Peninsula high school band Collect Call is in the running to be named YouthInk’s BC’s Best Teen Band in an online contest.

Peninsula high school band Collect Call is in the running to be named YouthInk’s BC’s Best Teen Band in an online contest.

Teen rockers seek B.C. title

Local band Collect Call in top 10 of province-wide contest

Calling all fans of White Rock-South Surrey alt-rock band Collect Call.

There’s still a little time to vote online for the group in Youthink’s BC’s Best Teen Band Contest before voting closes on Feb. 18.

The band, Elgin Park Grade 12 students Tom Lee (guitar/bass/vocals), Alun Gunderson (guitar/bass/vocals) and Nick Babey (drums/percussion) and Earl Marriott Grade 11 student Lazar Todorovic (lead guitar) made the top 10 of the contest in October and are vying for a spot in the top three.

If they make that, they’ll be battling for the top spot in a live finale April 27 at Vancouver’s Electric Owl.

“The band is really excited and, frankly, honoured to be part of the top 10,” Babey said.

“It’s a thrill to know that people are listening to the music, and hitting ‘vote’ every day. The support of family, friends, acquaintances, and strangers is overwhelming, and was not at all expected.”

Lee and Babey first teamed with the idea of making a Christmas album in 2009.

While they’ve yet to create one, they’ve made huge strides in every other way, particularly with the addition of Gunderson in the summer of 2011 and joining Todd Brewer’s School of Music that fall, which is where they met Todorovic.

After starting to write their own material and receiving a White Rock busking licence  last summer, the band came into its own, finding a number of local gigs and placing third in the 2012 WRASA Kids Help Phone “Lighthouse” Talent Show in December.

“It’s a great morale boost to know that people are actually enjoying what the band plays, and to know that the years of work are paying off,” said Babey.

“We hope that through the contest we will gain some publicity, and with it, the ability to play live more often.”

For more information on Collect Call visit their facebook page at www.facebook.com/CollectCallMusic

To vote for Collect Call, visit the contest website at http://www.youthink.ca/band-contest-2013

Peace Arch News