Three years ago, Alumni Ryan Argast and Matthew Gaudiano formed the band Marina City alongside friends Brian Johnson, Eric Somers-Urrea, Aaron Heiy, and Todor Birindjiev.

The band has shared the stage with bands such as Go Radio, State Champs, and Real Friends, but starting this summer they will perform with many, many more acclaimed bands.

Marina City has won the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands competition.  Thousands of bands sign up for the competition to create their own social media page.  On the page the band posts music and pictures. The pages are interactive for the fans, resulting in a higher Buzz Rating.  If their rating is one of the top one hundred bands in their city, five bands are chosen to play their local Warped Tour date.  Then, when Warped Tour ends, the individual winners of each city are judged once again for the grand prize.  Going up against six to ten thousand other bands winning this competition opens up incredible opportunities for Marina City.

“We all cried,” said Argast, lead singer.  “We cried like babies.  We couldn’t believe it.  It’s a dream come true.  This is the opportunity we’ve been looking for since we all started playing music.”

As part of their reward they will receive an Ernie Ball String endorsement, gifting them with plenty of new equipment to help with touring and recording. The equipment includes, two amplifiers, two guitar cabinets, a five piece drum set, a cymbal pack, a guitar pedal pack, a microphone pack, and two custom in ear monitors.  Along with a fifteen thousand dollar Guitar Center shopping spree.

They will be featured in Alternative Press Magazine, a music magazine with a following of nearly 518,000 people.  Ernie Ball also endorses artists like Slash, The Used, Rise Against, and Green Day.

“This will be huge for us,” said Argast. “We always need guitar strings and we could always use some sweet new guitars! It will definitely make us look like a serious band.”

The reward also includes a slot on Vans Warped Tour 2016 for two weeks.  This past summer Marina City played the highest attendance date of Warped Tour in Tinley Park.

They will be recieving studio time with John Feldman, the producer of Panic! At The Disco and 5 Seconds of Summer.  Feldman has contributed to the sale of over 34 million records worldwide, and nearly eight million in the past five years.  Marina City will be recording a short three song EP with him.

“This is not only an accomplishment for us, but everyone who has ever supported us.” said Argast.  “We had so many beautiful comments on our page about how we have impacted people’s lives and how we are people’s favorite band.  We couldn’t believe all the support we got from this.”

Marina City is amazed by the support they have and will continue to receive. Argast says that from here “the sky is the limit.”

“We plan to be releasing new music soon, tour all over the country, and really make this band our career,” said Argast.

Their latest EP “Wanderlust” was released in early August and they will continue to put out more music for their growing fan base.