Throw in some drums, guitars, bass and four-part harmonies. Mix them with inspiration from The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and The Foo Fighters. Now add OSU students Ryan Pitts and Kevin Sanders and you’ve just made alternative rock band Bonneville.

Pitts and Sanders, along with best friends Nick Frye and David Miklos, have been playing together in Bonneville for more than 10 years. What started out as a little fun back in middle school has turned into a passion the guys dream of making their career.

“This is something we wanna do every day,” Sanders said. “We write good music people can enjoy and we have a great hook. The fact that we’re all best friends is what sets us apart from a lot of other bands out there.”

This past winter, Bonneville got its first taste of what it’s like to go on tour. Performances in Nashville, Raleigh, and Columbia, S.C. sparked the guys’ desire to get serious about becoming professional recording artists.

“It was awesome,” Pitts said. “I realized that this is what I wanna do for as long as I can while I’m still young.”

Bonneville went on tour with Sequoyah Prep School, another independent band trying to get signed. Pitts grew up in South Carolina and jumped at the chance to tour with some old friends in his home state.

“I grew up with their lead singer and asked him if we could do something together,” Pitts said. “They’ve been playing music together for a really long time too, and I really wanted to tour with them.”

Trying to balance school and music isn’t easy. Sanders, a fourth-year in chemistry, says it’s hard finding the time to play more gigs.

“It’s not easy taking it to that next level,” Sanders said. “You can’t really afford to take two weeks off school killing an entire weekend of your study time.”

Even though this balancing act can be challenging, it’s not stopping Bonneville from dreams of making it big.

“We know we’re an independent band, but we haven’t really had the opportunity to play that many shows and get noticed by record companies,” Pitts said. “This album we’re working on is what we’re really gonna push to companies to try and get a deal.”

Bonneville’s new album “Drawing Maps” is scheduled to be released on iTunes, Rhapsody and Amazon at the end of April.

“This album is about a lot of different things,” Pitts said. “I was just thinking how crazy it was for early explorers because in life it’s your decision where you go, you are making your own map.”

One decision Pitts and Sanders might have to make after graduation is to look for a job if a record deal doesn’t work out. Nevertheless, they say they will keep on playing music and pursue their passion for as long as they can.

“It’s true that some of us will be in debt after we graduate and will have to look for jobs,” Pitts said. “We’ll still be playing music together though because we all love it so much.”

“Eventually we all might have to look for jobs, but this is something we want to make our jobs,” said Sanders. “Whether it happens or not, time will tell.”

To listen to tracks from their upcoming album, visit myspace.com/bonneville.