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The Pines, one of the bands set to take part in the annual Olde Stompers Battle of the Bands competition in Itaewon, Yongsan, Seoul, this year, perform during last year’s contest, the inaugural event, during which they were a finalist. The event, which takes place over the next four weeks, starts Saturday. / Courtesy of Summer Walker |
By Bryan Kay
Staff Reporter
Former Doosan Bears pitcher Matt Randel has two aims this winter: seeing his band crowned king of a music throwdown and securing a team for the 2010 Korean baseball season.
Randel, frontman in expat band the Tremors, was forced to sit last season out after picking up a back injury in the winter.
 He is determined to get back on the roster ― but will first bid to win the annual Olde Stompers Rock Spot Battle of the Bands competition, which kicks off Saturday.
"We've been gigging quite a bit lately and we've now got a new drummer and everything is going great," said Randel, a self-confessed punk from Portland, Ore.
"We're going to give it a shot. We've got a fair number of original songs and maybe two covers, so we think we can have a go at winning.
"We're basically a punk band and we like to get really into the music. All of our members are huge punk fans and our music comes from that.
"We've really picked it up a bit since our new drummer joined. We're rehearsing a lot and getting more gigs. We started doing Hongdae venues recently, so we're happy."
Randel's band ― which also includes journalist John Redmond, from London, England, on bass guitar and new drummer Mike Lugo, who serves in the American military here ― will appear alongside the Pines, Jazzy J and the Money Shots, Seoul City Suicides and Captain Bootbois in the first round.
The contest takes place on every Saturday in November, with the final set for Nov. 28.
The other rounds will see the likes of the Dharma Club, …Whatever That Means and the Willman Band go head-to-head.
The winner in each of the three rounds plus the best-placed runner-up will feature in the lineup from which the winner will emerge.
Summer Walker, the event promoter, reckons this year's competition will prove better than last year, the inaugural contest.
"All the bands are great and most of them new," she said. "There has been a giant response from musicians and fans. The competition is going to be tough, and the bands will be judged based on musical execution, stage performance and crowd response."
As for Randel, win or lose, he says he'll be there at every event to see who emerges with the winner's crown. And then it will be time for baseball again. "I'm going to be training on my own to get fit. I'm going to work, and hopefully I'll get a club as the start of the season approaches."
bk@koreatimes.co.kr
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