Sound Off! is underway and CW11's Underground is taking you behind-the-scenes of the Pacific Northwest's largest under-age battle of the bands.  Over 80 bands submitted their music for the coveted 12 slots in the semi-final rounds.

On Saturday, March 1, the 3 winners from each semi-final round will take the stage at EMP's Sky Church and compete for the first place prize package of a performance slot at Bumbershoot 2008, a live on-air performance on KEXP, another live performance at Gibson's Seattle Showroom and two days of studio time at Soundhouse Studio.  This kind of exposure and media attention is a BIG DEAL for these bands – all of the members are 21 and under - and they are playing their hearts out during the semi-final rounds.

The first semi-final round took place at EMP/SFM on February 9 and featured The Batteries, The Dead Are Judged, South Gate and New Faces.  All of the bands rocked the house and the judges made us all wait a few extra minutes while they tallied their votes.  A crowd of old and new fans alike screamed their approval when it was announced that New Faces was the winner.

Underground caught up with New Faces in their hometown of Port Townsend, WA.  This indie-pop trio made up of Nico Janssen (Vocals, Guitar), Kyle Hove (Bass,) and Conor Sisk (Drums) have created an instantly likeable guitar-driven sound that belies their age – Nico is 17, Kyle and Conor are 16.  They were gracious hosts and we had a great afternoon hanging out in their practice shed and then venturing to the "end of the world" where we looked out over the vast expanse of blue water as a bald eagle soared beneath us.

Stay tuned to www.kstw.com/underground as we bring you new stories on the rest of the Sound Off! semi-final winners.  Will New Faces come out on top?  Whatever happens, these guys are winners in our book.  Good luck fellas!