Rocketboys take off with first album

The band will be performing Thursday at Mojo's.

By Maura Howard

Published Dec. 1, 2009

With their first album, 20,000 Ghosts, released a few months ago and a national tour already in progress, the Rocketboys, hailing from Austin, Texas, have a lot going for them. Composed of six guys who met in college, the band has already received praise from press across the country for its poetic lyrics and almost surprisingly superior songs. Some of the band's songs have been featured on the television show "Keeping Up with the Kardashians."

The Rocketboys style could be described as somewhere between Coldplay and Matt Pond PA; complete with striking riffs, smooth chords and soulful lyrics, this indie-alt band knows what it's doing.

With so many bands trying to make a name for themselves right now, the Rocketboys have taken a different approach to getting started. The boys got their college degrees before they started recording their album and set out on tour.

"It was just important that we finish up our college degrees first and, honestly, for some of us it was important to our parents that we get our degrees first," vocalist Brandon Kinder said. "I know that I had some moments when I just wanted to skip college and get on the road but we all decided to just power through it, knowing that someday we would be able to play music as often as we wanted."

The Rocketboys members say it is the quality of their live shows that separates them from the other millions of indie groups out there.

"What we do really well is perform live," keyboardist Justin Wiseman said. "It is just bigger and captures our true sound. Really, we write our records so that we can perform them live and the best way to experience our band is to hear us live. Some bands can just write a record with a computer and cannot really reproduce that."

Wiseman said all six of the band members help in writing their songs.

"I think our inspiration for our songs is just living life and our own experiences," Kinder said. "The lyrics just come from different stories that have happened, or could happen."

With so much going for them, it is surprising the Rocketboys have not signed with a label yet. This reflects how humble and dedicated the band is to its music.

"At some point we will need to sign with a record label," Wiseman said. "But for right now not signing with a label has really worked for us. There are some nice benefits in that we do what we want. We can tour where we want and record what we want. We really aren't in a hurry to sign with a label. If you work really hard, it is not that hard to fund, write and produce your own record."

After all its hard work, the band said they are extremely happy with the progress they have made.

"We really couldn't be happier with the way that 20,000 Ghosts turned out," Wiseman said.

The band is also proud of the music festivals at which they have performed, specifically Austin City Limits and College Music Journal.

"We feel like we are really achieving something by playing at those and getting to perform next to artists that we all really admire," Kinder said.

As for the band's future, they are just getting started.

"I definitely see us producing another album in the future," Kinder said. "As pleased as we are with 20,000 Ghosts, some of us are starting to get the itch to start making some new music. We also just want to keep touring and getting our music to as many people as we can."

The band has been together for five years and is already making enormous strides in the music industry. Experience the true sounds of the Rocketboys live at 8 p.m. Thursday at Mojo's.