The kids in The Summer Set are barely legal, yet the pop rock band is one of the most prominent repping for the Valley music scene right now.
"It's pretty crazy that I graduated high school, and 48 hours later we were touring and haven't really stopped," says singer Brian Dales, who's only 20. "We started small, and these tours are getting a little bit bigger." They're currently on tour with Cartel and make a hometown appearance Wednesday, November 18 at Clubhouse Music Venue.
The band signed to The Militia Group straight out of high school (the members attended Cactus Shadows, Saguaro and Chaparral High School's). The group's currently on Razor and Tie Entertainment, on which they released their current album, Love Like This.
Like the title suggests, much of the disc focuses on relationships, including the song, "Chelsea," about Dales' ex-girlfriend Chelsea Staub, of Disney Channel's JONAS.
Part of the album was produced by pop rock producer extraordinaire, Matt Squire, and Dia Frampton from Meg & Dia makes a cameo on the acoustic album closer, "Where Are You Now." While all the songs pretty much stay in the power pop vein, Dales says the band tried to put something for everyone on the album (ballads, dance songs), and it worked.
"The response has been awesome to the new songs, better than any songs we've ever played," Dales says.
The band was inspired by a couple other Arizona bands, Jimmy Eat World and The Format, when writing the record.
"I feel like we're representing our state as best we can," Dales says.
After this tour with Cartel, on which the band is playing mostly new material, The Summer Set plans to keep on touring throughout 2010.
The group attributes their quick success to utilizing social networking sites such as MySpace and Twitter, and the band is also around after shows to talk to fans.
"If you're going to start a band, come right out of the gate as professionally as you can," Dales says. "We try to put on the most high-energy show we can, and we like to hang out with our fans and chat with everybody, so come hang out with us at the show."
The band plays with Cartel, This Providence and The Dares at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $16 and available at www.luckymanonline.com.
