Culprit Rocks Land O’ Lakes Tonight

Want to hear the teenage musicians who won top honors at the 14th annual Hillsborough County Battle of the Bands?

You’ll get your chance tonight, Nov. 4, when Land O’ Lakes’ own Culprit takes the stage at SwampFest 2011. The four-piece band is fronted by four teens from Land O’ Lakes High School.

Culprit plays a mix of classic rock and original music. Since its inception last year, Culprit has been making headlines. It came in second in last year’s Hillsborough band battle, won the and has played a number of benefit concerts, among other special appearances.

Tristan “Trip” Dusek, 16, his brother Tyler, 17, Jared Olitzky, 16, and Eric Whitener, 17, make up Culprit. Tristan plays lead guitar; his brother the drums. Olitzky’s on the bass with Whitner serving as the front man.

The band’s success to date is something that the Dusek brothers’ mother, Terri, is pleased to see.

“I think it’s fantastic,” she said following Hillsborough’s October battle of the bands. “We love music. We’re a musical family.”

The band’s success, said Tyler, is largely due to the fact that its four members are all friends and they’re all serious about their music.

“We’re all like brothers,” Tyler said. “We’re not afraid to say ‘hey man’ … not afraid to get into arguments. We’re really, really honest with each other.”

Brother Tristan agrees.

“We all go home and we learn our parts,” he said. “Whether one of us doesn’t like a song we’re learning or not, they’ll still learn it. We never give up on each other.”

Tristan began playing guitar when he was 5. Big brother Tyler got his first drum lesson around the age of 7. Neither has looked back.

“We just have fun playing gigs,” said Tyler.

As for the win in Hillsborough last month, both brothers said they were “shocked.”

“One of the bands that went before us … they were very good,” Tristan said.

Joe Soletti, a recreation specialist with Hillsborough County’s Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department, said Culprit was just a little bit better.

“They won by half a point in scoring,” he said. “They were all good bands.”

Hillsborough’s battle is designed to give teenage musicians a chance to perform on stage, practice their showmanship and learn what they need to do to improve. Bands that don’t win one year are invited to participate again the next year.

“Culprit was one of those bands,” he said. “They came back.”

Soletti said there were 12 bands in this year’s battle, which took place at the Florida State Fairgrounds. For their first-place win, the band won 10 hours of recording time at Morrisound Studios in Tampa.

Culprit takes the stage tonight at 8 p.m. at the Land O’ Lakes Community Center. The show is free as part of the SwampFest. Attendees can expect a mix of covers and originals.

For more information about Culprit, visit the band's website.