Black and white photographs of the legends line the walls -- Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Johnny Cash, Miles Davis, Ray Charles and no less than three of the Beatles. Four musicians sit in a small circle, doing a stripped down run-through of a song written the night before.

"How many times does the bridge go?" Kyle Wall (sophomore-marketing) asks.

Lead vocalist Roy Williams (sophomore-integrative arts) explains the latest song structure while switching instruments -- this happens a lot in a band with so many multi-instrumentalists. He straps on a bass guitar and starts singing, prompting the band with calls of "bridge!" and "guitar!" while reading the lyrics off a spiral notebook balanced on his knee.

The song, like most by the Minor White, recalls another time in pop music, the era of quality songwriters. All the elements -- a foot-tapping keyboard part, vocal harmonies and brief solo -- combine for a well-crafted slice of melodic pop. It is clear why older artists adorned the walls.

Once the song is finished, the band said it was the first time they'd gotten all the way through it.

The apartment, which Roy shares with older brother Kevin Williams (sophomore-marketing) and friend Shane O'Hara (sophomore-integrative arts) houses half of Minor White. To watch them sit around and jam is to watch them in their best environment: relaxing, joking around and playing music just for enjoyment. Even in the stripped down arrangements, the songwriting shines. One member, Shane's older brother Ian, isn't present. Ian usually plays upright bass, but the rest of the band does a fine job filling in the sound.

Considering how far back the band goes, it makes sense how easily the band can blend together to make up for the absence.

In its current form, the Minor White goes back three years, but the band has been together in varying forms since junior high. Like any aspiring young rock band, they had some growing to do to get where they are now.

"The early songs were showcase songs, all about solos," Roy said. "Now it's more about chemistry than individual talent."

Jack Coviello (sophomore-finance) said the band even covered Blink 182 in its earlier stages, a change from its current influences like Radiohead and Elliott Smith.

"I've always liked kind of good music, but when you're in seventh grade you want to play Metallica and Guns N' Roses," Roy said. The band also went through a jam band phase before the current sound came together. Roy credits Wilco's 2002 album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, as a big influence.

"They were the band that turned me around from the jam band aspect," Roy said.

More change came in 11th grade when Wall joined the band.

"Ironically, I didn't really play piano until I joined the band as the piano player," Wall said. A Radiohead influence came with him.

Wall also provided the band name, which came from flipping through a book by the photographer Minor Martin White. When asked if the band was worried about getting sued over the name, Wall laughed and said, "we'll be all right, I hope," adding Franz Ferdinand -- named after an Austrian archduke whose assassination triggered World War I -- hasn't been sued yet, either.

The change in sound was accompanied by a focus on originals. A stray Beatles or Wilco tune might creep into an occasional set, but typically the songs are their own. A tough challenge for the band is the limited ability to play original music in State College.

"It's kind of a bad scene," Roy said.

"Lackluster," Wall offered, to which Roy agreed.

They note a few original bands they enjoy. Scranton, near their hometown of Clarks Summit, houses groups like Okay Paddy and the Swims, both of whom have appeared at Roustabout! shows. Roy also hopes to bring Dr. Horsemachine and the Moneynotes, a bluegrass group he plays with, to State College at some point. But lack of original music is the biggest problem.

"It seems like a lot of the cover bands do well," Wall said.

"I wouldn't wear a 'cover bands suck' T-shirt, but I wouldn't play in one," Roy said.

The band said the scene was improving, however, in spite of Crowbar's closure and addition of the Cell Block, 420 E. College Ave.

"I think the Cell Block will be competing for the same kind of crowd that would go to Players," Coviello said. Coviello said he is more excited for the opening of the State Theatre, 128 E. College Ave.

"Roustabout! is good. Students Organizing the Multiple Arts [SOMA] has been great," said O'Hara. Minor White has performed at several SOMA shows, including opening up for Apollo Sunshine in January, O'Hara's first show with the band.

No matter what the quality of the scene may be, the band seems happy as long as they can continue playing music.

"We've been playing since 6th grade, but we've never put out any real CD or made up T-shirts or stickers. That's kind of how we present ourselves on stage. We don't need to rely on antics, we rely on music," Roy said.

This attitude seems to suit the Minor White just fine. Watching them practice in their apartment is, in some ways, not unlike watching them on stage. It's a group of friends continually improving its song-craft, putting its music above selling CDs or even naming all of its songs.

"I'm real self conscious about names. Once you pick the name that's it forever," Roy said after the band had run through "the ditty," "the newest waltz" and "untitled jazzy."

"We'll name them when we put them on a CD, eventually, " Wall said.

"There's no rush," Roy said.