By Shruthika Pochampally
Staff Writer

What first started out as four freshmen boys simply “messing around in the garage” soon turned into a local sensation as the band Auto began playing at church events, house parties and high school banquets.

Coppell High School freshmen Eric Loop, Kolbe Klement, Ryan Storch and Jesuit freshman and Coppell resident Bastien Stewart are the new and upcoming local rockers. Loop plays guitar, piano and is also lead singer of Auto. Klement is the lead guitarist and background vocalist. Storch is the band’s drummer, and ironically enough, Bastien, or Bass, plays bass.

“My dad asked me to take out the trash, and when I went out, there was a drum set there. I took pictures and texted the others, ‘Hey guys…I got a drum set! And they were like, ‘OK, let’s practice next week’. And that’s how it started,” Storch said.

The boys, who all went to Coppell Middle School East together, joke about how all their friends brushed them off until they heard them live for the first time.

“At first our friends didn’t take us very seriously, because we aren’t very serious people in general,” Storch said.

However, their audience soon realized that Auto was more than just a silly pastime. The group’s covers of Too Close by Alex Clare and Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes left the crowd excited for Auto’s future.

“When we started playing, we could see our friend’s faces change as they realized that we weren’t just a joke, so that was pretty cool,” Klement said.

Auto’s first gig was at CHS freshman Sarah Houchin’s house party, where their friends got to hear them for the first time.

“There were only 20 to 30 people, but to me it was like 20,000 to 30,000,” Storch said.

The boys, who have gained quite some popularity in Coppell over the last few months, talk about what it is like to perform in front of a group of all familiar faces.

“It’s scary, especially because they’re your friends, and you don’t want to disappoint your friends,” Loop said.

“I’ve known the Auto guys since the beginning of middle school, but my house party was my first time hearing them as a band. I didn’t expect them to be that good, but they were actually really good,” freshman Sarah Houchin said. “I’m really glad I asked them to perform and I think it turned out really well for them. They’re all really nice and kind-hearted people.

The creation of the band’s name was a spontaneous affair, just like the formation of the band itself.  The Lectrics and Page 8 were some of the names Auto originally considered, though copyright legalities got in their way.

“The name of the band doesn’t really have any significance,” Loop said. “We were kind of rushing ourselves because we wanted a name for the band by our first gig.”

Though the group is not together at the same high school, they still try their best to make time for practices, where they personalize covers, and have begun venturing into songwriting.

“We practice on the weekends. Bass doesn’t go to Coppell, so it’s harder to get together sometimes.” Storch said.

However, the three boys who do go to CHS are closer than ever, and spend a considerable amount of time together at school. They also see one another outside of school on a regular basis. All four members play football, attend St. Ann Catholic Parish and say it’s good because they get to bond over so many aspects of their lives.

“We all go to church together. My dad is the minister at St. Ann’s church, and he has a lot of speakers and microphones,” Klement said.

Auto also gets musical support and advice as well, along with the technology and live performance opportunities they get from their local supporters.

“My dad plays guitar and drums,” Storch said. “He has previous experience; he was in a band, called The Aces, at our age, and so he’s helping us. He’ll come out during practices, and you can tell he kind of wants to play too,”

Being part of such a close-knit community definitely has its perks, as Auto gets many chances to make themselves heard through connections, both personal and business.

“I think personally, I like playing live better, because you get to see the audience’s reactions, and improv a bit,” Loop said.  “It would be awesome to go far with the band, but we’re still kind of in the beginning stages, it’s a brand new thing. We’re looking for opportunities right now.”

The band is still working its way up. They have performed at several Coppell events already, and have several lined up in the next few months as well.

“We were the music behind the Lariettes performance. We actually studio-recorded it with the church manager, and he made a record out of it,” Storch said.

Being a local band comes with several perks, one of which is getting to see your loved ones watch you perform.

“I once threw a drumstick into the audience and my sister caught it,” Storch said.

Though the boys are very similar in extracurriculars and personalities, they claim to be slightly different when it comes to music tastes.

“Ryan and Kolbe are more of a hard rock type of thing, whereas I’m into Alt/Indie rock, so we kind of clash sometimes on what we want to cover,” Storch said. “It’s kind of hard to say…I like to listen to Jack Johnson, John Mayer, that slow, great, guitar and, acoustic stuff, and I think Bass just goes along with whatever we say, he’s really easy going.” Storch said.

Auto is currently working on more covers, including popular Coldplay song Paradise, among others. Though they are still making themselves heard and noticed, Auto have also began writing songs.

“We have one and a half original songs. The first one, we wrote over the summer. We just sat down and wrote it. It was a collaboration,” Storch said.

Their first original song is about pushing yourself, or “trying” as opposed to the common love songs most teenage musicians formulate.

“[The song] is called ‘Try It’. It’s about trying harder, trying to succeed, it’s pretty much a first-person action shot of when you’re doing something important, and trying to overcome an obstacle.” Klement said.

Using a guitar riff Loop had created, the boys then added a drum beat, and then proceeded to add lyrics, which they claim as the hardest part.

“I guess when it’s all said and done, a song you wrote yourself is much more rewarding than playing someone else’s song, but it’s definitely not an easy process,” Klement said.

Auto Band has gained many fans and listeners during the past six months and has become a local success.

““It’s really rare, this early in the progression of a band, to get a chance to record, and have a place to record it. We get a lot of opportunities just from our community,” Loop said.

“Honestly, we never thought we’d get this far. We realize that we’re actually a real band, now. We’ve been together for six months, and we’ve gotten a lot better since our first gig at the Houchin’s.”