For a second year in a row, Placentia rock act We Are the Arsenal was pushed through to the final round of the OC Music Awards‘ best live band showcase series, and by means that signifies the most: the fan vote.

Though WATA lost out again, this year to 2011 best new artist Railroad to Alaska, the quartet is still proud and grateful for the local support. I caught up with the quartet a couple weeks ago at their rehearsal space in Fullerton the night before the finals at Samueli Theater in Costa Mesa. Vocalist and guitarist Ryan Terrigno, drummer Kris Dufour, bassist Alan Bauer and new lead guitarist Caleb Blacksher were busy prepping for the competition, but they weren’t nervous, Terrigno said – just “very excited.”

“It’s pretty cool for us,” he added about being nominated. “Being an Orange County band, we take a lot of pride in that, especially being an Orange County rock band. A lot of great rock bands have come out of Orange County – Social Distortion, No Doubt, Offspring, tons of others – so we take a lot of pride in kind of following in their footsteps and hope to one day leave Orange County.

“But we’re very proud to be here and the OC Music Awards is a really cool event for (local) bands. It’s a lot of exposure and it’s really cool that KROQ gets involved.”

WATA just dropped a new album, January’s Surveillance, at a pivotal point in the group’s career. But with Blacksher on board – he moved here from Missouri to join the band last August – Terrigno says it feels like their musical puzzle is finally complete.

Read the rest of this entry »