With their passion and presence on stage, DIY band At Our Expense is a group of guys worth looking out for in the music scene.

“How are you all doing tonight?” Angel, lead singer, asks to a roar from the crowd. The intro to “Embers,” off their album, “I’m The One Who Changed” begins, and you can feel the build up, the tension on the stage as the music collides, crashes together to form their pop punk, post-hardcore sound. Their stage presence is big, each of the six guys in their own zone, putting their all into this song, the band, and the music. I’m easily impressed with their spirit.

At Our Expense is a group of musicians out of the San Fernando Valley. Having just released their fourth EP, Awake, they’ve come a long way from the garage they started jamming in, in the spring of ’07.

I got to sit down with three of the guys: Angel Carmona (vocals), Andres Argueta (vocals), and Danny Santamaria (guitar) to discuss everything from their future goals to their dedication to music. The great thing about them is that right off the bat, when asked about their biggest accomplishments, they don’t hesitate in saying that it would have to be sticking together for the last eight years.

JE: What would you say are your biggest accomplishments as a band?

DS: Sticking together for eight years

AC: San Fernando Battle of the Bands. And we’ve been on two tours and two smaller ones.

JE: Why do you guys make music?

AC: We’re all into music, we’re all music lovers. That’s why we do it.

AA: And hanging out with your friends at the same time.

AC: Playing live is the ultimate high. To sum it up we’re just a bunch of dedicated people who – we share the same passion. Music’s our thing, it just happened to be that way.

AA: I think we’d all like to leave a mark.

JE: What’s your favorite thing about music – yours or in general?

DS: The feels. When you hear something that you emotionally connect to, or you hear someone sing about a situation that you’re going through or have been through… you just go, yeah that guy knows what’s up.

AC: For our music, if someone digs our songs it means a lot. We wrote it and people enjoy it. When people actually take the time to remember your lyrics, it’s nice.

JE: What do you guys like to do outside of music?

AA: We keep up with sports.

DS: Yeah, we’re really big sports fans.

AA: Music and sports. Going to other bands shows and listening.

AC: Video games and… we like food. Music is the coolest thing we’ve got.

JE: What are your goals for the future of AOE?

AC: Shows, tour, writing. Shows, tour, writing. Building up the fan base.

DS: Yeah, we’re trying to write a full-length right now, but it really depends on the finances to take on that big recording contract. We’re DIY.

AA: We’d like to travel to the east coast; write more, travel more.

DS: Hopefully it becomes full-time, where we can really dedicate ourselves – getting a house, everyone living there and writing a record together.

With their DIY ideal of doing things at their expense and their strong bond, I can tell that they’ll make their goals. They are some of the most dedicated dudes I’ve had the pleasure to meet.

2015 has been a good year so far for AOE and seems to be only getting better, with a bunch of shows under their belt, they continue to book shows locally.

Check them out soon: FaceBook.com/AtOurExpense

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“Oh man. No way. This can’t be happening.” we softly uttered as the engine seized…

Our band had been invited to play an event for a rock radio station in Philadelphia. We hadn’t played together in almost a year, we had no new material to showcase, some of us moved to other states and we would only be able to get one rehearsal in…we went for it. We missed each other and needed a excuse to play music together again. Besides, we are professionals right? We would all remember the lyrics, harmonies and parts after a hour of rehearsing right? Sure - it's like riding a bike - 'we got this' repeats over and over again in my head.

I landed back in Philadelphia to rehearse, caught up over some beers, packed up and we were on our way. Chris and I drove our ramshackle van full of equipment while the other guys went separately due to prior obligations. When we get together we think we are invincible and even at our age, which is closer to 30 that 20, we find ourselves reverting to our adolescent mindsets. Even the worst ideas seem probable after we all convince one another it's possible. Case in point - driving our band van, which is literally falling apart, 20+ miles to Philadelphia.

Our final destination...if we make it there...

We got this...

Right before we departed there was a (very) quick conversation about the possibility of the van not making it. Back up plan? Nope. “She is going to make it! There is no other option!” We decided as we all raised a toast to the van that has gotten us around the world and back. “Here goes nothing.” Chris whispered in a moment of clarity “Okay Ol’ Trusty…all you have to do is get us there. We will take it from there.” caressing the steering wheel. I turn and place my hand on the dusty dashboard. "We got this."

There was traffic so we decided to make our into New Jersey and then cut back over into Philadelphia from there. This made sense if you were driving a vehicle that was well maintained and knew it was going to get your to your final destination. In our case though this was a tricky maneuver. If the van died in New Jersey we were screwed. We crossed the bridge from Delaware in to New Jersey and all was going well. As we had reached the crest of the bridge there was a loud, unnerving bang. Where did it come from? Chris and I side-glanced at each other. “Did you feel that?” I asked. “It’s nothing! Ol’ Trusty will get us there!” Chris responded and then it happened - the van shut off. Died. We were motionless at the crest of the bridge like a roller coaster at the top of its track. “No way!” We both barked “Start rocking forward and hopefully we can coast down the rest of the bridge!” We rocked and pushed and then she went. The centrifugal force and gravity started to pull us into New Jersey as we coasted with a dead van full of equipment. “Oh man! Do the brakes still work?” as I turn to Chris who is throwing an open container out the window. He responds “Man! This is probably an awful time to tell you that the van is uninsured!” We both scream held each other and pray for the best as we careened towards the garden state.

Frantically, Chris pumps the brakes as we whiz by a colorful "New Jersey Welcomes You" sign. We were running out of road fast as we see our lane was coming to an end. "Woo! The shit hit the fan quick on this one, baby!" Chris yells and he jerks the wheel steering us into another lane. I could see there was a fork in the road at the end of the bridge. "Aim for that shoulder man! If we can land there we'll be fine!" I point as I pull out my phone to document with a quick social media post...and to send to the rest of our band to keep them up to date with our current whereabouts. What? If we are going down like this I want social media to know we went out in glory. "Already ahead of you!" Chris responds as our ship starts to course correct towards the fork 's shoulder.

With a screech of the tires, a cloud of black road dust and a touch of luck we land on the shoulder of the road. We wipe the sweat from our brows and slowly turn to look at each other in awe. After a wide-eyed, jaw dropped pause of amazement we slowly crack smiles. "Holy shit! We did it!" Double checking my phone for the video playback. "Damn straight we did. Now, lets fix this beast." Chris motions to me exiting the drivers seat to pop the hood. In a few moments, along with a a lot of cursing, hitting the engine with hammers and readjusting battery connections we were back on the road.

"I don't know? Should we hit it with a hammer?" - Matt & Chris

The rest of the ride was steady besides a few pops and sputters. We made it to the venue in time to load in, sound check and grab a brew together. The show went on and we had a blast seeing all our family, friends and creating memories. See…like I said…we got this.

-YourFriendMatt