With influences from Brand New, Sugarcult, Hey Mercedes, Incubus, and MxPx VLY’s sound is very defined. They know what they like, and they aim to make quality, down to earth songs that you can rock out to.
The following is an unauthorized account as told by John Bean.....
Our band formed in the bedroom of a friend’s house with immature and somewhat boastful talks of instruments and how good we thought we could be when I was about 12 or 13. Being the youngest and having the most to prove, I volunteered my non-existent drumming services to the other two, who were taking guitar lessons at the time. That very minute I called my mother and insisted I began taking drum lessons immediately. Thinking it was another one of my idiotic ideas; my mom took the easy road and said we’d “talk about it when I got home.” After a lot of bargaining and haggling I began taking drum lessons, and suddenly realized it may take more than one lesson to become good.
As is the popular thing to do among high school teenagers, we told everyone and their mother we were in a band. This went on for about a year. We were the best band in San Antonio; we just hadn’t played anywhere yet. But we knew we were the best. Finally, we began to play shows. They were not what you would call “good”, but this didn’t bother us. Eventually after many horrible instances including following down, breaking equipment, car trouble, and singing the wrong words to our songs, we got better. For a while we added a second guitarist, our friend Jon played a show or two, but soon he left for California and we were back down to three. Soon our bass player decided to pursue other things. It was almost over for Shawn and me, but our friend Matt picked up where Bobby left off.
Just this passed December, we added a second guitarist who picked up the band’s musical level a notch. Since then we’ve played in other cities and with better bands. We started to have people that we didn’t know saying we played well and not just our friends who felt sorry for us. We’ve played in Kingsville, Farmersville, Garland, Canton, Temple, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, and of course Belton. We began to sell more CDs, t-shirts, stickers, and buttons. For a while I thought we should give up the whole band thing and just sell buttons and t-shirts, because it seemed more profitable. But we couldn’t do that
Playing on stage in front of an audience gives the opportunity to present your ideas, thoughts, and emotions in a manner like no another. Playing the drums (and for the other guys, their guitars) not only releases stress, but it also allows me to show one of the talents God has blessed me with. To put it plainly, it’s just fun. We always try to play for His glory, and not our own, because He is the only reason we can play. And as Kenny from The Starting Line put it, “And when the curtain’s close, I’ll realize how fast time can go. Thanks for everything; you know how much this means”.
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