A violist, two guitarists with towering mohawks, a drummer and a bassist take the stage. They are the members of the band Democratic Malfunction 2 (DM2), and this year’s winners of Battle of the Bands, the annual music competition at South, sponsored by Interact Club.

DM2 is made up of seniors Alex Kyrychenko, Mike Janczak, Andrew DeFrank, Ryan Anastasia and junior Gabby Gottfried. DM2 won last year as well, but this time around, there were a few changes to the line-up. One was the addition of Gottfried. At Battle of the Bands, DM2 played two songs, original not only in the lyrics and composition, but also with Gottfried on the viola adding a new sound.

“[Winning] was a nice addition to [Battle of the Bands], but it’s not the reason we came,” Gottfried said. “I’ve gone to Battle of the Bands all years, and it’s just this really awesome experience getting to hear all this music.”

Twenty-one other bands competed alongside DM2, and the top three places were announced. In third place was Mungo, a band of five sophomores: Janna Lyhus, Izzy Fradin, Cole Hamilton, Daniel Landgren and Chris Neuhaus. Fradin, guitarist in the band, was surprised to have done so well in the competition.

“Getting third as sophomores and as our first time playing [Battle of the Bands] was incredible,” Fradin said. “There were so many great bands, and we were very fortunate to have a lot of supporters there for us.”

Second place went to Glacier Green, made up of seniors Brad Lanphere, Blake Stark, Miguel Morales, John Mazzucchelli and Logan Walovitch. These five students played mid-tempo reggae music that set a relaxed atmosphere for the performance.

Even with a laid-back tone, the event still made some band members nervous.

“I get a little jittery,” Fradin said before the competition day. “We have a little pow-wow before we go on [to] get ourselves in the mind set for [performing].”

Whether overcome with nerves or excitement, the students who played at the competition had one thing in common. They came to rock.

“[Battle of the Bands is] people showing off their skills and playing with their friends; it’s very informal,” Jack Poulton, sophomore guitarist in Macky and the Blowfish and Suburban Jam, said. “It’s kind of like V-show but everyone gets in and there are no rules.”

Battle of the Bands has been going on at South for many years, according to Interact sponsor Bill Lyon. Each year, the event is put on by
selected students that are part of the club. Seniors Thomas Pollick and Ron Te were in charge of this year’s Battle of the Bands competition. One of their jobs was selecting a charity to donate the money raised by the event.

“[Battle of the Bands] comes down to raising money for the charitable cause that we choose,” Pollick said. “And this year it [was] Honor Flight Chicago. Everyone understands the purpose of it and understands that it’s a great program.”

Overall, the competition raised $880 for Honor  Flight Chicago. The program flies veterans to Washington, D.C. to visit various war memorials, so that they have a chance to be honored for their service. Each trip costs around $55,000 for the veterans combined, and every donation helps, according to the Honor Flight Chicago website.

People don’t go to Battle of the Bands just to support the cause, however. Many participants say that it is about the music and  rush of being onstage.

“It’s fun performing and just being onstage,” Gottfried said.

Winning is not too bad either, according to senior Becky Friedman, winner of Battle of the Bands in 2008, along with seniors Joe Hampton, Luke Brown and South graduate Tommy Carroll, of the class of 2011.

“Winning freshman year was a completely unexpected and surreal experience,” Friedman said. “Being one of the only girl singers fronting a band, I was sure I was going to be bested by one of the boy bands. [It was] definitely a defining experience.”