Battle of the Bands to Feature NMHS Students

Skyline, a band made up of six NMHS students will be competing against 11 other high school bands at this year's Battle of the Bands: Giving Students a Chance. The first round of the battle will be held on March 3 at 6 p.m. with the final battle being held on May 4 at 7 p.m. at bergenPAC.

The competition is run by ACM Records and the winner of the final battle will win a recording contract with the company as well as a music publishing deal.

The members of Skyline are Joel Martinez (guitar), Tommy Kocak (singer), T.J. Gorman (rapper), Lani Mae Lin (guitar), Matthew Gonzalez, Nick Novak (drums) and Gale Ranesis (bass).

The band only came together four months ago and played their first show at the recent pasta dinner held at NMHS.

"The fact that we've played together for such a little amount of time and we already know each other so well musically, and sound the way we do, we believe says a lot about Skyline," said Joel Martinez, a guitarist for Skyline.

The band describes itself as playing a wide range of music including acoustic, R&B and alternative.

"Skyline loves music," said Martinez. "We love hearing it, playing it, analyzing it, writing it--everything about it."

Martinez said Skyline wants to inspire people to play music. 

"We want more kids to join band," said Martinez. "More freshmen to see the music department and say 'hey, that's really cool."

In terms of the battle, Skyline has clear goals.

"We are striving for a record deal and the chance to record our first album at Bennett Studio," said Martinez.

As for the future, Skyline has a plan. 

"We are looking to become a very big part of the music industry," said Martinez. "We want to become famous and inspire all high school bands as well as show them that anything is possible, when you work hard and believe."

Advance tickets can be purchased from TicketScene for $10 or $15 at the door. Ticket sales account for 25 percent of the overall score and attendees can select their band from the drop down menu on TicketScene when making their purchase.