Arts & Entertainment

Pop Punk Band From Mount Sinai Plays Billboard Music Awards

Patent Pending beat out six national acts to win Billboard's Battle of the Bands competition.

For more than 11 years, Patent Pending, a pop punk band from Mount Sinai, has honed their sound from a self-described “awkward, terrible” first attempt in high school to opening for acts like Gym Class Heroes, Bowling For Soup and the Vans Warped Tour.

Now the band from Mount Sinai High School has captured the national spotlight by winning the 2012 Billboard Magazine Battle of the Bands competition. Guitar-driven punk-inspired songs and catchy lyrics infused with modern pop references helped Patent Pending win out over six other national acts for the top prize: the opportunity to play at the Billboard Music Awards on May 20.

Band members include lead singer Joe Ragosta, guitarists Rob Felicetti and Marc Kantor, bassist Travis McGee and drummer Anthony Mingoia.

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Patent Pending’s journey from touring across America in a van to the national stage could be ripped from a familiar – even clichéd – rock and roll back story.

“We started with nothing. Absolutely no knowledge of what we were doing. And we bought a van and we left home because the venues at home wouldn't let us keep playing after we were so bad,” the band told Billboard in an interview before they won the competition. “We hit the road and we learned how to play and we learned how to write songs and we accomplished a lot of cool things.”

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They even had to raise money for their 2011 album “Second Family” through Kickstarter, a social media website that helps artists fundraise for projects.

“The band had hit rock bottom financially, but as far as popularity, we were bigger than ever. It was a weird spot,” Patent Pending’s lead singer Joe Ragosta told GoErie.com back in April. “So, we put up a five-minute video, explaining our situation. Fans rallied behind us.”

They said that they wanted to raise $7,500 to make the album and ended up with $12,661 in donations.

Now that they have a national television appearance for a major music award show under their belts, they’re going to spend the summer on tour with Bowling For Soup and playing on the Warped Tour.

Click here to see Patent Pending play on the Billboard Music Awards.

Check out the band’s official website or connect with them on Twitter and Facebook. And watch the official music video for their song, “Dance Till We Die” here.

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