Not only was it chosen to write the theme song for the new Cincinnati Rollergirls roller derby league (you can hear “Jawbreaker” on its MySpace.com page), but the high-energy punk pop band bested a bevy of the hottest female bands in the country at the Annual Battle Of The GoGirls, presented by GoGirlsMusic.com.

 

It was open to all bands with prominent female members, and Pike was selected to perform at Trophy’s in Austin as one of the six finalists for the national award.

With an Austin band dropping out of the contest, Pike was up against a country act (Emily Herring from Oregon), a hip-hop act (Shanti from Los Angeles), a blues-rock band (Red Lotus from Brooklyn) and a party rock band (3 Kisses from Texas), and when it finished up its set, it was — as the saying goes — honored just to be nominated.

“We played a strong set, but there was a vibe about Red Lotus that we thought they were going to win,” said Kelley Kombrinck, Pike’s (male) guitarist.

Pike won over $2,500 in cash and prizes that included $500, a certificate for CD manufacturing, a Daisy Rock guitar, 250 buttons, three high-profile music festival gigs and bragging rights.

“We also won a cup holder for a mic stand,” Kombrinck said. “Since the other Kelly (Jarvis, the female lead singer and rhythm guitarist) got the Daisy Rock guitar, I claimed the cup holder.”

Their band first went by the name Unhallowed, but they knew it was worse than horrible for the quirky alt-rock they were playing.

“One night I was drivingg down the highway and drive under a sign that said ‘Springfield Pike,’” Kombrinck said. “I thought, ‘Hmmm. Big scary fish with big scary teeth. What a good name for a band!’

“I called Holly up to run it by her, but she was all excited about the new kitten she’d just gotten,” he said.

The kitty’s name? Pike. After a charcter in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

So the name was set.

After the original Pike broke up, they joined a horrible heavy metal band, “an Evanescence wanna-be,” where they met Jarvis. The three thought they’d do better going back to quirky alt-rock, so Kombrinck contacted an old friend and bass player Wade Weber.

“We kinda got something good going,” Kombrinck said. “Everybody writes and everybody sings.”

A version of this story originally appeared in Go!, the arts and entertainment section of the JournalNews, Hamilton, Ohio.