Two pigeons box and scuttle on Sean Huston’s second-floor window ledge at his apartment on Hayward Street.

Rather than seeing this as an annoyance, Huston, vocalist and guitarist for if ever was a fire, sees this as inspiration for a song.

Huston says he likes to write songs based on ordinary experiences.

“Not always happening to me, but just kind of experiences I either have known or have had myself,” he says.

Ryan Martin, another guitarist and vocalist for the band, also writes some of the band’s songs, although his songs are based more on things he has read.

Both Martin, a junior in statistics, and Huston, a former student, agree the songs just come to them and they do not sit down and plan them.

“I don’t decide to write a song,” Huston says.

“Something comes into my head and it sounds nice so I start working on it and it kind of flows from there.”

Martin says another thing that just came to him while he was walking down the street was a new name for their band, if ever was a fire.

The band, formerly known as The Waves, added bassist Peter Eggebraaten, sophomore in English, and drummer Tim Kersting, senior in engineering science, to replace two other band members.

They have also put together a new album titled “non-periodic motion.”

“The name change wasn’t a direct happening,” Kersting says.

Eggebraaten says the band had to change its name because several other bands called themselves The Waves, and the name was already copyrighted.

“The name seems like it could definitely be taken,” he says.

Martin says although he and Huston have done all of the vocals so far, the other members have definitely helped to make it cohesive and they are all becoming pretty good friends.

“Now that we’ve gotten together, it’s very collaborative,” he says. “All of us focus in on different areas and kind of just bring it together eventually.”

All the band members agree the transition has been “seamless,” and replacing the old members had nothing to do with a falling out. Kersting had already filled in on drums for the band before, when the former drummer could not make dates.

“Outside of our musical interest, there wasn’t really anything that matched [with the former members],” Martin says.

Martin, Eggebraaten and Kersting all work together at the Maintenance Shop as sound technicians, where they have been able to listen to plenty of live bands.

“Anytime you have that music running through your head, it’s kind of impossible to cut off that side of your brain and think it’s not going to influence you in some way,” Martin says.

Kersting agrees and says “live sound in general has improved our sound immensely.”

The band will perform at the M-Shop on Friday night with Wreckage of the Modern City, Red Letter Casino, and Yeti on a Budget, all local bands.

Martin says he doesn’t feel like there’s any competition among the local bands in the Ames area.

“Anytime you can get together with different bands to just play shows, it’s always enjoyable because just about every single band in Ames, from the people I’ve met, are just some of the nicest people,” he says.

“There’s no sense in bands trying to compete with each other here because [the music scene] is so small.”

Martin also says they try to support other bands by going to their shows and spreading the word about them.

“I’d never resent a band for having a big following here,” Eggebraaten says.

Martin says listening to lots of live music and taking constructive criticism from friends has helped if ever was a fire to form a few goals of its own.

“That’s basically all we’re trying to do — improve live sounds, improve recordings and go from there,” he says.

What: if ever was a fire

Where: M-Shop, Memorial Union

When: 9 p.m. Friday

Cost: $5 students, $6 public