Teen band proves their age isn't a gimmick

It’s approaching midnight at the 40 Watt Club, and the band onstage is rocking out. The bassist is on his back, shredding out a solo. The lead singer, wearing leather pants, croons anguished lyrics, and the drummer keeps the energy high. At the end of the show, the lead guitarist smashes his guitar on the stage.

Then the lights come on, and they walk over to the merch table to talk to their parents. They go back to being ordinary teenagers.

“I love seeing the reactions on [the audience’s] faces when they see something different or hear something different,” said Zak Smith, the band’s drummer. “The hype and the excitement onstage is just what does it for me.”

The musicians of Athens – a band named for its hometown – aren’t old enough to see an R-rated movie yet. But they’re eager to make serious music and set themselves apart from mainstream teen pop stars.

“All those people, like Justin Bieber, the Jonas Brothers, they don’t have to worry about ages at clubs and stuff, because they’ve got Disney getting them in arenas,” said Chase Brown, the band’s lead singer and rhythm guitarist. “I think that [they] missed out on a lot of the work that you have to do.”

Athens began when Chase, now 15, wrote four songs in one day with his friend Beau Anderson, now 12. After taking lessons from the same teachers, Mike and Vanda Guthrie, the two decided to form a band and sought out more members.

They overheard Zak Smith, now 16, playing drums at the Guitar Center in Atlanta, and asked him to join. After trying several bassists, they found a good fit for the band in Justin Granados, now 15.

“At first, it was really just us three and our bassist,” Chase said. “And then once [Justin] came along it was really just a family.”

Athens played its first show in December 2008, and released its first EP exactly a year later. The band is now working on recording rough tracks for a demo, in the hopes of finding a record label.

“Our old EP doesn’t sound anything like what we sound like now,” Chase said. “They all say my voice, on the first song we recorded, I sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks…You can hear my voice go through puberty.”

But the band works hard on the quality of their performances, in addition to the quality of their songwriting. With the help of Jimmy Anderson, their manager and Beau’s dad, they’ve learned both the musical style and performance style of classic rockers.

“That’s kind of what separates us from being another kids’ band – that we have confidence on stage,” Justin said.

That stage presence has attracted fans young and old. Although they often play for audiences that are older than them, the band’s friends support them at all-ages shows.

Olivia Vasquez, 12, is a friend of Justin and Chase. After seeing Athens play at the Human Rights Festival in downtown Athens, she’s now a big fan of the band. She and her friend Kayla attend Athens’ shows when they can, with a new handmade t-shirt each time.

“They’re young to be that good and that famous already,” she said of the band.

But the band emphasizes that their youth is not a gimmick.

“I feel like the Runaways, sort of, except young and not female,” Beau said. “But see, everyone thought they weren’t serious because they were all female, but they could rock. Really amazingly.

Those who have worked with Athens have good things to say. Josh Jordan, the nighttime manager for the 40 Watt Club, said the venue makes an effort to provide a place for young people to play and see live music, and he supports the band.

“I just think it’s great,” he said. “If you haven’t seen them, go see them…A little kid in leather pants – you can’t beat that.”

Vanda Guthrie, Chase and Beau’s guitar teacher, said they had more talent and motivation than most students she’s taught. Not only did they learn quickly, they wanted to play rather than viewing practicing as a chore.

“That’s a difference from a lot of students,” she said. “A lot of students like the idea of playing guitar and don’t want to put in the work…[Chase and Beau] would play almost until their fingers bled.”

Although she pointed out that fame and success are sometimes unpredictable, she said she believes they will be “lifelong musicians.”

“They are not going to stop playing music,” she said. “They’ve got it in their soul.”

The band members are equally excited about their future, both as a band and personally. If the band doesn’t stay together or get famous, they have other plans too.

“No matter what, I want my life to have music in it,” Beau said. “Even if the band doesn’t work out, or we just fade away, I want something that has to do with music.”