event was the Battle of the Bands, hosted by the Campus Entertainment Board. The grand prize winners received a spot opening at Volapalooza 2015, featuring artists Lupe Fiasco, Cold War Kids, the Bad Suns and the Kansas Bible Company.
This year’s winner, The Screens, are a pair of Nashville high school students who play indie pop rock and look to “late-night Waffle House and ex-girlfriends” for inspiration.
“Arman sang for this band who wanted me to record them,” said Benton Black, guitarist and producer for The Screens, about how he joined the band. “We hung out and started making beats and other random things. Sometime that week we wrote “Burn,” and it kicked off. I had been playing guitar forever, but Arman hadn’t done much other than choir, which blew me away when I heard how powerful and unique his voice was.”
From there, Arman and Black stuck together, forming their sound and their band.
“We decided to chill and jam together one day and started to write a song out of boredom,” Arman, vocalist for The Screens, said. “The song became a sort of trademark of relationship and gave us incentive to start this band.”
The two consider themselves to be pop-influenced indie rockers, whose sound ultimately earned them a position on this year’s Vola lineup.
“We listened to a lot of Arctic Monkeys and a lot of rap. We also listen to a lot of Tame Impala, but not a lot of that seems to make its way into the tracks,” Black said of the creation of their sound.
David Laubach, chair of the Campus Entertainment Board and committee chairperson of Volapalooza, revived the Battle of the Bands event last year and coordinated it again this year.
“The battle is a great way for CEB to provide campus with entertainment while supporting local culture,” Laubach said. “All Central Programming Council committees love co-sponsorship, and the Volapalooza Event Planners are the ideal teammates for such an event.”
For the duo, the most exciting part of winning the battle was knowing they were opening for one of their favorite musicians.
“We are stoked to play Volapalooza, especially when we heard we were opening for Bad Suns,” Black said.
The competition was open to the public and consisted of a 15-minute entry set. A panel of judges consisting of two DJs from 90.3 the Rock and the director of Volapalooza chose this year’s winner with the crowd vote acting as a fourth judge.
“Volapalooza has grown since last year, and it hasn’t even happened yet,” Laubach said. “We have an excellent lineup featuring Lupe Fiasco and the Cold War Kids. We are fortunate to be back in World’s Fair Park this year. The park is where Vola belongs.”
