By Kai Bwor and Cooper Hofmann

Granada Hills Charter (GHC) invites its student performers to leave it all on the stage in this year’s GranadaPalooza, which will be held in the near future. Building on the energy of last year’s Camp Granada, the Zelzah campus will host the second year of GHC’s lineup of student-led bands. Taking place from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., the event will feature a collection of student bands, alongside vendors from academic teams, sports teams, and clubs across campus, creating a festival-like atmosphere. Here are a few of the bands set to make this year’s GranadaPalooza one to remember.
Formed through mutual connections, Stillwater turned into a close group that now practices every other day, spending most of their time together, on and off stage. The band features junior Nathan Vaquera on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, freshman Lily Defrancia on lead guitar, junior Tyler Nicolle on bass and backup vocals, and sophomore Mehmet Selim Bidak on drums. Their sound blends rock and roll elements from metal and bands like the Deftones with more melodic touches of jazz and blues. Stillwater recently placed third out of fourteen bands at a downtown Battle of the Bands during Art Jam.
“It’s just very fun to play and have opportunities like GranadaPalooza to show off what we’ve been working on,” Vaquera said.
The Major Seventh stems from GHC’s very own Music Improvement Club. Their sound combines the somber, soulful melodies of Radiohead with the intense, pounding angst and energy of Paramore. Club president and senior Sophia Cayamanda joined together choir and acapella singers to offer a unique experience.
“There’s so much external pressure to be great coming from music programs,” Cayamanda said. “We want to perform without those pressures. We want to make something messy and human and uniquely us.”
GHC junior and keyboardist Eliana Mercado joins vocalist Phoebe Shapiro, drummer Emilio Cela, guitarist Aidan Varsam, and bassist Jack Pedroza to perform as the Silence. Their sound draws heavily from classic rock influences like Guns N’ Roses, while incorporating elements of R&B and modern rock.
With weekly gigs under their belt and experience playing at Hollywood’s Whisky a Go Go, they are comfortable on stage. Still, GranadaPalooza offers something new.
“As artists, knowing we’ve created music, a universal language, that people can connect with is what keeps us motivated to keep pushing forward,” Mercado said.
Sophomore Kai Evangelista and his group, Brown Butter, live up to their name, providing a buttery smooth counterbalance to many of the more rock and roll bands at GranadaPalooza’s. Evangelista works alongside his younger sister Faye, as well and sophomores Alexander Kerian on drums and Aaliyah Bencito on bass to mellow the crowd with hits from bands like The Foo Fighters, Sublime, and the Deftones.
“Our energy is a big strength,” Evangelista said, “We’re a strong group, and I’m excited to see how the crowd responds to what we bring.”