Boys Like Girls like success

 The classic rock ‘n’ roll rags-to-riches story starts with the unknown band or performer being heard by a studio executive or record company scout in some out-of-the-way dive.

For the southeastern Massachusetts band Boys Like Girls, the  scenario changed just slightly, owing to the Internet age. A couple of the band’s  first songs became massively popular on both its  MySpace page, and on the purevolume.com music site.  Among the interested listeners was producer Matt Squire (Panic at the Disco!). One thing quickly led to another, there was a spot on a national Purevolume.com tour, and Columbia Records soon came calling. Boys Like Girls’ 2006 debut album ended up going gold, selling 600,000 copies to date, with one single, ``The Great Escape,'' going platinum, and another, ``Hero/Heroine,'' achieving gold status.

Released recently was the  DVD ``Read Between the Lines,'' which offers biographical tidbits about the quartet along with a 45-minute concert. Meanwhile, a third single from the debut album, ``Thunder,'' is  streaking up the charts, having sold 350,000 copies. 

   The band  got back this month from a European tour, opening for Fall Out Boy, and is taking some time off to reconnect with family and friends and also to write and record its follow-up album.

 By any measure, it’s a long way from the days when the band members were holed up in an attic apartment in Taunton, subsisting on Ramen noodles, and struggling to get gigs in local clubs.

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 Boys Like Girls includes singer/guitarist Martin Johnson of Andover, drummer John Keefe of Mansfield, bassist Bryan Donahue of Wrentham, and lead guitarist Paul DiGiovanni of Leominster.

DiGiovanni is the latest member to join the band and managed to miss those threadbare days in Taunton.  He had been playing in another Massachusetts band that shared several bills with Boys Like Girls. When the band  needed a new lead guitarist, band members remembered him. There was but one problem: DiGiovanni was still in high school. When the record company began arranging extensive national tours, DiGiovanni had a decision to make to make about school. His former guidance counselor advised him to take a leave and finish up at a later date.

   When we caught up with DiGiovanni, he was on his way to give that guidance counselor one of the gold records the band earned.

``I’ve been playing guitar since about the sixth or seventh grade,'' said DiGiovanni, 20. ``I left high school a few months early, but did the work and still got to graduate with my class. My old guidance counselor helped me make it all work out, and so I’m thrilled to be able to give him one of the gold records.''

 Boys Like Girls falls squarely into the pop-rock category, but the band’s songs have sweet melodies, catchy hooks, and the kind of capable musicianship that belies the members’ tender ages. (Johnson and Donahue are 23, Keefe is the old man at 25.) It wouldn’t be a stretch to call it a contemporary form of singer/songwriter rock.

``We grew up listening to different things, but we’re all coming out of the classic rock like Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith,'' DiGiovanni said. ``You’ve got to be an Aerosmith fan, living in this area. We all also liked stuff like Simon and Garfunkel and Bob Dylan. But beyond that shared foundation, we are all over the map. We have one guy into metal and hard core, another into jazz, and myself, I learned how to play guitar from listening to a lot of blues.''

Even after achieving sudden fame,  the guys in Boys Like Girls still get along pretty well.

 ``That’s the cool thing,'' said DiGiovanni. ``I know lots of bands that started out when we did, and now they all hate each other. But we are better friends now than we were before this all happened.''

   Since getting back from the European tour with Fall Out Boy, Boys Like Girls has done a meet-and-greet at Showcase Live in Foxboro, tied to the DVD release. The band also did a few college shows, including one at Northeastern.

``In the beginning, our first fans were all admittedly the younger teens,'' said DiGiovanni. ``Now, we’re broadening our horizons by playing as many shows as we can for the college kids – our own age.''

 Johnson writes the bulk of the lyrics, but all the band members contribute to the writing process.

``The songs on our first album, as Martin has said, were about the things that happen to you when you’re 17 to 20 years old,'' explained DiGiovanni. ``The new ones are a bit more mature, more like what our life is now.''

   DiGiovanni said he never knows when inspiration will strike.

``On tour, we always like to take an hour to sound-check, and just basically fool around. We might play covers, we might try some new guitar riffs. But we just like to see what happens, and try any fun ideas any of us might have, and that helps keep it fresh.''

 DiGiovanni’s best memory of the European tour was the  sold-out Wembley Stadium show in London.

``At the end of [the song] ‘Great Escape,’ Pete Wenz came out and played bass with us. Of course the crowd went wild. Pete is such a good guy, and Fall Out Boy could not have been nicer to us, but that moment was special.''

 While  the band members are enjoying seeing some old pals, don’t expect Boys Like Girls in local clubs for a while.

 ``Right now, we’ve been touring for so long, we’re taking this month to just settle in and relax,''  DiGiovanni said. ``We’ll be hitting the rehearsal studio in December, working on the new material, and then hopefully begin recording sessions in January.''

WORTHY WEEKEND BENEFITS: Two great causes that feature superb music this weekend: Tonight, the Marshfield VFW hosts a benefit for the Carolina Hill Shelter, featuring rock ‘n’ blues from Basic Black, Toni Lynn Washington, and the Porch Rockers.  Sunday, from 2 to 8 p.m., the C-Note in Hull hosts a benefit for bartender Eric Peters, who is battling leukemia. On the bill are Steve Smith & the Nakeds, The Love Dogs  and Fat City.

LATE DATES: The Memphis Rockabilly Band returns to the Randolph AmVets tonight ... The fabulous Mudskippers’ classic rock takes over the Next Page in Weymouth ... Bald Walter rocks the local folk on Wednesday – the night before Thanksgiving – at Martinis in Weymouth.

 Jay N. Miller covers popular music  on the South Shore and in the Boston  area.  If you have information or ideas  for Jay about the local music scene,  bookings, recordings, artists etc., send  it to him by e-mail to features@ledger.com.  Attn: Music Scene  in the subject line.