Lucinda Albers
Most small bands only dream of touring. Few bands actually do it, especially without the backing of a record label. However, one Sioux Falls band has managed to do just that. Not once, but eight times in the past year alone.
Private Drive’s music hasn’t been the only thing to grow throughout the years. The band itself started with only three members back in 2003. Alex David, Trevor Ferguson and Tyler Jung played a few shows before adding another guitarist, Aaron Wegehaupt. By spring 2005, they recorded a full-length CD and EP and did a small, two-week tour. The band then moved Aaron to lead vocals and added another guitarist. When the new member didn’t work out, they added Shawn Lykken in fall 2005 and, just recently, bassist David Wick to complete the line-up.
The local punk rock band has been working non-stop. They plan on booking two more weeks of touring this spring, a two-month tour this summer and a few short tours throughout the fall and winter. All this is planned without the help of a label.
“Having a label to back us on tour would be sweet,” David said. “But we feel that usually, an unsigned band can do just as well as a signed band with the right amount of work put in.”
Although any rumors of label interest were undisclosed, David said the thought of signing isn’t out of the question.
“We do hope to be signed soon,” he said. Their touring and musical experiences in general will hopefully show the labels that they are ready and able to make it big.
“A lot of labels worth signing to want to see that a band has experience and work ethic,” David said. With Private Drive, labels should be able to see that. As David said, “We can, and have, put a lot into our work and we will take our music seriously.”
David mentioned that finding label support is a goal of the band’s within the next year, along with touring as much as possible and hopefully recording a few new tracks for a demo.
“Hopefully, we can turn our music into our careers,” he said.
The boys have a number of humorous stories to tell (one of David’s funniest moments has to do with Wegehaupt and a clogged toilet … something far too embarrassing to print). But they also have quite a few memories that display their persistence. An example is the time their van’s transmission went out halfway through Wyoming. Eventually, their cheapest option was to rent a 17-foot U-Haul and pull their trailer home. There was only enough room for two people in the front, so four of them had to sit in the back of an empty U-Haul trailer in complete darkness for a 15-hour drive.
Private Drive’s next show is Thursday, Feb. 1, at Nutty’s North in Sioux Falls with Declare This An Emergency and I Am Miss America. For more details, a list of upcoming shows or to listen to a few of their songs, visit myspace.com/privatedrive.
With all the boys’ hard work and determination, perhaps 2007 will finally be the year for Private Drive.
Related posts:
Follow Us!