Little more than a year after releasing their CD “No One Gets Any,” local band Fair Fjola may be getting some.
Some money. A van. Some free studio time and advertising. And some more respect.
But along with giving a great performance, it will take all their fans to be at Columbia Street West in Fort Wayne Thursday night for them to get it all.
“We appreciate our fans,” said drummer Sam Gillis.
“If not for them, we wouldn’t make it,” added Samy Coria, guitarist.
Fair Fjola is one of the bands performing Thursday in the ninth annual Whatzup and Wooden Nickel Battle of the Bands. They are competing in the finals against Big Money and the Spare Change (9 p.m.), Valhalla (9:50 p.m.) and Slow Pokes (11:30 p.m.). Fair Fjola perform at 10:40 p.m.
While 75 percent of the decision is left up to the judges, 25 percent is audience vote, according to lead guitarist Tyler Reinholt.
“We need crowd participation, otherwise we could lose,” Reinholt said.
“Judges are 75 percent, but the judges seem to really like us,” said Sam.
“We went into it thinking they wouldn’t because we were of a different genre (than the other bands),” Eileen Coria Gillis, piano and vocals, said.
Other members of Warsaw/Winona Lake-based Fair Fjola include Veronica Coria on mandarin, ukulele and backing vocals, and lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Sebastian Coria.
According to the official website whatzup.com, first place includes a 2009 Dodge Grand Caravan valued at $12,500; $1,500 cash prize; one full day recording studio time valued at $600; 250 CDs in jewel cases with two-panel insert and tray card valued at $600; and advertising credit valued at $500.
There are also prizes for second, third and fourth, and fifth through eighth place valued at $2,500; $1,600; and $550 each, respectively.
The Battle of the Bands started April 26 with seven preliminary rounds, with four different bands in each round. Fair Fjola’s first night was May 17, but they almost didn’t even get into the competition.
An article about Fair Fjola came out in Whatz Up. Beside the article was an advertisement for the Battle of the Bands. The band decided to go for it. Samy filled out an application and put the money down for a deposit.
Since the start of the competition, Sam said, the band had pretty high scores all the way through.
“I think we’re liked by the judges and the crowd pretty heavily,” said Sam. “We were definitely the outcast at the beginning because we were the only band not playing metal.”
“I didn’t think we’d make it past the first round,” said Eileen. “We did almost really leave. We thought it sucked because it had nothing to do with us.”
Samy said the band also had low morale at the start. Half of the band arrived about five minutes before they were to take the stage. Things did not bode well.
“The first round of the Battle of the Bands, we had the highest judges’ scores, but the lowest audience score. Now we’re second for audience,” said Samy.
During the contest, Eileen said each band performs a half-hour set. Each band can only play five or six songs. If a band plays more than allotted, they are disqualified.
“The last set, they were screaming for an encore," said Samy.
The emcee had to tell the crowd Fair Fjola couldn’t do an encore because they would be disqualified.
If they win, Eileen said the first-place prize package would be beneficial in every way, especially the van. Reinholt Town Square Furniture always lets the band use its van for gigs since the band doesn’t have one of its own.
“He’s really awesome about that,” she said. “But it would be great for us to have our own so we can tour.”
“And we can all be together and go to shows together,” said Samy. “If we can all leave together, it would be good for band morale. We actually like hanging out together.”
“Recording time will be awesome because we have all new material. We can just mess around with it without any boundaries,” Eileen said.
“We can produce it without anyone telling us how to do it,” Samy agreed.
“If we win this,” joked Sam, “we instantly become more famous than The Beatles.”
For each round of competition Fair Fjola has been in, a caravan has left The Downtown restaurant and bar.
“The Downtown has a drinking special that night to get people there, then they chaffeur them to Fort Wayne and back to The Downtown,” Eileen said.
Regardless of where they place, Fair Fjola is getting their name out there. They even were asked by the sound technician to come back to Columbia Street West Aug. 18 for a booking. But they’re not going out without a fight.
“We have some secrets in store for the crowd,” said Sam.
“We practiced last night,” Samy said. “We had an awesome practice last night. ... We worked our set list out last night so we know exactly what songs we are going to do.”
“There’s some new stuff that is going to happen,” hinted Sam. “I think we’re the only band not from Fort Wayne. I think it’s cool that we have enough people voting for us and we’re doing really well and we’re not from Fort Wayne.”
“We all know it’s not going to be easy to win,” Eileen said. “It’s going to be difficult. At this point, we’re all pretty evenly matched. We may win, but it’s going to be tough if we do.”
Samy said he was most worried about Slow Pokes. Valhalla has great judges’ scores, Sam said. Eileen said Slow Pokes is the band most similar to Fair Fjola, as both bands aren’t heavy.
“All four bands are really talented,” said Sam.
“We really need to win,” said Reinholt. “We need the van. The category we’ve been lacking in is showmanship.”
As the days and hours wind down to the final competition, Veronica said the whole band is pretty excited.
“It’s just nice to know other people appreciate our music other than just our following,” she said. “I think it’s kept things fresh, playing Battle of the Bands, because it forces us to think outside our bubble. I feel the energy between us has grown tremendously.”
