They may not be a household name yet but The Flies are working to change all that.
"We want to be famous!," said 10-year old Samuel Lee, a guitarist for the popular youth rock band.
To a certain degree they may have already achieved that goal. The band, which is comprised of fourth graders, has a Facebook page and videos on YouTube, with a studio recording planned in the future.
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When one usually talks about boy bands, the conversation is typically about an acapella group, such as the Backstreet Boys, not fourth graders with guitars.
But on Saturday, The Flies wowed audiences with a seven-song set at Duckfest11, the live band portion of Saturday's Rubber Ducky Festival. Billed as fourth graders who perform like tenth graders, the band played five original songs and two covers, one of which was the famed Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin.
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The Flies feature Sam Lee on lead guitar, Johnny “Bones” Pullara on drums, Sean Pelcher on vocals, Spencer Park on rhythm guitar and Andrew Vanacore on vocals and violin. All are classmates, attending Mountain Park school, except for Pelcher who attends a private school.
The young band already has three years of public performances under its belt including Duckfest and the Mount Carmel Festival. They describe their style as more classic rock and also perform covers like “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynard Skynard.
Not surprisingly, the band writes its own music, as any serious musicians would. Their set list on Saturday included original songs Road to Love, Tick Tock, Criminal Market, Five Thousand Bucks, Come To Think.
"John usually gives me ideas," Lee said. "I make the music and we all figure the rest out. "Road to Love was different. I had a rhythm and Sean developed some words for something."
What's surprising is how well the boys play together onstage. For most kids at age nine and ten, there's enrichment centers such as the School of Rock that encourage band play but in reality, chemistry is something that cannot be taught.
"They started the band in part as a way of having them just enjoy music rather than say that have music for homework," said Howard Lee, father to Sam. "Now it's like a like a giant play date and they enjoy it."
When asked how the band was named, Sam Lee said: "I like the Beatles so I thought of The Flies."
In addition to the Facebook page, the band had black shirts printed with a white fly image on them. It all appears to make them feel as though they have already "arrived."
"We've already had comments when we asked them to help with the equipment," said Johnny's mom Danielle Pullara. "They told us that rock stars don't carry their own equipment."
Duckfest11 also included the Whitehouse-based band “Easily Confused,” which performed original Rock/ Indie / Alternative music as well as covers of the “Red Hot Chili Peppers,” and the award-winning “Negative IQ,” that has a pop-punk style similar to “Green Day”, “The Offspring” and “Sum 41.”
