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DOWNERS GROVE
Four Downers Grove high school musicians are hoping to translate a recent state crown into something more.
Clear Confusion, made up of Max King, Griffin Tome, Fredo Fosco and Colin Riordan, won the Illinois Battle of the Bands contest Aug. 22 and the title of best teen band in the state with three of the four being only 15 years old.
The group met at the Downers Grove Rock Academy. All had played with one another but were drawn to form a band in 2014 by a shared desire to put in work to create their own music.
“I think we all had the same thing that we wanted – a solid band,” said King, the band elder at 17. “We wanted to take it seriously. ... We actually got a solid group of guys that just clicked. From the first show we played, it felt good.”
The band’s manager, Cory Fosco, father of the band’s lead singer and songwriter, said he heard about the state Battle of the Bands circuit earlier this year and approached the band with the idea, eventually signing them up for as many local competitions as they could find through the summer.
The success came quickly – second place at Lisle and Oak Park, then victories at both the Wheaton/Glen Ellyn and Westmont battles.
While a single win would have been enough to put them into regionals, the band said the entire process was indispensable for their eventual success as competitors and as a band.
“It drove us to get more organized,” Griffin said. “It wasn’t just a practice where we ran through our set anymore. It was, ‘All right, what do we do now?’ This day we practice the actual songs, this day choreography, then transitions, then this day tie everything together.”
Fredo said the two second-place finishes at the beginning of the run forced them to refine and innovate their established show.
“Those first two, we played them exactly the same and didn’t win,” Fredo said. “But from every show on afterward we never played the same show.”
A second-place finish at regionals gave fuel to the fire, the band said.
In Springfield, Clear Confusion faced off against a pair of local bands, including one that had beaten them at a previous battle. After the announcement that Clear Confusion had won, they brought their band manager onstage as their way of saying thanks.
“I wasn’t the one performing with them, but I was probably just as nervous or more nervous for them. And I was just proud of them,” Cory Fosco said. “They did everything they needed to do. ... I think that as a parent and band manager, to be brought into your children’s work and their passion is the best gift I could get.”
The band hopes to use their prize winnings to buy a new synthesizer for Fredo. They hope to use the momentum of the win to write songs and record their second album, with the goal being to release the album this winter. Their first album was released in March.
King said their success stemmed from a genuine friendship and collaborative atmosphere. He believed it would lead to more in the future.
“This is who we hang out with – if we’re not having a band practice on Saturday night, we end up hanging out,” he said. “I think we haven’t peaked yet. I hope we haven’t peaked yet. ... I think there are going to be some big things to come.”
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Meet Clear Confusion band
• Max King: Lead guitarist, 17, Downers Grove North
• Griffin Tome: Bassist, 15, Downers Grove North
• Fredo Fosco: Lead singer keyboard rhythm guitar, song writer, 15, Downers Grove North
• Colin Riordan: Drums, 15, Downers Grove South
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Know more
To learn about Clear Confusion and its future dates, visit www.clearconfusionband.com and www.facebook.com/clearconfusionband. To hear the band's music, look for it on iTunes, Spotify and Google Play.