Skaters, an alternative band from New York City, will play songs from its debut album “Manhattan” on Sept. 16 at the Maintenance Shop. 

The 2-year-old band wrote the album “Manhattan” concerning its start in New York.

“There’s a lot of things that you encounter there and a lot of ideas about the city,” said lead singer Mike Cummings. “You think things are going to be one way, but it kind of goes the other way. 

“It’s just a scrapbook, an idea, of what it felt like for a young kid to move to New York.” 

The new band has been on and off tour since its start in 2012 and will continue the current tour until October. 

Originally meeting in Los Angeles, Calif., all of the band members except for guitarist Josh Hubbard knew one another. They met Hubbard, living in England at the time, through a friend at a party and spent the rest of the evening talking.

“We stayed up all night listening to records at a party and then we went our separate ways. He went back to England and I went back to my place in LA,” Cummings said. 

A week later, the rest of the band moved to New York City with Hubbard following close behind. The night Hubbard showed up was the night Skaters began. 

“He didn’t really tell us he was coming. He was just like,’Oh, I’ll be there tomorrow,'” Cummings said. “So we were kind of freaked out, but that’s eventually what happened.” 

Cummings had already been writing music for the band, so it started recording its EP, “Schemers,” and booked its first three shows when Hubbard arrived in New York. 

The band decided on the name Skaters partially because the band members all have a past in skateboarding, but the name was mostly chosen to represent the skateboarding culture.

“It’s about the feeling that you had when you’re in high school and you get out of school,” Cummings said. “I’ve kind of enjoyed the idea that it’s for anybody. You could be a rich kid living in the suburbs or you could be an inner-city kid. It doesn’t matter.”

After this tour, the band plans on making another record. Cummings said he’s been writing while on tour and the new album might have a slightly darker feel to it than the last.

Skaters plays at 8 p.m. at the M-Shop with doors opening at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $8 with a student ID or $14 for the public with a $2 increase the day of the show. Tickets are available online at midwestix.com or at the M-Shop. 

For more information, go to the Student Union Board’s website.