When Tyler Higdon has conversations with his parents, they’re fake and spoken in pleasantries, he says.

Higdon has been cut off from their health insurance and nearly missed being able to go to college when his parents held off giving him their tax information for his FAFSA.

However, the “tip of the iceberg” came when he made the choice to “stop wasting his money on D-minuses” and drop out of Iowa State to pursue music.

“[My parents] say it’s a ‘sin’ to help me in my ‘evil life,’” Higdon said. “Almost every time we talk, which isn’t much, they tell me I shouldn’t be pursuing this… which is strange because I came from a house of music.”

Higdon’s parents are highly involved with a non-denominational church in Davenport that he is disenchanted by. He says the main reason for their disappointment in him is that he doesn’t want anything to do with that church.

Higdon left college after he realized he could do “bigger, better things” by himself that the music department couldn’t offer. He was a marketing and percussion performance major, a member of the ISU drumline and a member of the ISU Symphony.

Though he says not having his parents’ support doesn’t phase him, he still asks for a glass of rum and orange juice as he talks about it.

“My parents didn’t understand what I wanted,” he said. “This is what I’m doing.”

When asked if his parents would be available to comment on this story, Higdon simply shook his head.

Several attempts were made to contact his parents to comment, but nothing was returned.

But this tension goes deeper than his music career with the band The Anytime.

The four current members of The Anytime have come together from various backgrounds in pursuit of the same dream. Three of them dropped out of college to take on the band full-time, which included a lot of touring the east coast.

The Anytime has been on tour nearly non-stop since it released its first self-titled EP in April. With the help of a successful manager, its been a part of some well attended tours and opened for national acts like The Used and Forever The Sickest Kids.

On its last road trip, The Anytime survived its van breaking down and being robbed of $550 at gunpoint in Washington, D.C. Shortly after, bassist J.P. Petersen left the band to return to school.

Throughout the fall, The Anytime members have been living in a subleased apartment in west Ames while working long days at Party Time Rental, 302 S. 3rd St., putting up tents for tailgating and other events in central Iowa.

“[Party Time] is a very misleading name,” drummer Matthew Dery said. In addition, Dery and Gates perform unannounced acoustic sets at Paddy’s Irish Pub, 124 Welch Ave., for extra money.

“All our money is the band’s money,” guitarist Caleb Wiggins said.

They’re broke. Every dime each member spends is through consensus.

“It’s like a marriage,” Wiggins said. The band is saving up money for recording sessions this winter for its follow up EP, at which point, its replacement for bass will move from Virginia to join them.

Despite its struggles, no member feels his drive stalled.

“I can’t see myself doing anything else,” Higdon said. “I wouldn’t want to do anything else. I’ve gone through so many things in my life, and music is the one constant that is always there for me,”

The band said its unsure about what the future holds, but Higdon saidWhether we have a label or not, it’s going to keep making our music — and no one is going to stop that.

The Anytime members:

Andrew Gates (vocals)

Caleb Wiggins (guitar)

Tyler Higdon (keys)

Matthew Dery (drums)

The Anytime live in Ames

When: Thursday

Where: Paddy’s Irish Pub, 124 Welch Ave.

With Conditions and More Like the Movies

When: Friday, doors open at 6:30 p.m. (Advance tickets available at IowaTix.com)

Where: Zeke’s, 3329 Lincoln Way

Cost: $10