The TBE team sat down with two very musical Boothies to recap The Battle of The Bands Auditions that took place last month. Tomorrow night, Rachel DeChiara will represent Booth alongside her band, The Regency Era, as they face off against Northwestern Kellogg in a fierce musical showdown. This long standing tradition between both schools is hosted by Chicago’s AudioBooth Club and we are thrilled to hear more about the event from Co-Chair Margaret Stonerock. Read below for the full story:
Rachel DeChiara, Class of 2022, Lead Vocalist for The Regency Era
What was your experience like competing in Battle of the Bands?
It was so exciting to perform in front of so many Boothies and to get to share the stage with my band, The Regency Era, after months of practice. I definitely felt nervous before going on, but once I got up there it all clicked into place. I loved watching and listening to the audience reaction throughout – especially in moments when the whole crowd seemed to be singing along. I felt so proud of our performance and it felt really rewarding to share that part of myself with the community. I also just felt so grateful for the work that the Audiobooth Co-Chairs put in to make that night possible and a success – getting to perform at a venue like Joe’s on Weed is not typical at all for an amateur band and I feel really lucky.
What’s your background with Music?
I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember. Growing up, I performed in a lot of musical theater productions and had classical voice training. My mom is a huge live music fan so I also grew up going to many concerts – Bruce Springsteen especially. In college, I sang with an incredible all-female acappella group and many of the women in that group are still my close friends today. I remember graduating college and feeling so nervous and sad that I wouldn’t get the opportunity to perform again. It honestly felt like I was losing a big part of myself. Coming to Booth and getting to perform again, especially in this new way as the front-woman for a band, has been just such an incredible, fulfilling experience.
How have you followed your personal passion for music while at Booth through your Band?
Our band is truly so musically talented. I’ve learned so much and it’s made the process of rehearsing and performing all the more special. Seeing what Rob Cortes can produce electronically, for example, has completely broadened the types of songs we can perform. Domingo Claro, our bassist, always comes up with the most creative ideas when it comes to musical arrangements. Kevin Aukee, our drummer, is so gifted and always makes me feel comfortable knowing that we’re going to keep it all together. Andy Hammond, our guitarist, has a super strong ear and makes sure that we’re always sounding our best. In working with each of them, I’ve become more confident, more willing to take risks, and certainly more musical myself.
What songs did you sing in your line up?
So What by Pink, Hot N Cold by Katy Perry, Teenagers by My Chemical Romance, Shallow by Lady Gaga / Bradley Cooper, Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! By ABBA, Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa, Dancing on my Own by Robyn, and a mashup of Good 4 U by Olivia Rodrigo and Misery Business by Paramore. It was a lot!
What’s next for The Regency Era?
We’re hard at work preparing for Battle of the Bands against Kellogg on May 13th at The Vic! We are switching up a good amount of our setlist so we’re hoping the Boothies in the audience are excited to see new stuff and listen once more to some of their favorites. As for after that, we’re not sure yet! We’ve talked about trying to play at local bars, so we’ll see if we can all make the time for that. Regardless, I know I’ll stay friends with these guys for a long time.
Margaret Stonerock, Class of 2022: Co-Chair of AudioBooth
AudioBooth is one of the few free clubs at Booth for anyone who appreciates music! We have members who are super talented musicians and also members who love music and like to appreciate the talents of others. It’s a place for anyone and everyone at Booth!
I wanted to be a co-chair of AudioBooth because I found it to be one of the most inclusive student groups on campus. There is no barrier to entry and everyone is extremely warm and welcoming! As a non-musically talented music lover, I have been able to help create a space for Boothies to come together over music and rock out to some incredible jams by my friends and fellow Boothies which has been an absolute blast! Music is so universal, it is so fun to be able to create spaces for people to come together over something we all love!
Battle of the Bands is an annual Booth vs Kellogg tradition! Every year 2 bands from Kellogg and 2 bands from Booth come together for an epic battle between the schools. In order to select the 2 bands that make it to battle vs Kellogg, AudioBooth does a TNDC takeover where we hold auditions for the bands at Booth to show off their talent and pick the top two bands to represent Booth at Battle of the Bands. So far we had 600 Boothies come out to Auditions and we have sold over 700 tickets for Battle of the Bands vs Kellogg. We can’t wait to see everyone tomorrow.
Best of luck to The Regency Era and all the Co-Chairs throwing this event! Rock On!
