Ormond band "Fringes" makes top 24 contest for unsigned bands in the country

Ormond Beach Observer
Neighbors

What started as three friends playing garage-band style music in their hometown has turned into a mature alternative rock group who is currently in second place of being the top unsigned rock band in the country.

The Recording Conservatory of Austin's Unsigned Artist Showcase is where the best artists in the United States compete in a live-recorded showcase for $4,000, 100 free hours of studio time and private auditions for some of the biggest talent discovery TV shows in the nation. And three young men from Ormond Beach are just votes away from being number one.

Travis Hanson, Gio Barreto, and Max Haberman make up the band "Fringes," which started as "a group of high school buddies who first found music as a common ground," according to their biography. Hanson said their friendship is one of the reasons they've been able to keep playing music together for three years.

"We're friends first and in a band second," he said. "Having that dynamic keeps us together."

Currently, they're all juniors in college — Hanson attends the University of Florida and Barreto and Haberman attend the University of Central Florida — and plan on pursing careers in some part of the music industry. While going to different schools has made it difficult to practice and play shows, they find ways to keep their passions alive, such as the Unsigned Artist Showcase.

The "Fringes" are rallying their fans and community to vote for them to make it to the top four of the contest. They're currently in second place, and the top four gets a chance to shoot a music video with the studio. Then the videos are released, and a winner is chosen from that top four.

You can vote online at trcoa.com/uas-vote-2016.html until Aug. 18.