It's not exactly a stretch to say Provo's most popular band has succeeded by doing things the wrong way.
Stretch - which has gone by the names Stretch Armstrong, Stretch Armstronng or Stretch Magnifico - has formed its own record label and sold more than 13,000 copies of its self-produced albums, as well as toured the Western United States. But its eight members have done that only while balancing family, school and jobs alongside maintaining their musical interests."If you were to sit down and design a successful band, you would pretty much do the opposite of everything Stretch (does)," guitarist Mike South said. "We have too many people, we don't play traditional rock 'n' roll, we keep changing our name, five of us are married and we have six kids between us, and we're based in Provo, Utah."
That's not to say Stretch members don't enjoy living in Happy Valley, though. Vocalist Scott Van Wagenen says the 6-year-old group could have only come from Provo.
"Although only two of us are technically from (here), we are definitely a product of Provo's little network of students, musicians and weirdos," said Van Wagenen, the sole remaining original member.
Besides its backward approach to the band concept, Stretch is also known for holding maniacally energetic live shows, including its traditional Halloween concerts.
That tradition continues, as the band will hold a release party for its new CD, "Armstrong," in a Thursday, Oct. 31, concert at Classic Skating Center and Waterslides, 230 S. State, Orem.
"Armstrong" is the band's third full-length release, including the cassette-only "Old School" and "Lollygag," its first CD, which gained it airplay on local radio station X-96, KXRK-FM.
Van Wagenen said "Armstrong" continues to build on the band's unique sound, a distinctive blend of ska, swing, punk, "New Wave" pop and carnival sounds.
"In many ways, this new album sums up everything Stretch is about, musically," he said. "That's the idea behind calling it `Armstrong' - it's like tying a nice little bow around everything we've been doing for the past six years."
Local acts Model Citizen and Catfische will also perform at the all-ages concert. The music will start at 8 p.m. Tickets will be available at the door for $5.