Local bands come and go, some without ever knowing the excitement of opening for a major band or playing to a sold-out crowd at the Maintenance Shop.

After only two shows, Ames band The Waves can claim they’ve done both.

“It was by far the biggest show we’ve played,” Waves guitarist Ryan Martin says, talking about the band’s opportunity to open for Midtown at its sold-out show last week.

“We showed up and were like, ‘What? We’re getting paid? Cool,'” guitarist Sean Huston says.

In addition to the two guitarists, Martin, junior in statistics, and Huston, an ex-liberal arts and sciences major, The Waves consists of bassist Adam Grimm, a college student, and drummer Brendan Kelly, junior in forestry.

The Waves don’t enlist a full-time singer, opting rather to split up the vocal duties among themselves.

“We switch off,” Huston says. “A lot of it has to do with who wrote it — after it’s written, he decides who is going to sing.”

The unusual approach to vocals is a good reflection of how The Waves split up the songwriting between each of the band members.

“Most of the songs are co-written to a point,” Huston says.

Although the majority of the songs are written by either Martin or Huston, before the song is complete they all add their own unique touches to it, Huston says.

One thing that helps The Waves keep their songwriting diverse is each member’s own personal musical preference, which varies greatly from member to member.

“I like the music [Martin] plays for me, but there is a difference in what you will find in our own CD players,” Huston says.

Huston, a fan of late ’60s rock and solo guitar music, is a stark contrast to Martin, who prefers contemporary indie-rock such as Portishead and Godspeed! You Black Emperor.

The variety in musical flavor helps to keep the band’s sound original, a sound Martin describes as “pop with groove bass and jazz chords.”

“Once you immerse yourself in one type of music, it becomes easier to only play that one kind of music,” Martin says.

Even though the band has only recorded a rough demo, it has begun to group its songs together for albums it plans to make in the future.

The Waves try to group songs together that have something in common to make albums that have consistent ideas and themes running through them.

“I like albums that flow together, not just 12 songs,” Martin says.

“Like ‘Dark Side of the Moon,'” Huston says.

Though the songs may already be written, Martin and Huston agree the band needs to set up more shows around Ames to develop its sound. Currently, it’s only played two shows, both at the M-Shop.

“Our first show was during Veishea weekend,” says Martin. “The only people there were the people who worked at the M-Shop.”

Despite the poor showing, the band kept its spirits high and was able to rebound by returning to the M-Shop with a full house looking back at it.

“We’re trying to get into the scene,” Huston says. “I feel like, ‘Who do I call?’ I feel weird saying ‘Hey I’m in this rock band,’ but I guess I am.

“You have to be outspoken, you have to get out there and believe in yourself. It’s getting easier,” Martin adds.