A quiet Sunday evening in Depew saw a rock show that was anything but. Nightclub Rock N Roll Heaven hosted Gorilla Productions' Battle of The Bands, an annual event which acts as a launch pad for hungry young musical acts eager for their first shot at fame. According to Gorilla Productions Promoter Timothy Roma, The Battle of The Bands helps prepare younger bands to get their start in the music business, learn the responsibilities of working with venues and other bands, and helps boost their popularity. Ultimately, the goal is to sign bands, and winners receive submission to a major record label, as well as studio time to create their album. Generally catering to grunge and heavy metal bands, Sunday night's battle featured such local acts as Coven, a hard rock, heavy metal group with a distinctively dark sounding edge, and The Apologies, a young band whose punk rock sound travels in the same vein as that of The White Stripes. A rough crowd held court at center stage, cheering and colliding against the waves of the overpowering music. In the midst of it all, and in stark contrast to the show's predominantly hard edge, stood Fox Salehi, front man for local and internationally known band, Elipsus.
"This isn't the usual fare," said Fox of the hard metal crowd at Rock N Roll Heaven, "but we do really well with groups of all kinds. We recently did a show at Club Infinity and won a Battle of The Bands contest there with a predominantly punk crowd. At the end of the show, twenty-three people lined up to get CDs, who had never even heard the music before that night." With a pop-inspired, new wave sound, Elipsus appeals to a wide range of audiences, regardless of genre. Playing music since the age of five, Fox formed his band back in his home of Oxford, England as a teenager. When he was seventeen, he came to the United States, and has lived here ever since. Three years ago, he began playing for audiences locally, and most recently he released his very first album, "Changing History," which was unveiled at a CD release party at Club W this past September.
With the judging of Sunday's Battle of The Bands being decided by the hard rock-loving crowd, Fox says, "We knew we wouldn't win tonight, but you know, we gave a good show and did our best, and that's the most important thing." Indeed, Fox faced more than one hardship in preparing for Sunday's show. Mere hours before stage time, both the Elipsus guitarist and drummer cancelled for the event, forcing Fox to take drastic measures. "I found Aaron literally two hours before the show," he says of guitarist Aaron Masters who filled in for the missing Elipsus members. Masters, a successful solo artist plays as solo act "Yesterday Morning," as well as for another band, "Phobia Phobia." He has been performing for the past seven years and was jovial as he spoke of his chance encounter with Elipsus. It made for an interesting day for Masters who, after the Rock N Roll Heaven show, was off to Canisius College to lend his guitar to mega stars One Republic who were playing a show there and were in need of a Fender.
Fox is optimistic when he speaks of future endeavors. Shows are already lined up for the upcoming months, and on December 10th, Elipsus will be at Mohawk Place opening up for Tim Williams, a nationally known touring act often seen on MTV. Out of over one hundred possible musical acts that could have been chosen, Elipsus is thrilled to be a part of the show, and is confident about what lies ahead.
To learn more about Fox and Elipsus, as well as their upcoming shows, check out their website at
www.Elipsus.net.
For Aaron Masters' music and information, check out
www.Myspace.com/YesterdayMorningMusic.
And for information on Gorilla Productions and The Battle of The Bands, go to
www.GorillaProductions.net.