Three teenagers under the name of Jon Heartbreak claimed the first round of a grueling music competition. This local group’s unique sound and young talent brought diversity to the stage of popular frozen yogurt shop, Black Bear.

Consisting of Rylie Nelson, Austin Schend and Nabil Fadili, Jon Heartbreak was brought together by the shared passion for music.

Although these emerging artists have only been a group for less than a year, they have been consistently playing “music together for the past three years,” lead singer and guitarist Austin Schend said. “When the band I was in with Nabil broke up I started doing stuff with Rylie. Then we brought Nabil in on a different instrument.”

Each member of Jon Heartbreak has a unique musical background that specifically contributes to the trio’s overall sound, which they claim to be Progressive Indie.

Rylie Nelson, keyboardist and youngest of the group, has been classically trained for a grand total of 13 years. This quiet 17-year-old has grown up in Washington as a home-schooled student who now attends Pierce College under the Running Start Program. His passion for music, specifically piano, was inspired by one of his role models in the music industry.

“Jordin Rudess, the keyboardist for Dream Theater, is pretty much the whole reason I started playing piano,” Nelson said. “And then the mother main influence is this Japanese composer named Nobuo Uematsu.”

Nelson’s trained ear is a huge contributor to the structure, balance and class of Jon Heartbreak.

The second member in the band is Austin Schend. Oldest of the group at age 19, Schend has had his ups and downs when it comes to music. Like Nelson, Schend was classically trained on the piano at a young age.

However, this was not what developed his passions for music; in fact, it had an opposite affect.

After being classically trained from ages five to eight, Schend “pretty much dropped music for about five years. Then, when I was 13, I picked up the guitar; I just thought it was cool. I also got into choir in high school as a sophomore.”

Having been a singer for nearly five years now, Schend brings an interesting tone to the group. His unique style mirrors that of Ben Gibbard, lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie.

Schend’s inspiration draws form one of his favorite artists, Paul Waggoner, and his band Between the Buried and Me. He also shares Nelson’s liking of Dream Theater, a commonality not shared by the group’s bassist, Nabil Fadili.

Fadili is the third and final member of Jon Heartbreak. Influenced primarily by Paul Waggoner in the band The Buried and Me, and a rock band by the name of Tool, Fadili drives home the beat of the music.

“I taught myself guitar about four years ago and that was my main instrument,” Fadili said, noting that he was not classically trained. “I picked up drums about a year ago; I am actually the drummer for the band. I just play base because you cannot have a full set here at Black Bear.”

Adding to his character, this outgoing 18-year-old has long blond hair, giving him a rock and roll look that reflects his former metal band, which he played in with Schend.

These musicians didn’t know what to expect coming into the Black Bear Music Battle. Having only played under the name Jon Heartbreak a few times before, their nerves were rising.

“I was nervous because I am pretty insecure about my vocals; I haven’t done much with them,” Schend said. “But I was confident in our overall musicianship.”

The nerves subsided as the night came to a close, however the group had little faith they would be chosen as the winners. Their competition, according to Fadili, resembled Jason Mraz and a young Taylor Swift. Members of Jon Heartbreak found this unoriginal and redundant.

“I thought the judges would pick someone else because society prefers music that is a little easier to consume,” Schend said firmly. “They don’t want to think, they just want to be fed.”

To their surprise, Jon Heartbreak was sent through to the semi-finals. All three members are putting time into the success of their band and hope to win the overall competition.

These young artists agree that being signed to a record label or going on tour would be a dream come true, but “in the end, we are just doing this for fun,” Schend said.