Pyrocracker has been in and out of the music scene since its formation in small town Sac City.

Though the band technically started when Darin Longman and Rob Schulte were in junior high, Pyrocracker didn’t play its first live show until the exTRAvaganza Battle of the Bands competition at Towers in 2002.

“I’m pretty sure we got dead last,” says Schulte, sophomore in psychology. “It was our first show.”

The band has only played seven shows to date, which Schulte attributes to a lack of a place to practice. Despite having only a few shows under its belt, the band has managed to land a recording contract with Ames’ newest label, No Coast Records.

“We’re in the process of signing,” says bass player Brandon Bohlen, junior in electrical engineering. “The only thing you have to do to impress [the label] is to be something positive, not so depressing.”

Bohlen says Pyrocracker’s style is mainly pop punk, with occasional hints of metal and blues. Schulte, however, prefers not to place the band into a category.

“There is no genre anymore,” Schulte says. “We have songs that sound punk, and others are not even close. You’d have to listen for yourself.”

The band hopes the record deal will help make themselves better known in the Ames local music scene. Schulte says he’s happy to have time in the recording studio to make a record.

“We made a five song demo with Bi-Fi,” he says. “We didn’t have any time or money.”

For $200, the roughly-made EP was rushed and scraped together in only eight hours. Pyrocracker now sings the handful of original songs at concerts, but also adds some covers as crowd pleasers.

“Everyone likes our rendition of Enrique Iglesias’ ‘Escape,'” Bohlen says.

“We do it a little bit harder,” Schulte adds. “Darin [Longman] was singing it one day. I was listening to it, and for the most part it’s instrumental-based. I realized a rock band could play it.”

Schulte hopes to put out a few samplers before the album debuts. Other goals include playing with local band 8 Miles Out and playing at the M-Shop. The band is also working on creating a Web site to share music and band information.

Pyrocracker will play an all-ages show at Bali Satay House, 2424 Lincoln Way, on Thursday. Steps, also signed to No Coast Records, will play beforehand.

Schulte says he’s not ashamed of self promotion and plans to post flyers on campus to boost interest about the show. No stranger to Bali Satay, Pyrocracker loves the atmosphere and crowd.

“They light a bunch of candles,” he says. “Maybe it calms the soul.”

The band promises a lot of energy. If you leave a show emotionally touched, the guys say that’s all right, but they’re not expecting it. They just want the crowd to have fun.

Pyrocracker, named after a mispronunciation of chiropractor, wants to be around for a while.

“We want to get our degrees, but we’d like to do this [as a career],” Schulte says.

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Who: Pyrocracker, Steps

Where: Bali Satay House, 2424 Lincoln Way

When: 10 p.m., Thursday