A broken-down van, a stay in a homeless shelter and even the grind of a daily job can’t break the spirit of music-making — at least for the members of 32 Leaves. “We were presented with a dream, and it was our job to take it and run as fast as we could towards it,” Mike Lopez, one of the members, says.

32 Leaves got its start when three kids from Ironwood high school in Glendale realized their true love of music needed to be shared with the world. Since they were 15 years old they have been taking their music seriously. Barrett Gardner, Greg Allen, and Mike Chavez started playing in their garage, hoping to one day grow. They eventually picked up two more band members, Mike Lopez from Phoenix and Aron Orosz who grew up in Indiana, creating the complete magic of 32 Leaves.

To get their unique sound, which they describe as melodic hard rock, they are constantly getting influences from books, movies, and other music. “Inspiration comes more from learning life experiences,” Lopez says. “I could go see a movie that really makes me feel a certain emotion, and instead of bottling it up, my way of expressing that is through our music.”

Each of the members has a different taste in music and bands, some of which includes Nirvana, Tool, Incubus and instrumentals from various bands.

While most bands are touring in nice RV’s, 32 Leaves has not had such an easy ride. The members are stuck with a little van that never fails to give them problems. Sometimes the question is, “Will we even make it?”

Gardner recalls one trying time. “On a trip to Chicago our transmission went bad and our battery died later that trip. The worst part is we were supposed to be ahead 2000 dollars but because of all of our van issues we had to spend all of our money fixing it,” Gardner says. “For five miserable nights we only had enough money to buy one room for seven guys, two of which were roadies. There wasn’t even money for food, so we had to turn to a homeless shelter to survive. We made it home with with juice and tuna in our stomachs.”

On top of all this, the members still have to come home to regular jobs. Lopez and Chavez run their own window and landscape businesses, while Allen records other bands and Gardner works in printing. They have the constant struggle of trying to take a couple of months off to perform. Orosz can’t stress enough how difficult it can be. “We are always questioning if we will even have a job to come home to. If I take too much time off, I risk missing too much work, which could lead to me losing my job,” he says.

But the band says they continue simply for love of the music… and maybe for the tours, terrible van and all.

“The most rewarding experience I could possibly have is successful touring. I get to drive across the country with my band, and get to put on a great show,” Allen says.

Another perk they run into is meeting true fans. “It’s really amazing when I see those really dedicated fans that follow us from show to show,” Orosz says. “During a recent performance in Evansville, Indiana, we met a 15-year-old so stoked to see us he had even pierced his own ears with mini 32 Leaves buttons.”

More than just a few dedicated fans are listening. All at ages 27 and 28, they have toured with bands including Evan’s Blue, 10 Years and Smile Empty Soul. They have also gotten air time on over 70 radio stations all over the U.S. Their singles, “All Is Numb” and “Way Beyond,” have been played locally on KUPD, XM radio and Sirius.

The band’s next project is a 16-song record that will be out by the end of November, followed by a nationwide tour. Their next local show will be on Halloween with Smile Empty Soul at the Big Fish Pub.

— erica.roman@asu.edu.edu