Amelia & Sequoia Win BATTLE 2026

The birds are chirping, the flowers are blooming and spring has officially sprung in State College, which means BATTLE is here. This year BATTLE brought to the stage six talented acts including: Vicious Cyclists, Amelia & Sequoia, Natalie McMahon, Ham on a Stick, TUCK&ROLL and Sean. 

Even though I loved every performance, there can only be one winner. The winner of BATTLE 2026 and opening act for Movin’ On is Amelia & Sequoia!

Amelia & Sequoia is the creation of members Amelia “Seven,” Aiden Hood, Aiden Bercik, Braeden Caputo, Akshay Krishnan, Rayne Terrier and Jamie Paul. 

Amelia is the group’s lead vocalist, Hood plays the guitar and is featured singing occasionally, Bercik mans the drums, Caputo can be found on the saxophone, Paul plays keyboard, Krishnan is on guitar and, lastly, Terrier is the band’s bass. 

Most of the group became musically inclined at early ages with Amelia, Bercik and Caputo’s parents being musicians themselves. Because of this, the trio all navigated through different musical paths to bring them to the sound they have now. 

“This was a nice twist, with Sequoia, because I’ve always practiced classical saxophone up until now,” Caputo said. “It wasn’t until I joined Sequoia that I got to experiment with jam and jazz saxophone. So, that has been a really cool experience.” 

Paul also started his career early, at around 9-years-old, when he did School of Rock. He began his journey playing guitar, but quickly found he enjoyed playing the keyboard more. 

“Right when I started, I knew that this was something I was good at, something I love doing and I’ve stuck with it ever since,” he said.  

On the other hand, Hood decided to begin his journey during COVID, which then progressed into him doing different musical ventures throughout high school, including running his school’s rock club. 

The group began to form last year when Hood wanted to get outside and play. He said he began playing his acoustic guitar outside Findlay Commons when Paul approached and asked to play the keyboard alongside him. Bercik was introduced to the duo by watching them play. 

“Eventually we were like ‘We’re pretty good, we should start forming a band,’” Hood said. 

From there Hood said the trio met Amelia, Caputo and Krishnan during BATTLE 2025, when they were a part of Amelia & The Bad Men. 

The group said they wanted their name to have a “naturey type of vibe,” while also being catchy, iconic and original. 

They eventually found their name through a forgotten GarageBand track Bercik made titled Sequoia. 

“I was just like ‘Oh. That’s like a really cool name,’” Bercik said. “I dropped it in the Instagram groupchat and everyone was like ‘Yeah. That’s our name.”

Hood said he likes the group's music a lot because it draws inspiration from a number of different sounds and genres. 

“That comes, in part, from the fact that if you look at the people’s backgrounds in this band it's like all over the place,” he said. 

In the end, the group described their sounds as pop-rock, indie and jamband, with Amelia adding that someone told the band they have a modern day Fleetwood Mac sound. 

“That was an interesting compliment,” she said. 

Amelia said all the members of the group are in multiple bands, but decided to combine their sounds for BATTLE. 

Caputo said BATTLE was always in the question for the bunch. 

“It’s just such a cool event where, not only do you get to perform on stage in front of a nice audience, but you get to see the local band scene of other bands in State College,” he said. “It’s always a good exposure.”

The group all shared similar emotions of excitement when it came to being announced as the winners of BATTLE, with Paul saying it’s a feeling that takes a couple days to process.

Over the next month the group said they have some gigs leading up to Movin On, but they’re ultimate focus is getting prepared to hit the big stage. 

The band is currently in the process of preparing a new song while also incorporating Amelia’s original pieces. (You can find her other works here). 

“I’m really excited to see their take on some of my songs,” Amelia said. “I really want them to put their own spin on them and we can have a cool Sequoia version of them.” 

They also said they’re working with an artist to prepare some merch and want to release their music to be streamed soon as well. 

Amelia & Sequoia will take the stage first on May 1 at the IM Fields for Movin On’s 51st show. I know you don’t want to miss them so be sure to be there and cheer extra loud for this year's BATTLE winners — I know I will be!