Many aspiring musicians, though it may be accurate, dodge the moniker "garage band." While that might conjure up images of neighbor-enraging cacophonies of offensive noise, members of student punk act Infield Fly have no problem with the category they fit into: self-storage-unit band.

On a Tuesday night at Morning Star Self Storage off Country Club Road, drummer Chris Cody, bassist Ethan Dougherty and guitarist Dayton Vielguth are tuning up.

They are getting ready for their next gig, the first night of the Phi Mu sorority semi-formal.

While Cody admits it is possible that they may be the first punk band to ever rock a sorority party, he and his other junior band mates are looking forward to the show. Besides, he said, the money will be nice and "my girlfriend is in the sorority."

Whether strumming, singing or spinning, student musicians of all genres deal with the same challenges as Infield Fly.

Long hours driving to meet band mates or play shows, squeezing in practice after a long day on campus and creating music that doesn't fall under the "college music" label are trials many student acts face and embrace.

Student musicians must also balance their creative interests, the need to get gigs and, oh yeah, school.

Jacob Morris feels the crunch. As a member of three bands, the junior admits that the balance of working and playing is not an easy one.

"Maybe the work suffers a little bit," he said laughingly. "It gets a little difficult, but it's worth it."

Morris' Melodies

In the thick of the semester, the inspiration necessary for a few pages on Business of Beowulf can be elusive. So where would a student possibly find the time for songwriting?

Morris said the privacy of his car and idle hours on the highway often summon up the muse.

"When I'm driving, I kind of make up songs," said the soft-spoken member of Celtic Folk group Morris Family, rock band Sinclair and pop project Pushpull Men.

Sometimes driving in silence gets Morris thinking, but he just as often looks for inspiration in the work of his favorite bands. And it's a good thing road trips drive the classically trained cellist's creativity.

The car is where he spends a lot of his time.

"It's kind of tough," he said of traveling across the area to practice and play. "I don't really have weekends."

The Lexington native just played the Fall Festival in Grayson County, Va., last weekend with the Morris Family. The band includes Morris' guitar-playing father, violinist mother, violin-and-mandolin-playing brother and his sister who plays the violin and flute.

Morris, who also plays guitar and banjo, often treks to Greensboro to practice with Pushpull Men and goes as far as Charlotte to work with Sinclair.

But he's used to it and said he's been doing it for a while. He wants to be a musician, but came to the university for a liberal arts education.

He said his family pushed him to go to college, and he feels that being an English major helps his writing. His family also played a large role in Morris' musical upbringing. They put a cello in his hands at the age of three.

But this experience serves him well even in his rock band, which made up of other classically trained musicians as well. The group is in the process of putting out an album that has been recorded but is yet to be manufactured. And as far as possible shows, Morris said the group is "playing around with Charlotte and the Raleigh/Durham area."

Going for a spin

Shepard Wallace is also a classically trained musician. And though the cellist and guitarist can still see himself pursuing a career in traditional music, another scene currently has his interest.

This senior from Greenville, S.C., said that after going to a couple of raves and hearing the innovative club music he found there he was "hooked."

Wallace, a disc jockey, thinks inorganic music and the club scene are misunderstood and underappreciated in the modern music world.

"A lot of people don't give it the attention it deserves," he said.

But its counter-culture roots are part of what attracted Wallace to the parties in the first place.

And now that he is pursuing his DJ aspirations he truly feels that he is "joining on to a movement."

But it is a movement about which there has been much controversy in recent years.

The influence of drugs on the party and rave scene has gotten a lot of attention from interest groups, lawmakers and journalists lately.

Wallace said the negative image of the rave scene "is really media-driven," and that the negative attention the style gets will only continue to marginalize it.

"It has only one place to go and that's back underground" if scrutiny intensifies, he said.

And without the support of the club scene, he adds, there wouldn't be anything to support inorganic music.

"The music wouldn't be there without the club and the party scenes," he said.

But this doesn't deter Wallace from working to improve his craft.

"As I learn more and more, I sort of get attached to a certain genre, a certain sound," he said.

But he said he still tries to keep an open mind and work on varied projects.

He adds his recent concentration in the genre doesn't mean he won't return to his musical roots.

"I am still very much interested in pursuing organic music interests," he said.

Veronica doesn't hate them

Had the name choosing session gone differently, Phi Mu could very well be listening to "Third and Long," "Newfound Glory," or "Veronica Hates Me," this weekend, Cody said of the names the band once kicked around.

But the three baseball fans think Infield Fly fits them like a glove, just like their unique practice space. Practicing "mostly at night" is perfect for the three students Cody said.

He added that he most often writes at night, taking a walk and finding a quiet place to think.

The group plays a few covers but boasts mostly original tunes. And like all bands, they are now in the process of finding places to play. Cody said the band is thinking about a Spring Break "mini-tour" or heading down to the Sunday Showcase at Cat's Cradle in Carrboro. The group has also been in contact with downtown club 533 Uprisings.

Tricks of the trade

Wallace said he wants to be a musician, but could see himself playing a number of roles in the music business.

He said he is keeping his options open for engineering, promoting and throwing parties which he said is important to the genre in which he works.

He also plans to put in some time at local club Ziggy's learning the soundboard and other aspects of putting on a show.

Morris and St. Clair got some time to record their last album at Jay Howard's Studio in Charlotte because one of the band members had been an intern there.

But perhaps the most difficult aspect of the music business student bands must learn is how to make it after college.

All of them say they are interested in pursuing musical careers after school. But that can be difficult if band members are pulled in different directions after graduation.

"Hopefully we'll stay in touch," Cody said of Infield Fly's future.

But for the moment, these student artists are having fun taking chances, making the music they love and learning the lessons all long-time acts had to learn when they were just starting out.