Dream Drop Distance, a Homewood-Flossmoor pop punk band won the regional Battle of the Bands at the Park District of Forest Park on July 21. They will go on to compete in the statewide contest at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield on Aug. 18.
For 10 years, the Illinois Parks and Recreation Association has hosted the competition, open to children and teens, 7-14 years old.
Six other bands played 20-minute sets on a roll-away stage in front of the park district headquarters. The other bands were Storm the Front (Des Plaines), Blind Ambition (Westmont), 18th Origin (Gibson City), Grand Scintilla (Oak Park), Jacob’s Cabin (Glen Ellyn), and The Capitol (Brookfield).
Bands were judged by stage presence, sound clarity and quality, musicianship, originality and audience response, said Kevin Dunne, intern at the park district.
“Dream Drop Distance had a lot of stage presence. What the judges liked was they were enthusiastic young kids up there having fun,” he said. “They also got points for originality.”
The band name is a reference to a Japanese role-playing video game. Members Javi Axel Foshee, Andrew Dederer, Josh Rufolo and Matty Jiles evoked a “Captain America” theme, said Dunne.
See a video of Dream Drop Distance’s set at our Facebook page.
