Anyone who has been to a live PictureYes show knows why fans travel from as much as three hours away just to see them play. The band, made up of five twentysomething musicians, knows how to keep a crowd excited and coming back for more.

"We have a good live show," said drummer Justin Escue. "People like to come see us because we entertain them. We do what we can to make the show fun."

With the current lineup of Aaron Corbett on lead vocals, Andy Flickinger (known to his friends as Flick) on lead guitar, Justin Sizemore on rhythm guitar, Brian Perla on bass guitar and Escue on drums, PictureYes is clicking on all cylinders.

However, getting the lineup solidified didn't happen overnight. Corbett and Flickinger met in the fall of 1998, but they did not start making music together until nearly six months later. But when they finally got together, they started laying the groundwork for what would become PictureYes' first original songs.

But Corbett and Flickinger knew something was missing. Then Corbett and Escue met by coincidence at a party, and soon the music came alive in a seedy basement in Muncie.

After adding a bassist, Kim Weigand, PictureYes began practicing in a an empty jewelry store and playing a few shows in Muncie.

But the success was short-lived as Escue graduated from Ball State University and headed to Austin Texas. Weigand left the band as well, and Corbett and Flickinger became an acoustic duo.

The duo missed performing, so they started playing a few shows each month at Muncie establishments. Then Sizemore heard that Corbett and Flickinger wanted to expand their cover song list, and he started practicing with them.

The duo soon became a trio, and eventually Corbett talked Perla into joining the group. Then Flickinger found a drummer in T.J. Reddington, and the band was back in action with five members.

Then Escue contacted Corbett and Flickinger to tell them that he was returning from Texas. The band split for a few months and started back up with Escue behind the drums.

Now 15 months later, PictureYes has moved from playing primarily in Muncie to playing mostly in Indianapolis. The group is packing small venues such as Rock Lobster and supporting bigger bands like The Brand Plastic and highly popular Wonder Drug in bigger places like Birdy's and The Patio at Broad Ripple. On July 5, PictureYes was one of three bands featured in a show as part of 101.9 fm and NUVO's "City of Music" Program.

"Initially we talked about going somewhere bigger like New York or L.A. or Austin," said Escue, "but after I went to Austin we decided to change our philosophy a little bit. Instead of being the little fish in a big pond, we decided we would rather be a big fish in a little pond."

But make no mistake, this band is pure rock-n-roll.

"Our influences range from Led Zeppelin to all the rock-n-roll 80's hair bands to today's more mainstream music like Pearl Jam," said Escue. "We're all into that type of music, and that influences us."

As the members of PictureYes evolve as a group and become more comfortable together, they have added to their arsenal of original music.

"The process we use to write our music is a democracy," said Escue. "I think we have a good concept of today's audience and we know what they like. Corbett write the lyrics and then Flick will come in with some sort of a hook. Then I arrange it and we put it all together.

"We use life as the inspiration for our songs. We have a couple of songs that are more abstract to get away from the monotony of life, about fantasy or how we'd like life to be or things we wish were real. But most of our songs are about life from day to day."

And PictureYes' depiction of day-to-day life is appealing to fans. Their first release from their CD "My Addiction" is currently being featured on 101.9 fm, and broadening the band's appeal.

The members of PictureYes are focused on what they want and where they want to be. In fact, the guys stepped into the studio earlier this year and learned a very important lesson.

"We learned that we did not want to give control of what we want to someone else," said Escue. "We have egos in this band, but we also know how we want our music to sound. We are educated enough to know what we want. So we went back into the studio and put the CD together ourselves.

"I think since this is our first CD, we can take the creative control and do it ourselves. What we have is still rough, but it is serving its purpose. It is getting us into clubs to play and get our music our there. We want people to see the name PictureYes and know who we are and come in just to see us play."

In the long run, the members of PictureYes would like to make a living with their music.

"We'd like to make a career of it," said Escue. "We would like to be able to sustain our lives and be happy playing our music."

PictureYes will be opening up for The Brand Plastic at Birdy's on July 18, and then they will support popular Indianapolis band Wonder Drug at The Patio at Broadripple July 27.

Copies of the band's CDs are only available at PictureYes shows. However, samples of the band's music, lyrics, background information and upcoming events can be found on the band's website, www.pictureyes.com. [[In-content Ad]]