Bands — everyone has a favorite. Whether the band’s genre revolves around rap, pop, or liquid metal, acoustic, foreign, or instrumental. Most famous bands are well-known because they are professional. That is, they are signed to a record company and have spent years touring the world and promoting their name, perfecting their sound as they move along.

Because of the famous bands, local ones tend to be overlooked.

There is a local band right here at Stagg. They are called Forgetting Last Friday and they consist of juniors Howard Jones on lead guitar, Jalal Saleh on drums, Mitchell Woodbury on bass, freshman Brian Magana on rhythm guitar, and junior Gabriel Alvarez on vocals.

The band does not play one specific genre, but rather juggles around, incorporating alternative and metal core into their sound.

Forgetting Last Friday is a band dedicated to its music. They have managed to complete a couple songs through the practice sessions they hold. Two songs, “Revival” and “Vice or Virtue,” have already been recorded and the rest are still being worked on. Freshman Gabrielle Khan said, “(Forgetting Last Friday) actually sounds pretty good.”

The band members love to play their instruments and have lots of fun doing so. While they do play for the enjoyment, they still have enough room to be serious about going big. Already they have delivered three performances, two at the Plea for Peace in downtown Stockton and one at the Retro Roseville in Roseville.

At each location a sizable crowd showed up, obviously enjoying the music given off by their performances. Woodbury said, “The crowd loved us… They tried to (start a mosh pit), but it didn’t work out really well.”

Alvarez also said, “We got people that actually (hardcore) danced to our music.”

“We’re signing to a label, Backbreaker Records,” Jones said. “We are also touring during the summer.” They have already planned out some of the places they are going to perform at and will be driving their way, hoping to cover several places in California and work their way mostly through the middle of the United States, like Utah, and a little farther into Louisiana. The farthest state they plan on hitting is Florida.

“We’ve only been going six months and we already have recognition,” Alvarez said.

Another big thing Forgetting Last Friday is working on is getting their name out into the open. “We usually promote through Facebook and word of mouth,” Woodbury said.

Just because they are a local band does not mean that they should be underestimated.This is a group of really talented young teenagers who have worked on knitting their skills together to try to improve the way their music sounds. They have no room for put-downs and call-offs, but could use a word of praise or two to help them along the way.