Drive is a young band, more or less, in every sense.

It formed it's current four-member lineup in November.

It's oldest member, vocalist and rhythm guitarist Tom Neff, is 20.

It's youngest member, drummer Mike Neff, is 15.

Guitarist Doug Mikula and bassist Michael Vernon both are 17.

All are from Tinton Falls and three -- Mikula, Vernon and Mike Neff -- all are students at Monmouth Regional High School, Tinton Falls.

Tom Neff attends Monmouth University, West Long Branch.

To push the "young band" point even further, it's nominated in the Best Young Band category for the upcoming Asbury Music Awards.

So, Drive is a young band. But you wouldn't know it to hear it.

Mikula described Drive's sound as, "Straight rock. Not punk. Not really heavy. Not hard core." He, like other musicians today, had difficulty pigeon-holing the band.

Mikula's music influences includes bands such as Further Seems Forever and Jimmy Eat World.

"Those are my favorite bands right now," Mikula added. "But I've never had one ultimate favorite band of all time. They're always changing."

Steve Vai has been an influence on Mikula plays guitar. He also mentioned vocalist Tom Neff as a strong 1980s influence not only on himself but also on the sound of the band."

"(Neff's) favorite band is Bon Jovi," Mikula said. "And when he sings, you can definitely pick up that influence.

"But he also has a more modern sound to his voice as well," Mikula said.

It is an interesting combination that works well. The band does recall 1980s rock in a lot of ways, especially in the track "Children of the Night." (A demo is available on the band's Web site.)

Both the guitar work and vocal harmonies reflect the Bon Jovi influence, or perhaps even Guns 'n' Roses. Reflects. Not emulates. Ultimately, Drive is combination of modern punk and alternative rock.

As individual musicians, Mikula has played guitar for five years and Vernon has played bass for four.

"Mike has been playing drums for . . . for a really long time. Since he was a little kid. As for Tom, he's been seriously trying to sing since his freshman year of high school," Mikula said of his band mates.

Mikula and Vernon have played together for years.

Tom Neff and Michael Vernon perform during Battle of the Bands at The Saint in Asbury Park.(FILE PHOTO) "We've been in bands together since sixth grade," Mikula said. "We used to play a lot of covers and we had a lot of different lineups. Mike had been playing drums with us for a while, but never anything too serious. In November, we got Tom to join us, and that's when we started getting serious." "Getting serious is accurate because since then Drive has been busy. At the end of June, Drive took fourth place out of 48 bands in the All Ages category (as opposed to the 18 and older category) for the jerseyshows.com Battle of the Bands held at The Saint in Asbury Park. The Battle began in mid-February and continued through late June. It began with six bands per show, each playing 45-minute sets. Half the bands were eliminated in each show for the first round. Four of the six bands were eliminated in the second round. In the semi-finals, each band played an hour. Four of the remaining eight bands went to the finals. That's a lot of ground to cover and a lot of judges to please. Using a four-track and a computer in Mikula's house, Drive recorded and mixed a six-song EP, "Faded Heroes EP," during December and January. , Plans are to record a longer album for release this fall. "Right now we have close to 15 songs," Mikula said. "We're also thinking of re-recording the ones from the demo and putting them on . . . I do think that the EP came out sounding pretty well, considering it was done in my house." Drive also has received some radio play. It's songs have been featured on 95.9 FM-WRAT and 88.9 FM-WMCX. The band's songs are written by Mikula and Tom Neff. "We started by playing a lot of Tom's old songs, and now he and I write songs together, or we'll write them individually, and bring them to the table; see what we can do with them," Mikula said. Drive has played The Saint and the Stone Pony, both in Asbury Park, and Club Krome, South Amboy. It's next show is at 1 p.m. Sunday at The Saint as part of the Battle of the Bands CD release party. Other bands scheduled to play include Jup, Delicate Ground, The Miasmics and RDX, all on the CD. Everyone who attends will get a free copy of the CD recorded during the semi-finals that took place June 1 and 2. Drive also is scheduled to perform Aug. 30 at Club Krome. All this in less than a year. And with school to worry about as well. For more on Drive, visit its Web site at www.driveonline.tk. from the Asbury Park Press Go Back

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