Local punkers The Dead Idols pay tribute to their idols

Courtesy of The Dead Idols

Logan Herrera, Joel Austen, Andrew Sanchez and Ethan Decker make up the local punk rock band The Dead Idols. The band is scheduled to play The Wagon Wheel with KTP and Eight Legs on Saturday.

These high school musicians may be young, but they are ready to make an impression on the Emporia music scene.

The Dead Idols consist of Joel Austen on vocals and guitar, Logan Herrera on guitar and backup vocals, Andrew Sanchez on drums and Ethan Decker on bass.

You might recognize Austen from the now defunct Space For Rent, and the three other members were previously in the band The Panik Attax.

This local punk band likes to play covers along with thier originals to mix things up and appeal to more of new fans.

“We like to throw in some covers just for fun,” Austen said. “We try to mesh all different styles of punk together, even a little bit of ska.”

The band is currently reworking Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song” to perform at their next show and according to Sanchez, its his favorite song yet.

“I’ve listened to the original with Bob Marley and the difference of Joel’s style makes it really good,” Sanchez said.

Although they have only played two shows, the band feels they might be ready to do a full set of original songs soon.

Some of The Dead Idols’ influences include, US Bombs, Bad Religon, NoFx, and Bob Marley.

The Dead Idols came up with their name after looking through some magazines and realizing that most of their idols were actually dead.

Their lyrics include topics like politics, social issues and of coursegirls.

“We’ve had really good feedback from the people that have said anything to us,” Austen said about their performances.

The band just got together last December and have already started making a demo.

It is being recorded in Damon and Darrin Cates homemade studio and will have six or seven original songs for sample. The demo should be released early this summer.

The Dead Idols will be playing Saturday at 10 p.m. at The Wagon Wheel, 2909 9th street, with fellow Kansas punk bands KTP and Eight Legs.

In May, the band will be playing Josie’s Punk Rock Prom and for other shows check out their MySpace page, http://www.myspace.com/deadidolpunk.