By MICHELLE MILLER
Staff Writer

MILFORD — Brothers Jeff and Travis Bieber of Milford said they learned how to play music on their own and have been trying to master songs together for several years. However, a couple of years ago they decided ``just messing around’’ was not good enough for them anymore ``We wanted to start a good band,’’ said Jeff. ``Not that we were not good, we just wanted something more real.’’

This was the beginning of a ``wonderful friendship.’’ A group of Milford teenagers started a metal band and went by the name of Altered Mental Status.

Jeff, who said he has played the drums since the age of 2, said most of his family is into music so he and his brother have tunes running through their blood. He said he especially remembers growing up and watching his grandfather entertain a crowd while participating in his country band ``The Driftwoods.’’

Jeff said all the members Altered Mental Status like all sorts of different styles of music, but choose to play metal because the group feels it can be most creative with that genre.

When a lot of people think about metal they believe it is filled with screaming and bad influences such as devil worshiping, said Jeff.

``That is not the case,’’ he said. ``It takes a lot of talent to play this genre of music. It is one of the most difficult types of music to play besides for bluegrass. Now that takes some major banjo playing.’’

``I hate the stereotyping,’’ he continued.

The group started as a four piece metal band, but now has five members. Jeff said the newest member is 17-year-old bassist Ryan Neighbour. According to Jeff, Ryan only began playing with the group a month ago and is already ``tearing up the stage.’’ He was a natural fit, said Jeff.

Jeff said vocalist Carl Green, 17, used to also play bass. We thought the band would sound better if we separated the responsibilities, said Jeff.

Travis, who is 14, is the youngest member of the band. He plays guitar along with Jake Aufmuth, who is 18 years old.

Although the band started off with two brothers ``just horsing around,’’ it has grown into a group of close friends who are basically like brothers, according to Jeff. All of us go to Milford Central School and have grown up and hung out together for most of our lives, said Jeff.

Jeff said as the members of the band play more and more with one another, either practicing in the garage at the Bieber household or performing on stage, their music becomes a lot tighter and clearer.

The goal is to have people listen to the band’s music and hopefully they will like it, said Jeff. We want to get our name out there, he continued.

The band has performed at Northern Lights in Albany, at MCS, and most frequently at the Foothills Performing Arts Center in Oneonta. They will be playing there this Saturday at 8 p.m. Admission is $7.

Members of the band said the group is constantly writing new songs and are always looking to perform more shows. They said they are planning some performances in Utica this summer and hope to organize a tour for next summer.

``That (scheduling a tour) is a lot of hard work,’’ said Jeff.

The boys said they also plan to create a four-track demo real soon.

Jeff said once the recording is done, the track will have to be copyrighted and then sent to promotional companies. Members of the group said they hope to be able to sell CDs at their performances and perhaps start their very own merchandise collection.

Members of the band typically get together to practice three times a week, said Jeff. However, he said if they have an upcoming show, they try to practice every day.

To view the Altered Mental Status MySpace music page visit myspace. com/alteredmentalstatus-NY.