Dan Lazzarotto followed in his father’s footsteps when he first started a band in high school.

Now that he’s in college, Lazzarotto, a sophomore physical education major, has a new band that’s getting ready to compete in tonight’s Battle of the Bands, which starts at 7 p.m. in the 7th Street Underground.

Lazzarotto said he met Joe Courtney, a sophomore English major, in elementary school. Courtney started playing guitar in 6th grade and inspired Lazarotto to follow.

“He got me to mess around with the guitar, and I started taking lessons in 8th grade,” Lazzarotto said.

Courtney said the two of them formed a band in high school called Eardmann’s Jacket, with a different bass player and different drummer than they have now.

Last year, when he and Bob both lived in Carman Hall, they decided to start playing again, Courtney said.

They formed a new band together and named it Little Boy Jr., after the name of a song from one of their favorite bands, Mando Diao.

Little Boy Jr. will play a 20-minute set at Battle of the Bands, along with four other bands.

Matt Caponera, main stage coordinator for University Board, said the other bands playing are the punk-alternative band Learn to Fly, the rock band Hero Complex, the creative rock band Friday Night Villain and the punk-alternative band Third Flight.

This year, the original drummer decided not to come back, Courtney said.

Courtney and Lazzarotto play the guitar and sing. Bob Schroeder, an accounting major, plays bass, Caponera plays the keyboard and Scott Fritz, a communications major, is the new drummer this year.

Little Boy J. plays garage rock music, Courtney said. He described it as “somewhere between the Beatles and the Strokes.”

They decided to play at Battle of the Bands because it is another opportunity for the band to play, Courtney said. He said he hopes tonight’s performance leads to more opportunities. The band previously played at the last two Open Mic nights acoustically.

To prepare for Battle of the Bands, they usually play every day from about dinner time until around 10 p.m., Lazzarotto said

Lazzarotto’s interest in music came from his dad’s classic rock band, Lazzarotto said. His dad was in the band Skunk City before Lazzarotto was born and still plays frequently in Chicago.

His parents support his decision to be in a band, he said.

“The only (shows) they haven’t been able to come to are the ones here,” Lazzarotto said.

Sara Cuadrado can be reached at 581-7942 or at slcuadrado@eiu.edu.