For Brett Scallions, lead singer of the new trend-setting rock band, Fuel, a lot of elements go into powering the engine which is his band.

Leaning against his tour bus outside a club in Lexington, Ky., with loud motors humming in the background, Scallions took some time out to speak about his band.

He cites life as the main catalyst that has propelled the Pennsylvania foursome from regional club shows to international popularity in barely a single year.

“I guess just life in general is a good fuel to power us,” Scallions said over his cellular phone. “We take in what is most meaningful to us, and we play about it. We write about it. That’s pretty much what makes us what we are.”

The band has had an amazing year riding on the force of its first major label release, “Sunburn,” which has already produced two radio hits: “Shimmer” and “Bittersweet.”

Each of the songs have videos to match, both achieving airplay on MTV.

When the band made the first video from the CD, “Shimmer,” Scallions said the group faced a lot of problems. A giant plastic tarp threatened to collapse on them during the shoot, and Scallions got sunburned from stage lights that baked him for over six hours.

Making the video for “Bittersweet” went a lot easier for Scallions and company, but he wasn’t pleased with the final product.

“The ‘Bittersweet’ video, myself, I didn’t care for too much. It was a cool concept. I just think it wasn’t done correctly — properly to the vision we had when we actually read the treatment,” Scallions said.

He went on to describe what happens in the video. The band is playing a heated show, and a stampede of crazed kids literally tears apart the stage as the band plays.

“When we read the treatment for the video, we saw it being a little darker than it really came out,” he explained.

Despite his solemn views toward the videos, Scallions sweeps them under the proverbial rug when he thinks about the response the band’s album has gotten. Its popularity alone is getting Fuel booked in venues all over the globe.

“This is a wonderful thing. We love what we do. Just the fact that we’re being recognized is a great thing,” he said. “The record’s gold now, and that’s an accomplishment that any musician is gonna cherish.”

Scallions said the band has already been to Europe and Australia this past year aside from playing an extensive U.S. tour. He said the band was selling out to crowds of up to 1,000 people overseas.

“It’s strange for us to actually fly to another country and play there and have people sing along with us. It was pretty cool, and we’ll be doing it again next year. Hopefully, we can take over the entire world,” he joked.

Going from being a small-time regional act to an internationally recognized band can change a lot of the ideals a band holds. But this isn’t the case for Fuel.

“I think we’re all still the same people. We were raised with good morals and to accept and appreciate everything that is given to us,” Scallions said.

As the band continues to blast through the music industry with its powerful hard rock sound, Scallions is getting a better view of the inside of the business, and he doesn’t like what he sees.

“A bunch of snakes, man, a bunch of snakes. The industry, it’s got its ups and downs. It’s a very unpredictable thing,” he explained. “You have to roll with the punches a lot of times. You constantly have to watch your back and watch each other’s back.

“In this business, man, you don’t have a lot of room for mistakes, really. You’ve gotta nail it right the first time. Everything is such a big decision; you have to be aware of what’s going on around you at all times,” Scallions added.

All the attention Fuel has been receiving, however, isn’t warping Scallions’ mind. He said he doesn’t feel the need to keep up a certain image just because the band is getting coverage by Rolling Stone or MTV.

“You definitely have to establish yourself as having ‘heavy feet,’ I guess you could say, and that you’re standing on solid ground. You want people to know you’re a rock and roll band,” he said.

With all the heavy touring the band has seen, it still hasn’t impaired the group’s goals. While most musicians say heavy touring wears a band out, Scallions sees things differently.

“I think the energy has grown even more. We love touring. Everything we do, we do it so we can tour, so we can play live. That’s just something that we’ve done for so long,” he said.

To be exact, Fuel has played shows nearly every night for the past seven years, he added.

“When we’re not touring, we’ll sit at home and twiddle our thumbs thinking, ‘OK, I’ve gotta be doing something’ ’cause we get bored,” Scallions explained.

The group’s popularity has earned it stage time with a lot of upper-level bands.

“For the next week or so, us and Local H are touring together. We just finished a tour this past October that was us and Aerosmith,” Scallions said like an excited kid opening presents on Christmas Day. “That was very cool to look at the side of the stage and see the guys from Aerosmith looking at you.”

Fuel is only in the middle of its tour now, but Scallions has already started mapping out upcoming plans for next year.

The band is set to release another single, called “Jesus Or a Gun,” at the beginning of 1999.

As the holiday season is fast approaching, Scallions comes across sounding like he needs a break. A well-deserved vacation is another thing on the agenda for the musician.

“My special plans are flying home and hanging with my family. I don’t like to be anywhere but home for Christmas. I like to sit around the Christmas tree with Mom and Dad,” he said.

Scallions has only one gift in mind that he hopes to receive.

“A fresh pair of socks,” he said, admitting that he doesn’t see too many of those out on the road.

With the year coming to a close, Scallions gave a quick overview of Fuel’s accomplishments.

“Everything kind of blew up in our faces to a degree. One minute you’re recording a record, and you don’t really realize what’s in store for your future, and the next thing you know you’re sitting on MTV doing an interview,” he said.

Fuel will perform with Local H and Tripwire at LAZR 103.3’s Nutcracker Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Supertoad in Des Moines.

Tickets are $8 in advance or $10 at the door. Terd, the big-bellied co-host of “Mancow’s Morning Madhouse,” will host the show.