It鈥檚 a mixture of many local bands鈥� We are the City, Dan Mangan, Said the Whale鈥� that influence Grade 11 91原创 Fine Arts students Adam Mah and Deven Azevedo in the creation of their music. Playing together in the band Derrival since they were in Grade 8, Mah and Azevedo鈥檚 alternative beat and 鈥渨eird rock鈥� is starting to get noticed by teens across the province.

Derrival鈥� a combination of the words departure and arrival鈥� has been voted one of the top 10 teen bands in B.C. in an online contest hosted by Youthink Magazine for teenagers.

Competing for a prize of $2,000 cash, a $500 gift card for Long & McQuade and a recording session with Jay Evjen of Juicemix Productions in Vancouver, the contest is proving to be a huge boost for the group of five teens, who recorded their first EP Where There鈥檚 Smoke in their friend鈥檚 basement and had to pay money to record their  7鈥� disc The Autumn Game/ Modern Age Kids at Habitat Studios in Vancouver.

鈥淲e haven鈥檛 really had a lot of exposure before this contest but things have recently been getting a lot better,鈥� Mah said, adding that the group was recently invited to be the opening act for the band Bed of Stars at Whisky Dix in Vancouver in March.

Asides from playing at the Richmond Night Market once, Derrival has only done shows for their friends at local venues such as the auditorium at 91原创 Fine Arts and Murrayville Hall.

Consisting of members Mah (lead singer and songwriter) and Azevedo (bass), Grade 12 D.W. Poppy students Glen Jackson (lead guitar) and Shane Stephenson (keyboard), and their recently graduated friend Dan Kozlowski (drummer), the teens write and compose songs that reflect issues most relevant to them.

One of Mah and Azevedo鈥檚 favourite songs, Young Bodies, touches on dilemmas encountered through high school life. Written by Mah, it describes the changes that occur from elementary school to high school and the introduction of drinking and drugs to people of his age group.

鈥淚 write about my experiences,鈥� Mah said.

鈥淚n our song Modern Age Kids it鈥檚 about our whole age group of kids and how it鈥檚 so based on technology. There鈥檚 just so much of it right now, it鈥檚 very different from how our parents grew up.鈥�

Beyond writing meaningful lyrics, the band also composes their own musical arrangements.

Both majoring in music at 91原创 Fine Arts, Mah and Azevedo play a number of different instruments. Mah has had special voice training, has been playing the guitar since he was in Grade 5 and also plays the piano, baritone saxophone and alto saxophone.

Azevedo has also had voice training from involvement in choir, and plays double bass, guitar, French horn and saxophone. He didn鈥檛 begin to play bass until he first joined Derrival, after his uncle gave him the same guitar he used to play in his own band in the 1980s.

As the group鈥檚 musical training has evolved so has their band鈥檚 identity.

鈥淲hen we started out it was more pop type music. And then we kind of evolved to a more alternative, experimental rock,鈥� Azevedo said.

Derrival first entered the teen band contest two years ago when Youthink Magazine contacted them on MySpace. They entered last year as well, but it wasn鈥檛 until this year that their submission of two songs and a video finally began to spark some attention.

鈥淥riginally I got a message on our MySpace page from Youthink Magazine telling us about the contest and telling us that we are on their radar because we are from around the local B.C. area,鈥� Mah explained. 鈥淭hat was two years ago, so we entered the contest then, last year and this year again and made it into the top 10. We鈥檝e also been running in the top three for three weeks in a row now.鈥�

Public online voting to choose the top three finalists finished yesterday, and Derrival will soon find out if they have won a spot in the final three showcase performance happening in April.

Win or lose, Derrival has big plans for the future, hoping to record their first full-fledged album this summer.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been playing together for three years and it鈥檚 just been a lot of fun since we鈥檙e all really good friends,鈥� Azevedo said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really just starting to happen now that we are getting a bit of attention.鈥�

For more on Derrival visit their website at www.derrival.bandcamp.com.

To see their submissions for Youthink鈥檚 鈥淏.C.鈥檚 Best Teen Band Contest鈥� go to www.bandcontest.youthink.ca/Derrival.