Wood Dale band hoping song becomes hit with national audience

Members of a Wood Dale-based rock band are hoping a national television audience turns their song "Late Night Alibi" into an early morning hit.

The band, After Never, and its music video for "Late Night Alibi" will be featured on Monday's The Early Show as part of the CBS program's "Living Room ... Live! Battle of the Bands" contest.

Guitarist Adam Cieslak, 24, of Wood Dale, said the band recorded the EP for the song in January. They have since been doing live shows and posting on the Internet "trying to get a good push and get noticed."

Bassist Michael Murphy said he learned of the CBS contest last month from his mother, who saw a commercial for the segment.

"For a band looking for some exposure, we figured this could be a really big deal," said Murphy, 24, of Bensenville. "We're really excited and waiting for Monday."

After Never's music video will be aired around 8:30 a.m. Viewers then will be able to log onto the show's Web site and vote for their favorite video until noon Aug. 18.

The band with most votes at the end of the 12-week contest will perform live on The Early Show during the week of Sept. 24.

Once Murphy's mother convinced them to enter the contest, Cieslak said the band went into "strictly business" mode.

"We were able to get into (guitarist Dennis Mitchell's) basement, and we were able to get our hands on some fairly cheap lamps," Cieslak said. "So we just went for it."

Cieslak said he and his bandmates got together on July 23 and shot the video "for the cost of a Sony Handycam and a video tape."

The band got a call from The Early Show producers a day after submitting the video.

Despite the low budget, band members say they're impressed with the quality of the video and believe they have a legitimate chance of winning.

"I've looked up some of the other bands to see what to expect, and we've got a good shot," Cieslak said. "Our song's catchy and is one of few to have some different camera angles."

After Never was formed last year by five musicians "tired of playing cookie-cutter music."

Cieslak, Murphy, guitarist Dennis Mitchell, 25, of Wood Dale; drummer Artie Woods, 25, of Wood Dale and vocalist B.J. Radigan, 22, of Joliet, have been friends since grade school.

"All of us have played in bands around the area and we all have full-time jobs," Cieslak said. "But if anything happens with it, we'd be more than happy to pursue it together."

Murphy said the band's name is an ode to school-age laziness and promises to get homework done "after never."

"That phrase started as a joke about what lazy procrastinators we were," Murphy said. "Now it's our motivational tool."

Cieslak's confident the tool has worked to the band's advantage.

"We've cleared the week of Sept. 24 from the calendar and are doing everything we can to be in New York," he said. "In the meantime, our VCRs and TiVos are set for Monday."