It’s safe to say that Battle of the Band winner 3SO isn’t your typical band.

It’s not only their charismatic stage presence that sets them apart, nor is it merely their expertise in working the crowd. And no, it’s not their solid hard rock over metal sound that many bands tend to lack. What sets this Battle of the Band winner apart from the pack could quite possibly be their unwavering dedication to the music.

A five-piece band out of Cleveland, 3SO is Alan Fayer (guitar), Alex Fischer (drums), Justice (lead vocals), Tyler Lamerson (bass guitar) and Marco Quiroz (guitar). Mainly frequenting the Hi-Fi in Lakewood, 3SO also regularly plays at The Roc Bar in the East Bank of The Flats. Other favorite Cleveland venues include Peabody’s and the House of Blues.

"We really enjoyed playing at the Cleveland Agora," Justice says. "Boy, we’re going to miss that place."

And for the record, the band is no stranger to competition.

"The BAS Battle of the Bands was the fifth Battle of the Bands that we’ve done, and it felt great to win the opportunity to play with Candlebox. It’s not every day that you get an opportunity to perform with a band that has been in the scene for so long, and in my case, a band that I used to rock out to in high school," says Justice.

But naturally, the band had many memorable moments while performing the Battle of the Bands at the Broken Spoke Saloon.

"Tell you what, no matter what stage you’re on, there always seems to be some curve ball that comes out of nowhere," says Justice, in reference to the band’s contest experience. "For us, it was when the mics went out during the second set of our song. Running from one side of the stage to another testing the mics while the band kept playing must have seemed all sorts of weird. After awhile, I said screw it and just did my little air guitar ditty until the mics came on. And I know the sound guy and people in the crowd were shocked when I climbed up the unbalanced stack of speakers," he says, laughing. "But I felt the need to do something stupid to entertain the crowd to make up for the lack of singing."

With an attitude of professionalism that transfers to all aspects of their music, 3SO has built up a small franchise to serve their diehard fans and gain new ones – including ring tones, music videos, LPs, radio time and experience collaborating with other artists. Collaboration, specifically, with other genres.

Wasn’t expecting to hear that from a hard rock metal band? Think again.

"Music is the only thing that makes sense to me when nothing else does," says Justice. "Music is not biased or prejudiced to anyone or anything. It doesn’t even need words to communicate, and for any artist or musician from any genre that is not willing to collaborate with others obviously does not get the point. Life is a learning experience and the benefits of collaborating with other artists and musicians allows you to grow as a person and as a group."

Perhaps the best evidence of this is 3SO’s collaboration with local pop sensation Melissa "Cha-Cha" Figueroa. Having met at the New Music Seminar in November of 2008, Cha-Cha and the band took an immediate liking to each other. This connection paid off soon enough. In March 2009, Visible Lyrics approached the band to see if they would be interested in collaborating with Cha-Cha on a song for her upcoming album, Euphoria.

"Loli (CEO of Visible Lyrics and Cha-Cha’s manager) wanted a modern rock sound on their song ‘Karma’ and immediately thought of us. Obviously we were excited for the opportunity and began working on composing the music as soon as they provided us with a loop of what they were looking for. And oh boy...we heard it and looked at each other and though, what the hell are we going to do? That first night running through the song was like a crash course in another language," says Justice.

With experience sharing a stage with popular national acts such as Puddle of Mudd, Buckcherry, Saving Able, Dope and Kittie, 3SO may have a reason to be arrogant. Instead, those opportunities have made them more humble – and renewed their drive to work hard for what they have.

That work ethic is serving them well, as they begin recording their next album titled Road Map to the Soul next week at Ante Up Studios. This will be the band’s first full-length album, complete with ten tracks. Tour plans are also in full swing, as the band is booked to play shows throughout the east and south starting in August.