Whether it be finding the raddest MySpace synth player or recruiting the high school guitar hero, it often takes time for all the right pieces of a functioning rock band to fall into place. The tale of Martyrs of Maudlin, a three-piece rock band from Des Moines, plays out much like an ’80s romantic comedy, except without anyone holding a boombox over their head – and especially without anything regarding Peter Gabriel.

It all started when Nat Summitt, bassist for Martyrs of Maudlin, decided to join a local high school band. There he met Judd Hoskins, who would turn out to be the lead vocalist/guitarist for the band.

“We sucked; we didn’t practice,” Summitt says.

As with many things in high school, the experience was new but brief. After the split, years passed as they both went through high school and college, never reuniting along the way. One Christmas break, however, they decided to rekindle the rock and picked up drummer Ryan Loucks. Martyrs of Maudlin has been going strong for two years and feels it has something to offer the populous. Its music isn’t without policy, however.

“It’s just the three of us. No distortion, no effects, no loops, no electric stuff. It’s all just natural,” Hoskins says. “I play acoustic straight through and play it like an electric, and it’s beat hard.”

Hoskins said he realizes what the band isn’t, but don’t go asking him what it is. He said people find the band’s sound pretty original, and even with having several influences, he says he has trouble comparing it to anything else.

“It’s kind of like acoustic indie hard rock … kind of? I don’t know,” he says.

The band wants to diversify its sound as well, Summitt says. He says he wants to incorporate some strings, or possibly a cello or horns for certain songs to make them more nuanced.

“We kind of conceptualized it like a Cake-style of horn where it’s there, it’s effective, but it’s not the sole performance,” he says.

Hoskins says that perhaps if the band can find its niche, that will distinguish it from Des Moines’s current climate of mask-wearing metal.

“A lot of the bands say, ‘Hey, Slipknot got out of Iowa doing what they’re doing,’ so a lot of bands are just trying to do that. The metal thing with a stage gimmick is just rehashed over and over again. But at the same time, there are a lot of really good bands that I really like playing with. That’s the thing about our show: There’s no masks, no smoke, no light effects unless the sound guy there decides he’s going to throw them in to surprise us. It’s just us playing our music,” he says.

Hoskins says that it might only have one onstage gimmick, and it doesn’t involve a laser light show or animal sacrifice.

“When you come to the show … there’s a bass, there’s me on acoustic guitar and then there’s Ryan on drums,” he says. “You kind of assume that there’s going to be a lighter set on account of it, but when we get going, it’s actually a lot harder. So what you hear is actually in deception to what you see.”

The band, which has played mostly in Des Moines and Ankeny, had its first Ames show last week. Both Summitt and Hoskins are disappointed but optimistic about the Ames music scene. Hoskins admits Des Moines isn’t much better, but says there doesn’t seem to be much of an Ames scene currently but is looking to change that, as it has potential to have a good one.

Until the time comes that Ames gets supercharged with music hysteria, the band is finding other hurdles to tackle. Summitt explains his pet peeve.

“Cocky booking agents that think they’re gods, but sadly we still need them to get shows,” he says. ‘We’re at their mercy.’

Before Martyrs of Maudlin can call the shots, Hoskins says it is looking ahead to recording and getting a press kit together. He says he finds it’s slow starting, especially when their computer crashes with all their new recordings.

No matter what happens, however, he says they’re going to do it their way.