Enter: Becoming September. Tucked away on a quiet side street in New Auburn we find our hardcore quartet jamming their hearts out in the freezing confines of the drummer’s garage. Only stopping their madness to welcome me inside and to take a quick refueling break, they jump back into their tunes.

Intro: First off we have Brandon-“bad to the bone”-Desilva on guitar and lead vocals. He’s an Auburn native and a senior at Edward Little High School. Next up is Jeff Irizarry on bass and vocals. Many of you know the former Poland Regional High School senior from “The Falls” as “Izzy”. The newest edition to the band is guitarist Matt Theriault from Auburn. And last, but most definitely not least, Sam-“samoo”-Landry on the drums. Sam is also from Auburn and a sophomore at EL. Despite the fact that every member of the band is recovering from the flu, props to Brandon, they don’t let even the mind-numbing cold keep them from doing what they love most, making music.

Lucky for me I caught the fellows on a day when their creative juices were flowing. It boggles my mind how they come up with and remember all of their crazy beats. Someone will start laying out a tune, and then everyone else joins in, completing the vision. Add some lyrics and a couple of skull crushing screams, ladies and gentlemen, we now have a song. Seriously though folks, it’s a lot harder than it sounds. These guys spend days just coming up with an intro to a song. Even after a song is supposedly ‘done’, there’s always room for improvement in their eyes. Now if you think that hardcore music is all screams with no real heart, um, well you’re wrong. Brandon proves the popular theory wrong by belting out his heartfelt lyrics in a melodic tune in the midst of the raging guitar. Still, it’s not something that I would recommend playing over the intercom on senior citizens day at Mardens.

After an enlightening jam session we moved the party inside so I could get some more insight into the minds of these musical maniacs. We got comfortable in the living room; popped some This Day Forward into the c.d. player, and the fun began.

Meghan: “How’d you boys come together?”

Brandon: “Well, me, Sam and Jeff were in the previous band, Leave Angels With Despair…”

Sam: “Tried to be a band with Leave Angels With Despair, that is. It didn’t work so well, so we formed a new band. We crossed over to ’emo’.”

Matt: “No dude, we’re definitely ‘screamo’, not just plain old ’emo’.”

Brandon: “Yeah, we’re definitely more like ‘screamo’, kind of like Across Five Aprils.”

Meghan: “So how did Matt come into the picture?”

Sam: “We found Matt at school. Me and him used to be in a “band” with Anthony Charette; just for kicks.”

Meghan: “So how many bands have you guys actually been in?”

Jeff: “Four, but only one serious one.”

Brandon: “Five, man. But only two serious ones. That includes Leave Angels With Despair. That was a good band.” [Unanimous laughter]

Matt: “Three serious bands. Just three.”

Sam: “Yeah, me too, only three. But this one’s the most serious.”

Meghan: “Now, every band has mega influences. I know I could guess a bunch and probably be right, but just to be sure…”

Everyone: “Thursday!”

Meghan: “Um, ok, so you guys like Thursday, [laughter] great! Me too.”

Sam: “Dude, the drummer from Thursday is the best drummer in the world. He inspires me the most.”

Brandon: “Across Five Aprils, Thrice…”

Jeff: “Rifle At Recess, Poison the Well…”

Matt: “Every Time I Die…”

Sam: “Barium!” [Spontaneous “yes!”]

Matt: “Bane, Eighteen Visions, From Autumn to Ashes…”

Brandon: “Dashboard Confessional! Avenged Sevenfold, Keepsake. All great bands.”

Sam: “You forgot the greatest, Leave Angels With Despair! Haha!”

Jeff: “Dude, let it go.”

Meghan: “Ok, enough about other people’s music, let’s talk about yours. How do you guys come up with songs? Who writes the lyrics?”

Matt: “Everyone contributes to the lyrics, some more than others. Like I have one song, kind of.”

Brandon: “I think the songs are what really sparks the lyrics, at least for me.”

Jeff: “Yeah, definitely. But usually someone just starts something and we all join in and work on it from there.

Meghan: “Do you guys have any shows or anything scheduled for anytime soon?”

Matt: “Yeah, kind of. Hopefully. Maybe. We have one coming up in January or February, at least we should. But we do plan on recording a c.d. at Cherry Bomb Studios in Mainly Drums.”

Brandon: “Yeah, when everyone’s not sick any more.”

Meghan: “What do you guys hope to get out of all this?”

Matt: “Just to have fun. We don’t care about getting famous or whatever.”

Brandon: “Play shows, make music, rock out.”

Well there you have it folks. Are these guys just another garage band looking to have some fun? Or are they tomorrow’s next big stars, simply waiting to be discovered? I guess we’ll all have to wait to find out. Until then, try to get a chance to check these guys out. That’s Becoming September. Trust me, after one listen you won’t be forgetting their name anytime soon.