Meet the Band: Mike Donovan (bass, vocals), Anthony Zart (drums), Nicholas Peters (guitar, vocals)
Way Back When: The band started in the beginning of 2000; Peters and Donovan were high school friends who just wanted to get a band together. With Zart onboard, the band gigged for about four years. "We had a good run or whatever, but then we stopped and went back to school and all got jobs and everything," Peters says. "It wasn't until a couple years ago that we got back together just for fun. It was interesting to see how we'd evolved since the beginning." Back then, the band was still sussing out its sound and parsing through their influences. Peters says that, looking back, he sees the efforts as a bit more "juvenile."
Revival: The band is back in action, gigging around the region when they can. They've all got jobs, and they don't really want to "overplay" the city. As far as writing and rehearsing, that too is a matter of simply finding time and having fun. "It took us a little while, whereas before, in the past, we would just get together and do it: record," Peters says. Over the course of a few months, though, the guys began penning new tunes. That led to their latest release, 8 Surefire Ways to Stay Irrelevant. The "musical album" slams eight fast-paced melodic pop punk tunes through the stacks -- guaranteed head-banging stuff. "Opinions Are Like Assholes, So Be One," the leadoff single, has Zart's pulsing drums paving the way for chugging verses and anthemic choruses.
Why You Should Hear Them: Northeast Ohio bears a terrific punk heritage, and How About No has been tapped into that world in one sense or another for the past 15 years. With new tunes like "If You're Gonna Be The Worst, Be The Best At It" and "Always Say Never and Do the Bare Minimum," How About No keeps the energy cranked to at least 11 throughout the album. Still, now that they're back in the swing of things, the band is keeping its collective eye on the future. To flip a metaphor, Peters says that the band isn't yet fully evolved. They're the Australopithecus to a future Homo sapiens, he says.
Where You Can Hear Them: how-about-no.bandcamp.com
Where You Can See Them: How About No headlines a holiday concert with Cypher, The Atmomix, SDWB and the Hooligans on Wednesday, Dec. 23, at Mahall's.
