by Allison Mackie

All four members began their musical careers young, each taking different paths to get where they are today. In high school, Anthony, Justin and Andy formed a modern-rock Christian band. The band began in Justin’s Dinuba, California garage. Sounds & Sciences was formed when Justin, Anthony and Andy joined up with Tyler which led to their first album. These young men share one common ideal; they’re trying to raise the bar for musicianship.

At a young age, lead vocalist Justin Simmons took guitar in a personal quest for stardom. Aspiring to go into a musical career, Justin joined the school choir at age five and stuck with it through his senior year. He had dreamed of being the front man for a band since childhood and felt he just wouldn’t be doing his dreams justice if he didn’t keep making music.

Andy Benavides has been playing guitar for about five years now. Front guitarist and sometimes singer, Andy is truly inspired by the music the band makes. “We all have such distinct individual styles; it makes for a very different and innovative sound.”

Drummer Tyler Huebert has a burning love for the drum set. Considered the “newbie” of the group, he is an essential asset to the music they play.

Anthony Polanco, lead bassist, has been playing instruments since he was five years old and has been constantly learning new instruments ever since. Anthony says of the band, “I’m inspired to stay a member of Sounds & Sciences because it’s hard to find a group of musicians that you can call your true friends, and I have found that with this group. Along with that, I wholeheartedly believe in the musicianship and unique compositional style we have together and would like to see it through as far as we can take it.”

left to right: Andy Benavides, Tyler Huebert, Anthony Polanco and Justin Simmons

As a group, the guys have many goals but the primary one is to continue to make mature music and to share it with as many people as possible. The band’s style is high-energy screamo rock that is progressive and technical.

Their first album, The Sapling, was released in February of 2010 and is doing a lot better than they expected, with a great response from many people, and a lot of support from their fans. It can be purchased on iTunes. When asked why the album is entitled The Sapling, they said, “A sapling is a young tree, this is our first album and the start of something we feel to be great.”

Check out Sounds & Sciences online at MySpace, where you can listen to samples of their music, or on Facebook. They can also be followed on Twitter.

Sounds & Sciences recently learned they will be playing the Warped Tour! They will be performing at the June 26 Mountain View, California concert on the Ernie Ball Stage.

Allison Mackie is 15 years old and an ongoing contributor to our Teen Talk section; although she enjoys many things, her passion is writing.