The Noise FM returns to Kansas City with holiday cheer

Brothers Alex and Austin Ward have walked a long and winding road as founding members of indie-rock band the Noise FM. First from Fort Scott, Kansas, then Lawrence, and now calling Chicago home, guitarist and lead singer Alex and drummer Austin have dealt with several lineup changes and false starts since they formed the band in 2005. When they moved to the Windy City three years ago, they did so at the urging of their manager and their label, both of which were located there already.

“We really love Lawrence, but we wanted to try a slightly bigger market, just to see what would happen,” 28-year-old Alex Ward tells me by phone from his desk in Chicago. “But as soon as we moved up here, the manager that we were working with moved to L.A. to become an actor, and the label kind of dissolved. The first year, we were kind of stranded.”

To their credit, the Wards didn’t turn around and hightail it back home. They cycled through a couple of bass players before finding Chicago’s Barry Kidd, and they took on management duties for themselves.

“When we moved, it took us about a year to get established. It was like starting a band from scratch,” Alex says. “Now we’ve kind of achieved a level where we’re able to put on our own shows and draw a decent crowd, but there are still plenty of things we miss.”

He goes on: “Since we’ve left, it seems like the Kansas City music scene has gotten a lot closer. There’s a stronger sense of community that we don’t always see in Chicago. There are so many bands here, and they’re all competing — there’s so few times that you find bands that just really want to help each other out.”

That local affinity might be what convinced the Noise FM to join Kansas City label the Record Machine a few months ago. In January, the band releases Attraction, its first full-length since the big move.

Throughout its period of uncertainty and homesickness, the Noise FM has had one constant: The band puts on a Christmas show to benefit Toys for Tots. Noise for Toys, as the Wards call it, originated in Lawrence back in 2008 and has become a tradition.

“Originally, we had gotten used to doing regular shows all the time,” Alex says. “We really wanted to do something that we could call our own, and we also really wanted to give back to the community. The first thing that came to our minds was the holidays and collecting toys for kids. We reached out to a representative at Toys for Tots, and they were really supportive of the idea, so we just kind of went from there. It’s grown so much over the years, and we’re really thrilled to be able to keep doing it.”

On Saturday, December 21, the Noise FM is coming home for the holidays, in time to put on Noise for Toys at the Riot Room. This is the first time in the benefit’s six-year history that it’s being held in Kansas City — which Alex says will have no shortage of holiday spirit.

“In years past, we’ve always gone over-the-top with decorations,” he says. “Obviously, there will be lots of ugly sweaters and an ugly-sweater contest. All of the bands on the bill are preparing Christmas songs. Santa Claus will be there — one of our friends, who we will probably need to get drunk on peppermint schnapps.”

He laughs and adds, “The whole point of the show is that it’s for a good cause. Who wouldn’t want to support and raise money for Toys for Tots? And ultimately, we just want to have a good time.”