Everybody has their own story. Students come to Bloomington from all around the world with a different array of backgrounds and hobbies. One of the several reasons students come to study at Indiana University is because of the renowned Jacobs School of Music. Indiana offers a great musical education but the city’s music talent goes beyond just Jacobs.

Across Indiana’s student body, you can find many local bands. Students start a group with their friends and eventually work together to create songs that they love to perform. Most of these students just play for friends and families but occasionally an opportunity arises to perform in front of a live audience at an actual venue. Indiana’s IMU Union Board gave that opportunity to its students. The group has made it their goal to offer unique opportunities for those on campus, especially those in the music scene.

The union board decided to put on a local music event for artists by giving local bands an opportunity at the historic Buskirk-Chumley Theater. That’s where Battle of the Bands comes into play. The union board set up an agreement with Buskirk Theater and the competition was set for students.

Battle of the Bands saw four different bands compete on stage. Honey Iced Tea was the first group of the night. (Courtesy: Grace Julian)

Clusterfunk’s Rithvik Somayaji plays the saxophone during the band’s first song of the night. (Courtesy: Grace Julian)

Prairie Scout competed in their second Battle of the Bands after taking first place in the previous event. (Courtesy: Grace Julian)

Natalie Ingalls, the lead singer of Prairie Scout, plays the guitar on stage during the group’s set. (Courtesy: Grace Julian)

Lu Harper singing SYZYGY’s original song, Unreal ll, for the live audience. (Courtesy: Grace Julian)

Maggie Ison & Ian Fournie start the show with some introductions of the bands. Ison and Fournie were both in charge of running the event for the IMU Union Board. (Courtesy: Grace Julian)

SYZYGY’S, Max Senter, is the group’s lead guitar player. Senter joined the group back in Oct of 2022. (Courtesy: Grace Julian)

Battle of the Bands was a free event for the public. Spectators consisted of friends and other local bands in the area. (Courtesy: Grace Julian)

The event took place on Tuesday, Nov.28 and other fellow students quickly filled the seats. The lineup included four local bands with the winning band being named the best band of the night. Every band got a chance to play five songs of their choice and then eventually at the end of the show, the fans would get a chance to vote on their favorite group of the night via a QR code at the end of the show. 

The first group of the day was Honey Iced Tea. Honey Iced Tea is a group that consists of six different musicians playing various instruments like the guitar, bass, and saxophone with two lead singers. The groups mainly focuses on pop and RnB. 

Next up was another fellow pop group called Clusterfunk. Clusterfunk is also a group known for their pop genre but also has a big jazz influence. Clusterfunk was one of the bands that went on and performed at the annual IUDM dance marathon this year. 

The third group of the day was Prairie Scout. A local indie pop band that was making their second appearance in the Battle of the Bands. The group would go on and only sing original songs during their performance. Prairie Scout was also the group who won the first Battle of the Bands that was put on by the union board. 

Lastly, SYZYGY was the final group of the day. A local alternative rock band was coming into the show as the only rock-based group and finished the night with their round of music. 

At around 10:30 p.m., all four groups had performed. Every single group got a round of applause from the local crowd and then it was time to vote. The QR code was placed on the big screen and then everyone was given ten minutes to vote. 

After ten minutes, everyone casted their votes and the results came in. It was a close race between Prairie Scout and SYZYGY but for the second time in a row, Prairie Scout was announced to be the winning band of the night. 

“We just won the union board battle of the bands,” Prairie Scout said. “We had so much fun. We tried out a bunch of new originals. Thank you Buskirk and thank you to the union board. We’ll be back.” 

The IMU union board has plans to hosts similar events and conversations have already begun about what other types of music events they can put together. The semester is coming to a close but there’s a lot in store for the upcoming semester in 2024.