Short Notice, an LZ band, never expected to become anything serious when they were created on, well, short notice. This band of friends works hard and plans to excel for as long as possible.

      The band is composed of four members: Julian Mauleon, junior, playing guitar and lead vocals; Matthew Wang, sophomore, on drums; Declan O’Connor, sophomore, playing bass; and Ryan Peterson, sophomore, as the pianist. But like any band, Short Notice was not composed of the same members at the start, nor was it called Short Notice.

      “At first, we wanted to call ourselves Random White because we were all Asians, and there was a random white kid,” Wang said. “And then the next year, when me and Paul [Kerchberger, sophomore] were in eighth grade and Julian was a freshman, [Julian] wanted to do Battle of the Bands with me and Paul, and he told us a week before Battle of the Bands. So we were like, ‘oh my God, this is such short notice.’”

      Short Notice exceeded their expectations for Battle of the Bands, and was fun experience for the group.

      “We ended up doing [Battle of the Bands], [and the name] just stuck. And the summer before [my] sophomore year started, we got a little more serious, and that’s how Short Notice started,” Mauleon said.

       After Battle of the Bands, The LZHS Drama Club Coffee House helped the band get recognition, and Short Notice gained attention from the school.

      “Pretty much in August [2011], it was me, Julian, Matthew Meyle [junior], and Paul Kerchberger. We went into my basement and started jamming a little bit. But nothing really happened until the Drama Club Coffee House in December. That was where we sparked. We created a Facebook page right after, and got over a hundred likes in the span of two days. At that time, we had five members,” Wang said.

       This past summer Short Notice performed again. This time they played by Offbeat on Main Street, and it opened their eyes to more opportunities for the band.

      “At first, we weren’t very serious about it. We just thought it was like open mic night. But after summer went by, it turned from a little gig to a bigger one. At the end of it, it was a really good show,” Wang said. “This summer has really turned our band from some high school band to a well-rounded, pretty good high school band.”

      Despite their success, the band agrees that once high school ends, so does the band.

      “We want to get as far as we can before Julian graduates. Right now it’s just me, Julian, Ryan Peterson, and Declan O’Connor,” Wang said. “We’re all sophomores except for Julian, so once he graduates, we can’t really do anything. So we pretty much have two years and one summer left to get stuff done.”

      As for right now, the band practices and performs many covers. Short Notice’s biggest inspiration is Weezer, an alternative rock band.

      “Really, half of our songs are Weezer. Their songs are simple, but have a good message. They’re just fun to play, and it’s the kind of band we want to be like,” Mauleon said.

      Mauleon and Wang also agree that they are their own inspiration, too. They like to take well-known songs and add the “Short Notice” twist to it.

      Practice, like for every band, is essential for Short Notice, however, they go about it differently than most bands.

      “We don’t really have a set schedule [for practice]. I’ll call up Ryan, Declan, and Matt and say, ‘let’s have practice today,’” Mauleon said. “We practice for like ten to twenty minutes, take a break for thirty to forty minutes, then we practice again. When we practice too much, tension rises, we start getting mad at each other if we do something wrong.”

       For Short Notice, practice is more or less a time to bond with each other.

       “We’re not nearly a developed band yet, we don’t really know how to cooperate with each other like all the time. We’re still high school students, so it’s not like we’re perfect. Taking the breaks really helps us, even though it may seem like we’re off task. Taking the breaks really reminds us we’re friends, best friends pretty much,” Wang said.

       When it comes to practicing for the Coffee House and Battle of the Bands later in the school year, Short Notice plans to keep their tradition.

      “We’re not practicing yet [for the Coffee House], but it’s something we look forward to because the Coffee House really helped us get started,” Wang said. “It’s way too early for us to start practicing because we always have to be short notice.”