Though the local music scene is at an all time low, Aprilemade, led by senior Annalise Bush, released its debut 5- song EP in October. Following the EP came their CD release party and performance in Los Angeles.

Then there was Wasted Generation, of Flower Mound High, who never seemed to run out of places to play. The five- piece group consisted of juniors Ryan Koger and Dylan Tarver on guitars, backed by senior Zach Sayers’ unending sense of rhythmic groove, with senior bassist Rahul Saripella, all of which was fronted by junior vocalist Peyton Miller.

And lastly, there’s the melodic metal band Malconstruct (led by senior Garret ‘Jesus’ Webb), who are working diligently in the studio on their debut full- length record. Consisting of 10 songs, their self titled album is due to be released in a matter of months.

These local talents have defeated the drought in musical motivations, continuing their pursuit of the note driven concept after the loss of the area’s only local venue.

Music venue “Dad’s,” located off of South Mill St. in Lewisville, was closed due to financial problems. Tensions between the club owners and bands caused Dad’s founder, Kenny, as he was known to local acts, to pull the plug on the place after a stretch of close calls on the rent. Soon after the destruction of the bathroom during an altercation between the sound technician and an Oklahoma metal act, Kenny and his wife concluded the following month’s rent coupled with the damages done to the bathroom would prove to be too much for them to financially support.

Following the close of such an iconic local venue, bands seemed to lose their drive. Without a place to play (no closer than Dallas) bands had a harder time booking, which led to a drought in networking opportunities. With no local connections to the outside music world, many bands seemed to go under, abandoning their Facebook pages and giving up on trying to attract people’s attention. With an audience of predominately high school students, most bands have found it seemingly impossible to get their fans out to the more distant venues.

But with perseverance, these three bands continue to push their boundaries. Malconstruct has an upcoming gig in Deep Ellum at the famous Curtain Club on November 4. Aprilmade continues to work on new material, and the guys of Wasted Generation continue in their own, personal music endeavors.

For more information pertaining to the bands mentioned, please visit these sites:

Facebook.com/Malconstruct

Reverbnation.com/AnnaliseBush

Reverbnation.com/WastedGeneration