Songwriter Christopher Tolle recorded his first songs with an old karaoke machine when he was 14. These days, he’s preparing to tour Europe.

Tolle and Jake Cardwell, the two members of the Lawrence, Kan.-based The Belles, are returning to the Maintenance Shop Friday night before heading to Europe for a two-month tour promoting their first full-length album, “Omerta.”

Tolle says the cool thing about The Belles is that, as a two-piece ensemble, they’re able to bring in guest performers and different lineups. “This time in Ames we’re playing as a three-piece, with Ehren Starks on keyboards,” Tolle says. “Different lineups help keep it different. At shows, it’s never the same version of the band twice; it’s a lot of work, but it keeps it really exciting.”

The Belles began in 2002 when Tolle and Cardwell decided to record a demo of some songs Tolle had written that weren’t appropriate for the current band he was in, Creature Comforts. He says in the beginning, it was very casual, and they had no real intent to seek a label.

“When I was on Creature Comfort’s final tour, I got a call offering a deal for The Belles,” Tolle says.

For Tolle, his whole life has focused around music, and The Belles is simply the current chapter.

“I started booking my first shows when I was 15 I’m 29 now; I did my first tour when I was 17,” Tolle says. “It seems like as long as I can remember, I have been interested in music.”

Tolle says he has never had extensive guitar lessons and has mostly taught himself to play. However, he did take a few lessons to help him with songwriting.

“I started with one lesson right when I got my guitar, but then I just played really hard and got to a decent level,” Tolle says. “My guitar teacher, when I was 15 or 16, helped me a lot in songwriting. I was more interested in how to write a bridge — I never had the patience to sit down and learn scales.”

Tolle says he is now writing songs faster than the band can get them out. He says there are plans for making the band’s next album this year. Tolle and Cardwell have known each other for several years. They met through a bass player Tolle used to play with.

“Bryan, the bass player in my old band, worked with Jake’s dad at a music store. When Jake moved to Lawrence from Kansas City, we started hanging out a lot,” Tolle says. “The basic ingredients of what we liked in music were the same.”

Tolle says he and Cardwell spend the majority of their time doing something involving music. Right now, their focus is on The Belles.

“Jake and I pretty much do music full-time. The Belles is our No. 1 one top priority, but we each have lots of musical outlets,” Tolle says. “I work every day doing music.”

Who: The Belles, Twelve Canons

Where: M-Shop

When: 9 p.m., Friday

Cost: $5 students, $7 public