Band of local high school students creates its own music venue

In Adam Hillis' basement, Heartdown band members debate their style. One says they're punk rock. No, another argues, songs are more hard core, heavy. "It's alternative rock and kind of acoustic stuff," said Andrew Reed, the singer and songwriter.

Three weeks earlier, 50 high schoolers crammed into the dimly lit space, moshing to the band's beat. Since the band's inception last summer, members dreamed of playing at the Enchanted Forest, an all-ages, alcohol-free music venue. They were scheduled to do so Feb. 16 and 23, but both events were canceled due to weather. After the second cancellation, the band decided to throw its own concert at Hillis' house, calling friends and posting the event on Facebook and MySpace.

"There were a lot more people than we thought there'd be. Like twice as many," said Katie Reed, Andrew's sister. She and Daidre Lewis, the girlfriend of one of the members, sipped Monster drinks while watching the band practice Wednesday.

The band is going for a repeat performance today. Like the first time, three other bands will play as well: Guard Your Heart, Paranoia and On Frail Wings. One band they met online, another through skateboarding and the other through acquaintances.

"My thing is you've got to have a place for kids to go. You can't say don't be out doing bad things and not give them somewhere to go," said Adam's mom, Eva Hillis.

She said she's used to having big groups of people in her home. Her older son would throw gaming parties where 16 Xboxes would be set up in the basement.

They live in a Jackson neighborhood, but she said no one has complained about the noise because most people have teenagers on their block.

"We set some rules and have a 'once you're in, you're in and once you're out, you're out' policy. Everyone was very respectful of that," she said. At the last show, the band started at 6:45 p.m. and everyone was out by 10:30 p.m., she said.

Reed, drummer Hillis and guitar player Zach Bohnert attend Saxony Lutheran High School. Dusty Miller, who plays bass, goes to Central High School in Cape Girardeau.

All the members wore T-shirts, jeans and checkered Vans shoes as they rocked out in practice Wednesday, Hillis shaking his shaggy hair.

"We're energetic, and we're not really professional, but we like to have a whole lot of fun," Reed said.

The band's name, Heartdown, comes from the lyrics of Fallout Boy, the band's inspiration. Heartdown posted its top song, "There's Never Enough Room on the Dancefloor," on YouTube — just search "Heartdown."

"My lyrics don't really make a whole lot of sense. I just start playing the guitar and throw words together and hopefully it sounds good," Reed said.

If you want to go to the concert, contact the band through its MySpace page.

lbavolek@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123