While most of their peers were busy dreaming of one day becoming a rock star, two local graduates actually made it happen.

After finishing high school two years ago, Hermiston High School graduate Joel Riley and Umatilla High School graduate Dakota Dufloth teamed up with Eugene-based musicians Jairus Kersey, David Knox and Brandon Banton to form the alternative rock band Alive Like Me. The band has since been signed by record label Rise Records and has toured the United States and even internationally in Japan.

Neither Dufloth nor Riley said they could ever have dreamed that this was the path they would be on after high school.

Its all happened so fast, Dufloth said this week. Its been a wild ride. We couldnt be more grateful.

ROCK DREAM BEGINNINGS

Dufloth said he originally met Riley in high school through a mutual friend. Following a couple of jam sessions, he invited Riley to join his high school band.

Even though the band fizzled out as the year continued, Dufloth said he and Riley stayed in touch, and they worked to produce a variety of projects including a couple of cover songs. After realizing they made a great team, they decided to move to Portland together to pursue a degree in music production from Clackamas Community College. While taking classes, the two were also looking for other possible musicians to team up with to form a new band.

Dufloth and Riley said they worked with a few artists, but nothing ever came of anyone they looked at. As a last resort, they took to Craigslist to see if there was a group they could possibly join, or if there were any musicians who were searching for a group. That is when they found the three-member group known then as Forever Ends Today.

We found an ad that said lead guitar player and drummer wanted, Dufloth said. We just both looked at each other and said, Thats us. We decided to give them a call.

Dufloth said they made a trip up to Eugene to meet with the band members and hit it off really well. After officially forming as a group, Dufloth and Riley said they would make trips every weekend to practice with their new band, only returning home to Portland each Sunday night to attend school during the week. After a while, the trips and school got to be too much, and Dufloth said they decided to make the move over to Eugene permanently.

After they got the money together, the band, now under a new name, decided to record a five-song EP at Rain City Audio, which they planned to release after they started performing at local venues. But before releasing the tracks, their friend and recording manager, Ryan Furlott, recommended that they hold off on releasing their EP because he liked their sound and wanted to show it to a couple of friends at labels who might be interested.

GETTING SIGNED

For the next month, the band waited as their EP was shopped around to several potentially interested labels.

That first month was just nerve-wracking, Riley said. Everything we planned had just changed.

A short while later, Dufloth said they received a call from Furlott that record label Tragic Hero was interested and wanted to make an offer. The band members were ecstatic.

We freaked out, Dufloth said. After we got off the phone, we hugged, we ran around in the yard with our shirts off screaming.

But, despite the excitement, both said the band wanted to wait for word from their dream label Rise Records. The band didnt have to wait long.

A few days later, the band got the phone call: Rise Records was interested. The group set up a private showcase for Rise Records founder Craig Ericson in his own house basement, something he has never done for any group before.

Before they could perform, however, the group would have to overcome a variety of obstacles that almost derailed their dream. To start, Ericson had to reschedule their showcase. Then, the night before their rescheduled showcase, Dufloth broke his foot after an amplifier cabinet fell on it. Barely able to walk the next day, Dufloth and the rest of the group got into a van and made their way to Ericsons house, but the vehicle broke down 45 minutes away. After they got to their location and set up in Ericsons basement, the band ran into a variety of technical problems that essentially muted their sound quality.

For whatever reason, Dufloth said Ericson decided to give them another shot and had them play their set a second time. After that, everything fell into place. In November, the group signed with Rise Records and began work on their first full-length album.

For the next three months, Riley said they would spend nearly every waking hour in the studio working on a variety of songs for their album. Dufloth said they spent a total of 52 days over the course of that period working on new music, and would even sleep in the studio on occasion.

We lived in that studio, Riley said. There is definitely a lot of literal blood, sweat and tears that went into that album.

RISE TO SUCCESS

Since signing with Rise Records and recording their first album, Alive Like Me has toured all over the Untied States with bands such as Hands Like Houses and several others. Recently, the band returned from a several-day tour with the band Issues in Japan, where they performed to crowds of nearly 1,000 people who already knew their songs.

That was the dream right there, Riley said. It was really fun. It is totally different over there.

Dufloth said it was the first time they felt like they were known by people and also the first instance where people sang along as they played.

It was extremely emotional, he said.

Also, during the last half of the summer, the band had the chance to perform as part of the Vans Warped Tour, which features hundreds of prominent and popular bands from all over the world.

That was something that we could cross off the bucket list, Riley said. We have this white board with all of our goals we hope to achieve, and that was one of them. Getting signed by Rise was another one.

Looking into the future, Dufloth said they already have a couple of East Coast tours booked, where they will perform with bands like Beartooth and Dance Gavin Dance. Dufloth said they probably wont be performing in Portland until next year. However, they do have a show scheduled in Seattle at Studio Seven on Nov. 16. For more information, people can visit their Facebook page by searching Alive Like Me.

On Oct. 7, the band will also release their first album titled Only Forever, which will feature 11 new tracks, including a couple that they already released on iTunes and YouTube. The album will be available for purchase on iTunes, as well as hard copies on their website, which is currently under construction.

REASONS FOR SUCCESS

Both Dufloth and Riley said none of their success this far would be possible without the help of their youth and school music teachers, as well as their parents.

Riley said he wouldnt be a drummer in Alive Like Me if it wasnt for his Hermiston High School band teacher Kim Walker, who got him started on a drum set and really believed in him. He said he also credits John Wambeke for giving him guitar lessons at the age of 13 and 14.

For Dufloth, he said the inspiration and support his parents have given him has been crucial. He said his parents toured in a band, themselves, and taught him a lot of what he knows about performing. He said his first band teacher, Mrs. Reel, in fourth and fifth grade at McNary Heights Elementary School, band teacher Mrs. Cindy Eddy, at Clara Brownell Middle School, and piano teacher Teresa Collins were also huge reasons why he became a musician. Dufloth said he also owes a huge amount of gratitude to long-time friend and Umatilla classmate Trevor Strickland, for showing him the ropes on guitar.

I wouldnt be where I am today if it wasnt for him, he said.