Local band hopes to set stage on fire

Alex Coolman

COSTA MESA -- Once they’re all huge international rock stars, the

members of Kaster Troy plan to take their act to the next level.

“I want to light my drum kit on fire,” said Thad Nobuhara, the

17-year-old drummer.

Ryan Stockwell, the 16-year-old lead guitarist, said he plans to

acquire some kind of massive, earsplitting amplifier.

Also a possibility, the band decided, was the idea of adding a few

elephants to the stage show.

But Kaster Troy -- with no flames, pachyderms or monster amps -- is

already rocking out. They’re rocking on a small scale, it’s true, but

that’s they way they like it.

The group plays their first big show tonight at Chain Reaction in

Anaheim.

For the group members, who are all Costa Mesa residents and Corona del

Mar High seniors, the satisfaction of being in a band has a lot more to

do with making music that people enjoy than trying to cash in on some

vague idea of fame.

The group -- its name is drawn from that of the villain of the 1997

movie “Face/Off” -- plays up-tempo pop punk, the sort of thing that bands

like Bad Religion, Green Day and Blink 182 have made famous.

Their demo CD, with its crunchy guitars, popping snares and pleasantly

snotty vocals, sounds like something that would sound right at home on

KROQ, Los Angeles’ alternative music station.

With one important qualification, though:

“We’re not rap metal!” insisted Randy Myers, 17, the singer and rhythm

guitarist.

For all their catchy riffs and fast rhythms, Kaster Troy is a fairly

introspective act. The exuberance of Myers and Stockwell is balanced by

the thoughtful presence of Nobuhara and bassist Chris Barker, 17.

The bandmates seem happy -- and even a little surprised -- that people

enjoy their music.

“The fact that we can get 50 people to pay money and drive half an

hour to see us, I think, is amazing,” Myers said.

But this modest success is not something that’s gone to their heads.

“I don’t want to say, ‘Screw college and screw the rest of my life’

just to follow some little dream,” Myers said.

“Punk rock is so good now. It’s hard [to compete].”

So Kaster Troy is sticking to what they enjoy, and hoping other people

dig it. The flames and elephants, for now, can wait.

FYI

For more information about the show and Kaster Troy, see the band’s

Web site at o7 https://www.ocbands.com/kastertroyf7 .