"We met in prison," said Ryan Wilcox (senior-film and video), the lead guitarist of Giving Chase, a local punk band. At first I took this to be a joke, until he went on to assure me that this truly was the case. Well, kind of.

"Mike and I met at a show in Clearfield that went on in an old converted prison," Wilcox said.

"We talked about how we had some of the same interests and both wanted to start a band. We started throwing some ideas around," said Michael Woliansky (senior-English), lead singer of the band.

That was back in 1997. The two began playing together, picked up a bass player, a drummer and a name, originally Kenny's Revenge, and made their start playing Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight" a whole lot.

"Now we do pretty much all our own stuff," Woliansky said. A few other things have changed as well, like their drummer, bass player, name and style. In fact, the only things that have remained constant for Giving Chase are their two core members and a love for what they do.

"The best thing about being in the band is being able to play music and hopefully connecting with people through our music," Woliansky said.

"I think it's the money," said Justin Shaner (sophomore-graphic design), the band's drummer for the past year and a half. Wilcox laughed hysterically.

"We don't make any money," he informed me.

"We support our band," Woliansky said. "We have a $4,500 dollar debt, slowly growing."

Despite this debt, the group is very active. This past summer they took their self-described "melodious punk" sound for a six-week tour of the south and mid-west in an effort to extend their fan base. They plan to use this summer as another opportunity to promote their name by doing six weeks of shows from California to Florida. The band also has many local performances under its belt.

"We do energetic, live performances. We like to play as many shows as possible," Woliansky said. In the last two years they've played State College venues at places like Crowbar, 420 E. College Ave., the Co-Op, 319 E. Calder Way and the HUB-Robeson Center. Among the bands they've played with are Digger, The Ataris, Bigwig, A New Found Glory and No Motiv. "We also play a lot of all-ages shows in the area that are set up by kids, at clubs and kids' hang outs. Normally hall-shows, at VFW's and Elks lodges," Woliansky said.

Giving Chase is going through a time of transition, having just selected a new bass player, Anthony Lalota of Lock Haven University, and now receiving attention from a new record label. The band's first CD, Still Waiting, is available in music stores across State College.

Last week the band drove out to Chicago to meet with the founder of a new record label. The group is now happy to report that they've sealed a new record deal with the yet-untitled label. Their new CD should be released sometime in June.

The group, whose sound has been compared to The Get Up Kids and Jawbreaker, seemed optimistic about the road ahead of them. Not once did they mention lofty goals of fame and fortune, but rather emphasized their desire to keep playing their music and reach out to new fans. Their refreshing attitude expressed a genuine love of good punk music and its listeners.

"If at least one person can take something away from the music, make a personal connection with a lyric or a song that touches them, that's the ultimate goal," Woliansky said. "Maybe that's too much to hope for, but kids can dream, can't they?"

Punk fans are encouraged to check out Giving Chase live at 8 p.m. on March 26 at the Co-Op.