In a dusty basement complete with flashing Christmas lights and Rolling Stone photo clips taped to matresses, Maximum Bob comes alive.

During the jam section of the original composition "Say You're Mine," guitarist and lead vocalist, Josh Lampe, and saxophonist D. Douglas Dean stop playing to let the rhythm section take over.

Bassist and vocalist Bob Troia sets the groove, while drummer Dave Avillion keeps the beat. And when the musical tension reaches a boiling point, Lampe and Dean come in on the same note, and the fully powered Maximum Bob brings the song home. Practice makes perfect.

And Maximum Bob wants to be the best original band -- period.

Together since summer 1994, the four members of the band sweat as much as possible in the tiny basement on Gill Street in hopes of impacting the music scene --starting with State College.

"We've had four gigs in the last week and we haven't had time to practice," Troia said.

But when Maximum Bob does practice the focus is on improvisational music and original compositions.

"Anyone can sit down and copy what someone else has done," Dean said.

Inspired by local band, the Pinch, Maximum Bob hopes to help carve the original music niche in town. Troia said right now, "original bands get scared out of town."

Despite State College's recent musical history of cover bands, Troia thinks there is hope for the original music movement.

"A lot of bars nowadays are starting to change over to original bands," he added. But original is only one facet of Maximum Bob's musical style.

When asked what type of music they play, all four band members break into a simultaneous "ummmmm," as they search for a descriptive phrase.

Looking around the basement, Troia speaks up.

"This sound is going to be something different, and people won't be able to categorize it . . . I don't think it fits into any genre."

While Troia is the bassist, he is not the sole inspiration for the name. "It's a book by Elmore Leonard, and it doesn't hurt that Bob's name is used," Avillion said. "It's about a judge in Florida who gave the maximum sentence whenever he could," Lampe explained.

One reason Maximum Bob stands out in the cluttered area music scene is Dean's outstanding horn playing.

Dean played the saxophone from fourth to 12th grade, but he "basically took a three-and-a-half year siesta from the horn," he said.

"It took me about two months to figure out what I was doing. I was a little rusty," Dean said.

Despite the break, Dean's virtuoso playing is a staple of the Maximum Bob sound. "That's our gimmick," Avillion said.

Dean's flourishes play off Lampe's vocals on the foursome's debut album, Pure Cheese, which is available on cassette from the band.

With the help of Chris Younken and Sunrise Recording Studio, the band recorded Pure Cheese in about four hours, Avillion said. Overall response to the album has been positive, and Dean casually mentioned that his mom also liked it.

The songs on Pure Cheese are mostly Lampe compositions.

"Ninety percent of everything I've written, but that was before we got together," Lampe said, whose themes include relationships.

Each of the band members has added their respective parts to the songs, Avillion said.

Dean said now that the band has been together for a while and gotten used to each other everybody is writing.

No matter who writes the song the band performs, "it has to come from here," said Troia, pointing to his heart.

Future plans for Maximum Bob include recording a new compact disc and crossing over into fraternities -- where there is also a growing trend toward original bands, he said.

Maximum Bob is definitely in the business for the long haul.

This summer they hope to tour such locales as Philadelphia and New York City to continue establishing a name for themselves.

Wherever the band plays, one thing is for sure.

"We are mostly about having fun. We never go in with a set list," Avillion said.

With firm determination to make it as a band it is, as Avillion said "damn the torpedos and full speed ahead."