With guitars blazing, drums pounding and more energy than a runaway freight train, The Warriors are charging toward the Maintenance Shop with every intention of rocking it with a genre somewhat alien to the venue. That is, if their van can get them here. Taking the time to talk to Pulse over a cell phone in Tulsa, Okla., hard-core act The Warriors waited for their trusty van to be fixed after it crapped out on them for the first time.

“We’ve typically had awesome luck with this van,” said guitarist Javier Zaiate. “We put 200,000 miles on it and this is the first time it’s given us trouble.”

Although promising that their van woes won’t be enough to keep them away from Ames this Saturday, band members said they’ve been encountering all sorts of unexpected happenings on their hard-core pilgrimage. Having never played in Iowa before, the band members said they have stuck primarily to the coasts. Freezing weather and black ice are things they had previously never encountered, and they said exploring the country has been a wild ride.

“In Canada some girl wanted our singer to wench his shirt after a show – his sweat into her mouth. That was kinda weird, but he did it,” Zaiate said. He said it only makes sense that when a band plays 300 tour dates in a year, its bound to see some crazy things. He said the craziest event to date happened at a podunk gas station in the middle of Texas, when a drunk teller gave the band free reign over his goods.

“This guy was really drunk, but he was working there and he told us to take anything that we wanted. So we went to get our pillow cases and we pretty much just cleared out this gas station,” Zaiate said. “I had this body pillow and I pretty much just filled the whole thing with candy. It was the best day of my life.”

Vocalist Marshall L. (who prefers not to disclose his last name) said the gas station event was definitely one of the craziest experiences of his life.

“The dude behind the counter said ‘yeah, you know I’m in a band too.’ it was in the middle of nowhere, buttf—k Texas,” Marshall said. “He was like ‘take whatever you want, take whatever you want.’ Mike went in to buy cigarettes and the guy gave them to him and told him he didn’t have to pay. He said we could take whatever we wanted, so we just started taking boxes of candy.”

Marshall said the band, which started in 2000 when members were only 15 and 16 years old, never dreamed they would be doing what they are doing now. Although they aren’t making enough money to support themselves, they seem to be completely engrossed and in love with what they are doing.

“It would be great to make a living off of it, but as long as we’re playing it, it’s good,” Marshall said. “We’re all really happy doing what we’re doing, so I guess we’re planning on doing it until that changes.”

Marshall said he has other long-term ambitions, but music has been and always will be an integral part of his life.

“I was going to school at Fresno State, but I put that on hold when the band started getting successful,” he said. “I plan on finishing up my degree and starting a restaurant somewhere down the road.” Two other band members, guitarist Danny and drummer Donny, are both in school right now, having friends fill in for them on the band’s current tour. Having never been to Iowa, the band is excited to play a high-energy show for the people of Ames – once their van is fixed, of course.

“The M-Shop sounds like a super cool venue. I can’t wait,” Marshall said.