F. E. Warren AFB, Wyo. -- The weight of the guitar around the shoulders, the crackling of the amplifier as it begins to warm up, the prickling of the skin as electricity fills the air and the deafening silence before the explosion of music -- all sounds and sensations familiar to Airman 1st Class Johnathan Ware, 790th Missile Security Forces Squadron.
Airman Ware, Chris Conacher and Jacob Clark play music inspired by heavy life experiences for their band: handsfreemethod. The band members hope to use their music to give hope to an uninspired nation.
"Music is really influential," Mr. Clark said. "The right music can save a person's life or destroy it. I want people to know that music really isn't about sex, drugs or rock and roll. It's about changing a person's life for the better."
Airman Ware formed the band in 2003 in Boca Raton, Fla. Their music has been compared to such artists as Copeland, Goo Goo Dolls and John Meyer. Since the creation, HFM has played many shows, participated in various benefit-organization concerts and has received national coverage from MTV2. But "making it big" doesn't happen overnight.
"A lot of people think being in a band means to make a few songs and you become the world's next big thing," Mr. Conacher said. "The truth is that it takes so much patience and hard work to do this. It gets really, really hard at times, but it's that work and patience that will make this all pay off in the end."
The band is currently recording an album in Longmont, Colo., with Blind Dog Audio recording studio.
"We've been busting our butts this past month trying to get this album out," Airman Ware said.
"Our music is really serious, but we couldn't be further from it," Airman Ware said with a laugh.
All of the members of the band are a little different from each other, he added. "Jake's real chill. You could punch him in the face and it probably wouldn't even faze him. Chris, when we get together, we just laugh and have the greatest time .... We're all great friends."
The band is performing a charity concert at the Veterans of Foreign Wars center Nov. 7 for The "I Have a Dream" Foundation. The tickets are $8, and the proceeds go to the foundation. The foundation's projects work with people, from elementary school through college, to offer them support and help them stay in school and succeed.
"The best part of being in a band is being a role model for kids and helping them make the right decisions that will impact their life in a positive way," Mr. Clark said.
"I feel honored to be able to play music that will make a difference," Mr. Conacher added. "It warms my heart to know that I'm able to do something better than fill people with more anger, because most rock bands today only fill people with anger and bitterness."
As HFM grew bigger, the band needed a photographer to capture their energy for advertisements. Staff Sgt. Guy McCutcheon, 90th Maintenance Operations, stepped up. With eight years of photography experience, Sergeant McCutcheon fulfills all of HFM's photographic needs.
"I love taking pictures of them," Sergeant McCutcheon said. "I see my passion for photography in their passion for music.
"They are great guys that are always joking around and having a good time," the sergeant added. "I like working with them because it helps me expand my photography experience."
With Airman Ware being in the military and the rest of the band civilian, as long as he's stationed in the lower 48 states, "they'll follow me," Airman Ware said. "We've invested thousands of dollars into this band and even if we do move, it gives us a chance to spread the music around."