Teen music on tap

The Anderson Teen Center has two performances featuring local talent at its Friday Band Night, Feb. 19, and the two seem diametrically opposed.

Solo act Mariah Wester will play acoustic guitar and sing, then the five-piece Faded Mustache band will play metal music.

A junior at Anderson Union High School, Wester has played guitar since age 6. Now 16, Wester has performed at the teen center, North Star Brewery, and she has a show scheduled in March at the Downtown Eatery in Redding.

Wester described her music as influenced by British musician Laura Marling, who Wester describes as performing cheery music with dark lyrics. Wester described her own music as "folkish with intricate leads" and her lyrics as "really serious or angry ... or heartfelt."

"I always bottled things up," Wester said, adding that writing and performing music allows her to "have an outlet that is indirect to everyone else but direct to me."

Wester said she has written more than 200 songs, but only uses about 16 of them in rotation for her performances.

While she practices guitar daily, Wester said she used to play for about eight hours each day, a habit she no longer maintains because it interfered with school work.

"I used to fail a lot, but I got good at guitar," she said.

After graduating high school, Wester said she hopes to attend a university, major in business and open her own audio-production business or a graphic design and lithography business.

To hear some of Wester's music, go online to http://www.myspace.com/Mariahwester.

Not in any way acoustic, the metal band Faded Mustache is a collection of friends who all attended Anderson New Technology High School. Two of the band members, the drummer and lead guitarist, have kept the group together for six years.

Without a dedicated music program at ANTHS until recently, the musicians all had to pursue music skills on their own. However, Richards added that a music club at the school formed by counselor Rob Swendiman helped the band to gel.

The band draws inspiration from heavy metal groups Slayer and Judas Priest and death metal group Nile, according to Faded Mustache drummer Matt Richardson. Nonetheless, the band members insisted that the music is largely irreverent and fun.

One of the group's songs, Death Caravan, is about the band members getting attacked by marauders somewhere in Arabia, "and we kick the crap out of them," Richardson said.

"(We) insert ourselves into ridiculously awesome situations," Richardson said of the group's lyrics.

The band includes drummer Richardson, 20, guitarist Kuehl, 19, keyboardist Caitlin Kuehl, 16, vocalist and rhythm guitarist Marshall Jones III, 19, and bassist Alex Kalashnikov, 17.

Band Night at the Anderson Teen Center, 2889 East Center St., is scheduled from 6 p.m.-9 p.m Friday, Feb. 19. Only youths in grades seven through 12 are permitted to the event with identification.

To play, a band's performance must be appropriate, Project Coordinator Melissa Peterson said.