In its short time together -- just about a year -- the local piano-rock band Cloverleaf has been able to quickly build a fan base and gain wide exposure by opening for Yellowcard and advancing to the quarterfinals of an mtvU contest.

Drummer Garrett Bogden (sophomore-marketing), lead vocalist and pianist T.J. Cornwall (sophomore-mechanical engineering) and trumpet/keyboard player Jonathan Hollis (sophomore-mechanical engineering) sat down to chat about where they've been and where they're going.

Q: You call yourselves a piano rock band. You also recently opened up for Yellowcard, who use the violin. Got something against guitars?

A: Cornwall: No, we have an electric guitar in our band, and that keeps our band more rock than most other piano rock bands.

Q: How was the show?

A: Bogden: It was our best show ever. It was just amazing to play in front of that many people. [To get the gig] I e-mailed the promoter and asked to get on the bill.

Cornwall: We're getting more established in Pittsburgh, and I think they trusted us to sell tickets.

Q: You've also opened up for other big acts like The (International) Noise Conspiracy. How does it feel to be playing with big acts when you've only been together such a short time?

A: Bogden: We worked for a lot of it, and we've had a lot of good opportunities.

Cornwall: Hard work pays off. We're not just getting thrown these gigs. I would say that, aside from playing with Yellowcard, our biggest thing we've accomplished was with mtvU.

Q: I wanted to ask you about that. Last spring, you placed in the quarterfinals of the mtvU Best Music on Campus Contest. Unfortunately, even though you were one of the most viewed bands, you failed to advance. What was that like?

A: Bogden: I was surprised we got into it because of the number of bands that applied, and they had been bands longer.

Hollis: [Not advancing] was a huge upset for everyone.

Bogden: They never gave us an explanation.

Cornwall: Whenever we checked the Web site, we were one, two, or three on the most viewed list. We stayed up 'til five in the morning voting to making sure. I woke up the next morning, and we got an e-mail saying "Sorry, you didn't advance." I called Garrett--

Bogden: --he woke me up!

Cornwall: I've never been so disappointed.

Q: I read that two of you met on MySpace. Can you think of a nerdier way to start a band?

A: Bogden: It could have even weirder if we met on a dating Web site.

Cornwall: Or playing chess online. The rest of us met on Facebook.

Bogden: We all met pretty much online, but we're best friends, too, not just a band.

Q: Can you tell me a little bit about your show tomorrow night [Oct. 8] in Altoona?

A: Bodgen: Actually, Altoona has a really good music scene. It's only 45 miles away, and we thought 'We're up here, so we'll do a show.'

Cornwall: We're playing with Transition from Pittsburgh and My Favorite Highway from Virginia, another piano-rock band.

Bogden: My Favorite Highway is one of the best unsigned bands I've ever heard.

Q: Your single "Forever Lost" has gotten airplay on State College and Pittsburgh stations. What is it like hearing your song on the radio?

A: Bodgen: They just started playing "226 Miles" in Pittsburgh, too. I'll listen just to hear what the DJ says.

Cornwall: It's great when we get a good response from the DJ. The radio station we get played on is hard rock, so you wouldn't expect them to like us.

Q: This question is for T.J.: Where does the scatting element come from?

A: Cornwall: The scatting is gone now--

Hollis: --Ella Fitzgerald!

Cornwall: Well, my biggest influence is Dave Matthews.

I was learning classical piano as a kid, but I hated it so I stopped.

Then I went to see Dave Matthews and said 'Man, I wanna do that one day.'

A lot of the early songs were written with acoustic guitar. Even though we got rid of it, it helped us become better songwriters.

But the scatting's out. That was a phase.