The Noms won the UNM Battle of the Bands along with Zagadka. The five-person band plays acoustic pop. There were so mirthy, Victor Murthy would’ve approved. As a prize, they will play at Fiestas this April .
Daily Lobo: So how’s everyone feeling after the win? Are you all pretty excited after the win?
Joshua Herrera: We went in there and did our thing.
Jesse Herrera: It was definitely rewarding.
Michelle Baumann: It was cool. We weren’t going in there for the win. We’re just going to kick it and have fun.
Greg Pisottia: It’s always nice to be recognized.
Jes H: I am still on the high just from the show. I am not even on a high from the win. After that show, I was so pumped up. The win was the cherry on top.
Jos H: We have a lot of shows coming up and winning it just kicked it off.
DL: You’re a pretty young band, is this victory a nice reaffirmation of your band?
Jes H: The cool thing about this band is because we’re young, we’re so diverse. It’s not like we have one guitarist or one vocalist and everyone just follows them. We have so much creative input now. The band didn’t start like that. At this point our creative energy is being utilized. We’re just discovering how to communicate.
DL: After the performance, did you guys feel as though you had won it or was it hard to tell?
MM: We definitely went out with a sense of pride and energy.
DL: You tied with Zagadka. What did you think of them?
Jes H: One thing that struck me about that band was they were really focused. They knew what they were there for. They just seemed really driven and focused. It’s really tight.
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DL: Did you expect to win? What were your hopes going in?
GP: When there’s 22 bands, you can never expect to win. And we’re not the type of people who are like, “We’re the best, we better win.” Our biggest worry was the time thing, and then we were like, “Forget the time commitment. Let’s just play and see what happens.”
Jes H: We felt good about it.
Mike Mares: We were more concerned about being on the same page and getting back into the groove of our music. We’ve been out of shows for a couple months because we’ve been recording and getting everything together.
GP: Our choreography is really important. (everyone laughs).
Jes H: Once you lose focus on why you do what you do the show just ends up not being as good as it could be. Our focus is always music and energy and connecting with each other and the crowd. And that was on our minds and that is what we did.
DL: Yeah, the crowd did respond really strongly to you guys, was that nice for you as performers?
Jos H: When we get into it they get into it and it can only get better.
MB: It makes me feel so much better. If you see people in your music…it gets makes you a lot more confident in what you’re doing.
Jes H: There’s so much purpose when I am singing and people are into it.
GP: It’s always nice to know there’s a common ground and that you’re providing that common ground.
*CD Release Party for “Choices”
El Rey Theatre
620 Central Ave. S.W.
April 30*
