With so many rock bands trying to stay above water, it takes more than talent to not only keep from drowning, but also to get your music into enough ears to make a name for yourself.

Local rock band The Trademark, based in Pleasant Grove, has persisted since junior high, despite the odds against independent musicians. With time, the band's venues have upgraded from garages and pool parties to places where people actually pay to hear it.

With its first album, "This Island Earth," coming out Friday, the group -- featuring Riley Hamnett, Drew Hamnett and Natty Coleman -- is celebrating with a show the same day at Velour Live Music Gallery.

"Every song on our record sounds like it could've been produced by a different band," said Drew Hamnett, who covers bass and backup vocals for The Trademark. "Our music has transformed into something that's really broad, with everything from heavy breakdowns to melodic harmonies."

The band members took six months off to produce the album and now they work full-time, pouring most of their income into the group.

"As a band, we don't have a timeline of when we're going to be picked up by a big label, so we know we have to put in the time to get somewhere," said lead vocalist and guitarist Riley Hamnett. "I'm kind of an impatient person, so I have to look back and see how far we've come."

The group started when Riley got kicked out of a junior high garage band for being "too committed." With seriousness, he told his brother Drew, "We're starting a band."

For Christmas, Drew was surprised to receive a bass guitar, thanks to a few hints from Riley.

"I've never thought about not being in a band," Riley said. "It's just what we do."

In high school, the brothers ran into a snag when a drug company threatened to sue them if they didn't drop their band name Ritalin. After the scare, it only seemed fitting to rename themselves The Trademark.

"Around this time, we wanted to move seriously into full-time music," Drew said.

Since then, Coleman joined as the drummer in 2002, and the band's lyrics have morphed into songs about finding your own faith and questioning social norms.

"We're pretty clean cut for a rock band -- no piercings and no tattoos," Drew said. "We want people to listen to our stuff and realize that you don't have to fit a cookie-cutter idea of what a rocker should be to create good music."