The five-piece group will play Thursday, Oct. 11 at Hi-Fi

Up-and-coming Eugene band Astro Gala isn’t quite sure how to quantify their sound — but they’re getting there.

The musical connections of longtime friends, a serendipitous Craigslist find, Martinez’s unexpected vocals and a victory at Eugene recording studio Sprout City’s Battle of the Bands this summer propelled the band out of infancy and into something more serious, and the sound is beginning to gel.

“Call it indie-dream-soul," lead guitarist Matt Zhun jokes.

Instruments, drumsticks and microphones in hands, the five musicians — Zhun, bassist Andrew Dudley, drummer Mike Loughlin, vocalist Ansley Martinez, and rhythm guitarist Ramzi Habib – practice their songs in a circle Wednesday night, surrounded by sprawling stacks of amplifiers and equipment. Tapestries and tributes to the Misfits, Slayer and “Pulp Fiction” hang on the black walls of a practice room they share with two other local bands in the Space Eugene warehouse.

Astro Gala’s name means “star party” and it’s all that it implies — the band boasts an upbeat, funky rhythm section, waves of dreamy, surf-rock guitar riffs and the deep, soulful melodies of frontwoman Martinez.

They haven’t even put out a first album yet, but after winning the Battle of the Bands in July, they’re a big step closer. The competition brought together 20 Eugene bands for semi-final battles in June, thinning the herd for a final battle in July at the Hi-Fi Music Hall, where Astro Gala was voted triumphant.

“It was such a great launch of ourselves as a band,” Martinez said. “It gave us an extra sprinkle of motivation to keep going and progressing.”

The band is cashing in two days of free studio time, one of the prizes from the battle win, at Sprout City this weekend, hoping to record an EP and plant themselves firmly in the Eugene music scene.

“It’s a dream come true for struggling artists,” rhythm guitarist Habib said. “I am so thankful that we have a community to support local artists like this.”

After recording, the band will return to their victory ground Thursday, Oct. 11, where they will headline a show at the Hi-Fi Music Lounge.

The five-piece band comprises a mix of old friends with roots in Eugene’s music scene and a few fresh players. Friends Zhun, Dudley and Loughlin found Habib through Craigslist in 2017, who’d never played in a serious band. The four began writing instrumental, but lacked what Habib said is arguably the most important piece: a talented vocalist.

“Having a female vocalist — that’s something I wanted from the get-go,” Habib said. “There’s so many bands in town that are all male. The music scene in general is kind of male-dominated.”

So Zhun suggested Martinez, a friend he’d dabbled in music with before. Habib had imagined understated, soft-spoken vocals accompanying the songs.

Martinez brought something unexpected to the table when she joined in early 2018, but it worked.

“The guitar leads are very surf-y,” Martinez said. “Very dreamy-inspired. I think you would expect more of the airy, washed-out vocals, and I think when I come in with the more soulful vibrato — really drawn out — it takes it into something else that I haven’t quite heard before.”

Like Habib, it’s also Martinez’s first time in a serious band.

“You want to blend in, fit in and be what’s trendy, but at the same time, I feel like this allowed us to find our own sound,” Habib said. “It really has evolved with our sound and I think it lets us rock out a little bit more.”

Martinez said she draws inspiration from the likes of Amy Winehouse, Etta James, Janis Joplin and Sia, to name a few.

“Ansley is so high energy. She’s really engaging. It’s something that I think kind of separates us from other acts in town,” Habib said.

All three experienced project members say that the band’s beginnings were unusual.

Both Dudley and Zhun played with multiple Eugene music outlets, including Love Monster. Loughlin played with Eugene band The Great Hiatum, which broke up in 2015, and more recently with Ghost Tour. All agree that finding a music project that just “feels right” is rare. A lot of music projects, even ones that begin with high energy, just don’t work out.

“When it just clicks, and it feels good — it’s like catching lightning in a bottle,” Dudley said.

Astro Gala plans to spend the winter collaborating, writing more songs and building the consistency of their sound

“We’ve only been so established like this for such a short period of time. We’re still figuring out what our sound is,” said Habib. “But that keeps it fun. It keeps it fresh. We’re not locked in.”

For Martinez, the music is a place she always finds refuge.

“In music you can express joy, anger, frustration, fear, sadness, bliss — it’s just this infinite outlet for me,” she said. “When I’m singing with the band, it’s just this feeling that is like nothing else. It’s going back to this place within myself that is consistent and reliable. It’s kind of like medicine. It’s healing.”

Follow Emily on Twitter @sharkasaurusX. Email egoodykoontz@registerguard.com.