As lights dimmed in Heritage Hall last Saturday night, a latent crowd of roughly 100 turned its collective eye to the stage as Changing Frames went headlong into its opener.

Then the music stopped.

Singer Andrew Dylewski grabbed the microphone to excuse the false alarm.

"That was a sample."

After a quick regrouping, the band jumped in just where they left off. For roughly 30 minutes, Changing Frames took control of the Asylum show and gave the audience a taste of its brand of pop rock a mere two months after its creation.

The formation of this fledgling consort can be understood best as a Venn diagram of associations, with it all coming together between Edinboro and State College. After all was said and done, the five — guitarist Steve Yemenijian (sophomore-mechanical engineering), Dylewski, bassist Andrew Wilkosz (sophomore-chemical engineering), keyboardist Daniel Veith and drummer Justin Johnson (sophomore-criminal justice) — officially became a band this past December. Not long after, Changing Frames had already been offered a show at the Crowbar, 420 E. College Ave., on Jan. 21.

Practicing for shows was not simple though, especially when two members attend Duquesne University three hours away.

As a result, the band is forced to wait until the weekend of concerts to practice. Similarly, working on songs for the demo CD took a little more ingenuity — and modern technology. Members traded tracks online and practiced them before entering a friend's studio to record the CD itself.

"We always practice the songs, just not with each other," Veith said.

With a collection of songs finished, Changing Frames turned to a more grassroots campaign to increase publicity. Wilkosz made about 100 copies of the demo and handed them out on campus to random passersby. He said he appreciated the plethora of technology in the Pollock computer labs that allowed him to take 12 computers and expedite the process.

"Just like our band just got networked together, I think that's the way people got in and liked it," Wilkosz said.

Changing Frames looks to add a third show to its repertoire if the demo gets chosen for the upcoming Battle of the Bands. Summer will also give the band more opportunities to perform without the stress of class work.

The live show itself is something theband sees as very important. Even though people may not be singing along to every song, just getting the crowd feeding off the music can be enough to energize the band, Wilkosz said.

"I try to move around as much as I can. I personally feel that whether or not you make it as a band is based half on the music and half on stage presence," Johnson said.

The show ended on Saturday night with a quiet anti-climax. The five musicians left the stage to a loud ovation and cleared the stage promptly so that the next act could set up its equipment. The applause was not enough to reassure the band, though, and modesty soon gave way to criticism. But not without hope, and some comforting laughter.

"We're normally pretty good," Veith said. "It's our second performance. I guess all things considered it wasn't horrible."

"We're not bitter. Most of the time we're happy-go-lucky children," Wilkosz said.

Contrasting their own opinion of how the show went, an unknown fan shot a passing compliment to the five.

"He must've actually liked us, because we don't know him," Veith said.

When all was said and done, Veith made sure to keep the band and the music in perspective.

"The band is the most important thing we don't have to do."