South Surrey-based Collect Call (Alun Gunderon, Tom Lee, Nick Babey and Lazar Todorovic, from left to right) is vying for the title of B.C.'s Best Teen Band, along with Northern Rain, also based in Surrey.
Photograph by: submitted , for Surrey NOW
South Surrey quartet Collect Call needs your votes - wait, don't hang up!
Collect Call is one of 10 bands in Youthink's annual B.C.'s Best Teen Band Contest, which pits talented young musicians against each other.
Formed in December 2009, the four band members of Collect Call - all high schoolers at Elgin Park Secondary and Earl Marriott Secondary - are hoping their brand of indie rock will win over enough voters to get them into the finals.
"Our main influences are bands like Hey Rosetta, Said the Whale and The Arkells," said Tom Lee, who splits guitar, bass and vocal duties with bandmate Alun Gunderson. "We also have a musical background in jazz and classical from our band programs at school."
"We try to put some improvisation into our songs just to make them a bit more fun to play," added drummer Nick Babey. "You can mess around with them live and have fun with the music."
Until recently, Collect Call was doing well in the polls, but other artists have stepped up the level of competition.
"We have a whole bunch posters in White Rock and around Ocean Park - we're doing the best we can," said Lee.
The three artists with the most votes will perform live at the Electric Owl in Vancouver on April 27, and the winning band will be decided by a panel of music industry judges.
The contest features thousands of dollars in prizes for the winning artist, including a recording session with Jay Evjen of Juicemix Productions, $2,000 for artist development and the cover of Youthink's May/ June issue.
Surrey alternative rockers Northern Rain are also in the running, following the band's outstanding performance at the Surrey Shines talent competition.
"It's a very exciting time for them," said Jon Stockwell, manager of Northern Rain.
The remaining artists include ADOB (Port Moody), DaniElle (Pitt Meadows), How We Survive (Saanichton), Lucy Mistreated (Duncan), Roy Has Fire (Castlegar), The Distributors (Nanaimo), The Flying Fishmongers (North Vancouver) and The Racket (South Hazelton).
To vote between now and Feb. 18, visit youthink. ca/band-contest-2013.
Twitter @jacobzinn
