UCF band The Getbye wins an Orlando music competition

Armed with energetic and infectious melodies, The Getbye rose from playing in a dorm room at Libra Drive to winning "Orlando's Next Big Thing" on July 24.

In the showcase, UCF students Kyle Smith, Alex Smith, David Pendry, Alex Taylor, and Casey Shannon and Ian Shannon beat 23 local acts and won prizes such as a custom built guitar, a photo shoot, and vocal or performance coaching.

The band was thankful and "happily surprised" to win ONBT.

"We believed in our music and all the hard work we did was recognized," said senior biology major Kyle Smith.

The Getbye decided to enter the showcase after Alex Smith learned about ONBT from its MySpace page. Its members said they had fun performing in the showcase that judged participants based on their performance, stage appearance, cohesiveness as a group, and promotion.

Its hard work and organic creativity began to take form in the fall of 2009. Not only are all its members self-taught musicians; there's also the added talent of senior interdisciplinary studies major Pendry, who has the innate ability to learn any music instrument he chooses and to make music out of the simplest material such as a tennis racket.

"Music originality is important to us," said Alex Smith, who is a freshman nursing major.

The band's live performance is a blend of eclectic sounds created from different instruments such as guitar, trumpet, and bongo drums to a glockenspiel, an instrument made of metal pipes and bars that resemble a xylophone. Its inspiration for material can be sparked from something as simple as the sound made by a spoon as it hits a belt buckle.

The Getbye's unique sound makes it hard to place their music under a specific category or label but its members had a few definitions for it. Junior history major Alex Taylor described it as "Indie acoustic jam," while Kyle Smith had a more visual description: "If Modest Mouse, The Beatles and Johnny Cash had a baby," Smith said.

The Getbye's sound may be hard to define but its name has a simple explanation.

"We named our band that [The Getbye] because we do what we do and what we can to get by in life," Kyle Smith said.

The band released its first EP "Down Went a Bone, Up Came a Root" in 2009.

Currently, they have eight songs written and many more that need to be finished for their next EP or full length album. The band will head to the recording studio in the upcoming weeks.

The Getbye said that winning ONBT has given the band more street credibility and offers to play shows all around Florida. The band's next show will be at Club 57 West in Downtown Orlando on Sept. 8. Its full show schedule can be found at the band's MySpace and Facebook.

The members of The Getbye said that their goal as a band is to put on a great show. But, they also want to use music to challenge antiquated views and help people through difficult times by creating music that is uplifting with a positive message. The band is looking to unite its forces with organizations on campus and off-campus that also seek to spread the same message.

"We are a movement," Kyle Smith said. "We started here [UCF]. We really want to reach to more kids and represent UCF."

Though, the band is aware it has exploded rapidly on the music scene its goal to reach out to others with its music has only increased. "Music helped us get through things," Alex Smith said. "We want to do the same for others."