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Merged band wins two contests
What do you get when you combine the sound of two popular, local rock bands?
If recent events are any indication, the answer is success.
Last July, brothers and PSU students Alex and Austin Ward, formerly of The Pond Monkeys, and former A.O.P. members Trent Pruitt and Duncan Cheney, both Fort Scott High School seniors, joined musical forces to create The Noise FM.
With its melodic sound and its "dancey beat," The Noise FM has been named the best of the best in recent musical competitions.
On Sept. 8, the band won "Pitt Stock: Battle of Local Bands," a competition conducted at Pittsburg State University. Alex, a senior at PSU, said the win more than six other bands was a surprise.
"We ended up getting first, which was really nice," Alex said. "It was really unexpected and really nice to know that people enjoyed our music there."
Their first-place prizes included recording time at a Pittsburg studio, a cash prize and a radio interview on a Pittsburg rock radio station.
Riding a wave of momentum, the band competed in a Kansas City-based battle of the bands the following day. Seventeen bands competed in the contest and, again, The Noise FM came out on top. That win was also unexpected.
"That one even more so, because there was such a mixture of styles," Austin said. "There were hard rock bands. There were country rock bands."
So how does a band from Fort Scott, who has only played together for about a year, win two competitions in two days? According to Austin, the answer is simple.
"Diversity," he said. "It's not that we're better by any means, but we definitely have an original sound. I think other bands, while still doing what they want to do, it ends up being a little more mainstream. So we have more of an original sound that stands out.
"Plus, we try to give the best live show we can. So we move around a lot and do whatever we can to make it really energetic. I think that helped rack up the points."
Pruitt said the formation of the band spawned from the members‚ while in their former bands, playing together at various shows. Then, when both bands broke up, the four musicians began to practice together.
"We jammed together and we'd start writing set lists, about 30 minutes worth of material," Pruitt said. "After that, we ended up playing another show in Joplin and after that we took it a little more seriously, and we recorded a demo. Then it just went from there."
Since forming The Noise FM last summer, the band members have played nearly every weekend, sometimes twice during a weekend. They've played various Kansas venues in Pittsburg, Kansas City and Lawrence, while also playing at Missouri venues in Joplin and Springfield.
Members say that they have tried to make The Noise FM stand on its own. Pruitt said they didn't want the band to sound like the Pond Monkeys or A.O.P.
"I think we made it a point not to be like that," Pruitt said.
It was that stray from what they were used to do that makes The Noise FM a fun group to be a part of, Alex said.
"When we joined up with these guys, everything was fresh," Alex said.
"Everyone had their own, new ideas, so it was a lot of fun for us to throw out all new ideas and styles. We meshed really well."
As for the future of the band, the members agree that they hope to make a career out of playing in The Noise FM. However, doing so will require leaving the southeast Kansas area.
"We want to go somewhere that has a little more of a music scene," Austin said.
Wherever they end up, the band hopes its unique sound and high-energy performances will keep them playing together for a very long time.
"Our music may not be very good, but we play it really well," Alex said.
For more information about The Noise FM or listen to audio tracks, visit the band's Web site at www.thenoisefm.com.