February 10, 2006

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  Sooners Rock
  Students started a band for leisure, but found a career
  
  by Kelly Kuntz
  January 27, 2006
  
  In the faint light, a haze of smoke is visible. The floor crowds quickly. People mill around, waving at familiar faces. Over the dull roar of voices and background music, the band can be heard setting up. People check their watches as they edge closer and closer to the stage. The house lights flicker and dim. The dance floor erupts into movement as the band on stage launches into their first chords.
  
  It’s a Friday night in Norman.
  
  "I think that right now, there is no better time to be playing music in Norman. I feel like the music scene is really taking off,” said Matt Duckworth, communication junior and drummer for The Neighborhood, a local band that has roots in Edmond and Tulsa. “It’s a really great place to be musically, because there are a lot of opportunities and there are so many great bands challenging us.”
  
  Together for a year and a half as The Neighborhood, Duckworth, philosophy junior Eric Mai and letters junior Philip Rice met at OU.
  
  They have already recorded their first demo,The Beginnings and Endings, with producer Carl Amburn at Norman’s Mousetrap Studios. The band has sold about 400 records at their shows and on their Web site, www.theneighborhoodlovesyou.com. What started as a leisure activity has evolved into a way of life and a potential career.
  
  "The band started out as a fun thing and it has gotten more and more serious as we go,” Duckworth said. “After we get our fallback degrees here, I think we are going to try and give it a shot for a couple of years. We’ll see what happens with the band, concentrating on our music and making that our job.”
  
  Guitarist Mai describes The Neighborhood’s sound as progressive, yet accessible. With roots in ’70s rock, Mai said his musical background has influenced his ideas and performance.
  
  "I was really heavy into classic rock up until college. I was a huge Rush fan,” Mai said. “That has definitely had an influence on the way that I think about songs, even though now I listen to a lot more melodic, melody-driven pop music."

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