Meet Zero Degrees, ASU 2020 Battle of the Bands winners

Eight bands were sent to the Battle of the Bands finals in Downtown Phoenix after competing at one of four live competitions spread across ASU’s Tempe, West, Poly and Downtown campuses. On the evening of Feb. 5 the bands battled in Downtown Civic Park Space to captivate the judges and win student votes. The eight student bands in order of performance time included Natural Culture, Cablebox, Mindwipes, Subcontra, Zero Degrees, Rozotadi, Tracing Faces and Hollywood Slasher.

Four hours of live music ranging from rock, hip-hop, rap, alternative, R&B and pop filled the park and drew students in. Upon entrance into the event, students received two tickets for food, a guitar pick to vote with and a gold long-sleeve Civic Space Park shirt, which was funded by the Undergraduate Student Government. 

The event also featured food trucks, an inflatable obstacle course and a photo booth, all of which were free to ASU students. Student organizations tabled at the event as well, sharing their mission with attendees and handing out giveaways. Students came and went throughout the night, casting their votes at the voting table by putting their guitar pick into the box of the band they wanted to win. 

By the end of the night, band and audience members were eager to know the results. After a suspenseful count of the votes, event host Scotty Gange came to the stage. The eight bands joined him as he announced the winners of the night. 

“Without further ado, if we can get a drumroll from everybody, we’ll announce the winner of the 2020 Arizona State Battle of the Bands, who will be opening for Quinn XCII at Devilpalooza, is drumroll, please … Zero Degrees!”

Zero Degrees made it to the finals after competing against four bands from the Downtown Campus the previous week. Although the band worked hard to make it to finals and eventually win, their journey didn’t start there. 

The student hip-hop and rap focused band has been together for just under a year. They met at ASU as freshmen at the Downtown Phoenix campus, where they were all residents of Taylor Place, the first-year student dorm. The band formed in May of 2019 when the group of friends realized their shared passion for music. 

When they heard about ASU’s Battle of The Bands they knew they wanted to be involved. Band member Zack Lewis, an exercise and wellness sophomore at ASU, emphasized the band’s interest in the event. 

Zero Degrees performing at the Battle of the Bands final. Photo by Marisol Ortega.

“We definitely knew we wanted to do it for sure because we wanted to get involved with ASU,” Lewis said. 

Although learning to juggle schoolwork and music was a challenge, just being full-time students wasn’t enough for the rising band. Band member Jonathan Akpede, a health science sophomore at ASU, described the members’ schedules as similar to that of a full-time student athlete. 

“There are student athletes and I think we like to consider ourselves student musicians,” Akpede said. 

They wanted to share their passion with the entire university and their overall goal is to perform for ASU as much as possible. 

“We want to spread our music to the campus first, then grow from there,” Lewis explained.

Besides balancing schoolwork, the band also had to learn how to work around each member’s continuously changing schedules. Zero Degrees is made up of seven members; five perform onstage and two produce. Unlike most bands, Zero Degrees is made up of separate artists who perform together. This aspect of the band helps them stand out distinctively from other music groups. The band works together to support each artist’s brand while also promoting the entire group. 

When performing, each member brings their own touch to the stage. 

“We are all ourselves, which is what makes us so unique,” Lewis said. 

The band stays close by texting in various group chats and regularly practicing in smaller groups.

Moving into the future, the band has big plans. They plan to perform at Arizona’s 2020 Hip-Hop Festival and hope to perform at ASU’s 2020 SummersetFest. 

The band opened for QuinnXCII at Devilpalooza on Feb. 15. More updates on where Zero Degrees will be next can be found on the band’s Instagram.