Last month, when Nemesis Media and Barb Rocks put together a bill of eight extremely diverse bands for a showcase of musical acts who participate in the pair’s networking event, Balanced Breakfast, on Saturday mornings, it could have been a disaster. Rarely do favorable results come from mixing metal with opera, but it worked better than anyone could have predicted.
So, taking a page from the Balanced Breakfast group in San Francisco, the San Jose crew decided to do something else that was a little crazy: putting together Rock Lotto.
The idea was simple. Musicians who wanted to participate in the show threw their names into a hat. Once stirred, four names were drawn at random and those four became a band. There was no rhyme or reason to the choices, as lead singers and drummers were all in the same pot. What’s interesting is how the bands came together. Since everyone was in one basket, it was quite possible that one band would consist of two vocalists and two guitarists, while another would have two trombonists and two bassists, but no singer. Everything about Rock Lotto came down to the luck of the draw.
Back on April 10, in the middle of the Balanced Breakfast showcase at the RockBar Theater, names were drawn, and seven new bands were formed. Each band was tasked with deciding on a name, creating a Facebook page and putting together 10 minutes of original music that would be performed at a show on Saturday, May 9.
After less than a month of practice, the time has come. This Saturday is the much anticipated Rock Lotto show at the Homestead Bowl & The X-Bar in Cupertino where Slurring The Rhythms, B.C./A.C., Starting From Zero, Karaoke Knight, Anal5, The Asura and an unnamed group will have the opportunity to show their collaborative efforts while “competing for your love and all the rock glory.”
“My band has three songs that are all unique directions,” said Robert Austin of Nemesis Media and the Rock Lotto band, B.C./A.C. “I don’t want to give away too much, but let’s just say, there’s going to be a little something for everyone.”
In addition to the seven new bands, Vista Point will perform cover tunes, take song requests and allow all Rock Lotto bands to take part in their performance.
Rock Lotto begins at 8 p.m. at 20990 Homestead Road, Cupertino, Admission to the all-ages show is $5.