Remember Ender is a relatively young Athens based rock band that has a lot going for them. Consisting of 5 Ohio University students, the band already has a devoted following of young college students which numbers in the hundreds. They play through choice gear, a 4x12 Rivera speaker cab and other half stacks are just some of tools of their trade. When also consider that they are all tall, handsome, and know how to promote themselves, you'd think the folks in R.E. would be some of the cockiest bastards in Athens, but they aren't.

Why, not?

Like I said earlier, the band is relatively young in both age and experience. Everyone in the band ranges in age from 19 to 21. Their last show at Casa Nueva with Cincy based Fizzgig and local rockers Planet 12 was only their second gig "uptown" in their short careers. Early Success coupled with humility is such an exotic combination in the music world these days. Remember Ender shows all the signs of a member of the new breed of un-obnoxious rock stars.

Remember Ender has a large OU student following.

Watching and listening to the band, it was clear to me that Remember Ender has yet to settle upon a single vision for their sound. Some of their songs had a very weezer-ish pop-punk vibe while still other contained a 90's Perl Jam grunge element. For the most part, the band plays upbeat college alt-rock songs that aren't at all acoustic, jammy, metal, or retro based. Their completely contemporary sound automatically makes them unique within the current roster of local Athens bands. This could partly explain their ridiculously large fan base for only having played twice in Athens. Not many Athens bands in play the type of contemporary college radio alt-pop, rock-and-roll that many college students enjoy.

With only a few live shows under their belt, some of the songs seemed to lack road-testing. I sensed that very few of the songs in their set list had been extensively edited or reworked. So the band's song writing is not yet polished. The crowd at Casa didn't seem to notice or even care about it. Upbeat, intense, and nearly on the road to being radio worthy, Remember Ender has all the talent they need to take them wherever they want to go. Their inexperience in songwritting is something a thousand other new bands have had to overcome. I suspect R.E. will have the bugs in their song writing worked out sooner rather than later.

Remember Ender's lead singer, Beau, studied and perfromed Musical Theatre at the College Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati

Pictures speak a thousand words, and if you take the time to view the Remember Ender pictorial on this site, you'll see a wall of fans enjoying themselves at Casa as they dance to their favorite local band. Some ladies had even painted "We Love Remember Ender" on their taught, attractive, young stomachs... Hmmm. Where was I? Oh yeah. R.E's lead singer, Beau Clark, earned an "A" in crowd management by continually pumping up the audience during tuning checks and other breaks in the set. When not dousing himself and the front row with bottled water (He's too young to drink), Clark would hand out Free CD's and do something that most young bands NEVER do: mention the other bands on the bill, and thank the bar for having them.

The Remember Ender's back line was tight. Drummer Scott Stewart was exceptionally in synch with bassist Joe Rememberowski provided ample movement throughout the set. Their ability to carry a beat is yet another example of the band's solid foundation and envious start. If the group can manage to stick together during the years to come, they have the potential to be one of the best rock bands in the region. It's only a matter of time and experience.

I recently had the opportunity to ask Remember ender bassist, Joe Rememberowski, some questions about the band.

AMN: How long have you been together?

Joe: Beau, Ben, and I started the idea of Remember Ender in the fall of 2001. Beau came from studying and performing musical theater at the College Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, and his voice fueled the creation of RE. We began writing and practicing, still trying to find the right rhythm guitarist and drummer. Ben got together with Scott over winter break, and Matt was the final piece, added early in the winter quarter of 2002.

AMN: Where and how often do you practice?

Joe: We began practicing in Matt's apartment until a neighboring OU professor couldn't handle the rock, and we were asked to move. We have been practicing almost everyday in the James Hall basement for the past few months now. Despite having to wrap things up before the 8:00pm quiet hours take effect, it has been good to us.

AMN: How difficult is it for a student band to find practice space?

Joe: It is very hard to find a place to play that has sufficient space, that is in a decent location, and that is away from those who prefer to use their nights to study. We tried contacting bands to see if we could split space early in the year, but nothing really came through, and we were lowered to begging for a basement room from my resident director.

Joe Rememberowski on bass.

AMN: How often do you play out?

Joe: We took a substantial amount of time to write and fine tune several songs before making an appearance live. Since our first show we have played once or twice a month. We are still actively pursuing bands willing to give us a shot to play with them this summer, in hopes that once we get our name out there we can play more often and cover more locations.

AMN: What CD do you currently have in your CD player at home right now? No cheating.

Joe: Fizzgig - Three Word Title, which I have been listening to all weekend. I can hear Ben playing some Hot Water music down the hall well beyond the regulated volume of exam week quiet hours.

AMN: How do you guys come up with new songs? Is their a chief songwriter in the bunch or do you all bring completed songs to practice? What's the process?

Joe: In the beginning it was Ben writing the music and Beau writing the lyrics, but we soon discovered that we all had something significant to bring to the table. There were several songs like 'First Impressions' that Ben and I wrote in the dorms, brought to practice and worked on as a group. There were also songs like 'Ender' and 'Utopia' that Matt wrote at home, brought in and hardly anything was changed. For 'Class Notes,' I brought in the bass line, and the rest of the guys transformed it into a fun, high-energy song.

No song was more diversely written than 'Homelands,' however, with everyone bringing their own ideas and it just ended up meshing very well. Beau is still about 99% responsible for all of RE's lyrics, and that has worked extremely well to date. I think we have reached a level of comfort to bring new things up amongst each other and we can take criticism from each other as well. Writing has definitely become an exciting and fun component rather than tedious and anxious.

AMN: Are you guys ready to record a demo CD or are you holding off?

Joe: Yeah, we have been eagerly anticipating getting into the studio June 8 to record three or possibly four tracks for demo number 1. We will use these recordings to give away at shows and on our website for free mp3 downloads.

AMN: Where do you see you guys this time next year?

Joe: I see us playing a lot more shows, having an unbelievable amount of fun, and enjoying the best time of our lives doing what we love to do. Hopefully entertaining loud and energetic crowds, old and new. I could also see a CD in the works, at some stage or another, at some point next year.