These days, it doesn’t take much to form a band. Get together a drummer, bassist, at least one guitarist and maybe someone who can sing, put up a page on MySpace.com, book a pizza joint or local bar and there you have it — instant rock stardom.

The band Big City Reverie exemplifies this rag-tag system of making a band.

With only one year of being a group under its belt, the trio of musicians is producing a noteworthy sound that is marketable for radio play. Big City Reverie consists of N.C. State alumni: Bassist Jeramy Bell and guitarist Pete Wilson, as well as drummer Shawn Payne.

All three musicians have a musical background stemming back to their adolescence.

“I started playing drums when I was about seven, my first drum set was Fraggle Rock,” Payne said.

Bell played in school bands growing up and began dabbling in the rock scene when he came to college.

“I picked up the bass when I got to state in ’99,” he said.

Wilson’s musical interests started before he was a teenager.

“I started playing guitar when I was 12,” Wilson said. “[The] first band was just a hobby-type thing.”

The guys have grown up and their musical talent has become a dedicated part of their lives.

Big City Reverie almost didn’t happen. Wilson found himself burnt out after a two-and-a-half-year stint with the band Something So Far and was looking for a time out from the pressures of being a front man.

“After Something So Far, I needed a break,” Wilson said. “I looked for a slot with a band where I didn’t have to write anything or have any involvement with the business dealings, basically could just play guitar.”

He toyed around with another group for a couple of months until he became anxious for more musical freedom.

“I got ready to do my own thing — started to do my own writing again,” he said.

Wilson then began to look for new talent and put an ad out for interested musicians and soon met Bell and Payne.

The group’s sound is accessible. With catchy lyrics like, “I met a stripper with a heart of gold,” and “Shut up and lay down,” its songs have potential to be radio hits.

The vocals of Pete Wilson are murky yet attractive and sound as though they originated from the early sounds of Seattle grunge. The ambiance of the guitar changes with just about every song. It ranges from a clean crisp sound, to heavy and edgy at times and at certain points is reminiscent of the late ’70s with a ZoSo ring to it. The pop-rock sound, with more of a rock foundation, is accented by flamboyant drum beats.

Front man Wilson explained it differently, “The original ad Jeremy responded to called for musicians [who] like playing for somewhere between Radiohead and Toad the Wet Sprocket. That’s what I base my hooks on, ’cause Toad has these really powerful hooks and that’s probably what I was most heavily influenced by.”

The band has played many local venues including a few of the bigger ones like The Lincoln Theater and The Cat’s Cradle.

Its ambition is apparent as Wilson described the goal, “Here’s what we’re trying to do: We’re trying to build a fan base while still booking and playing shows in a manner that will not cause a lack of respect on the part of the musical family.”

Big City Reverie does earn serious points in noting the fact that it refuses to play covers and stick solely to original pieces. A regular performance will consist of about 12 songs even though it has composed on the upwards of 20 pieces as just a trio.

It is doing what it can with a limited budget and hope to turn its current, three-song ‘maxi-single’ into what would be a its second full-length album. Big City Reverie’s fan base is evidence of its small town fame. Recently at The Brewery the group was astonished to see a large number of their fan’s singing along.

“At the Brewery show, I didn’t realize till I had my drums set up, and I looked out into the audience and you could see the body of the front row and then it was just all faces, a sea of faces,” Payne said.

The group strays from the ordinary in the fact that it doesn’t put on the facade of rock stars and become distant with its fans.

“We work hard,” Bell said. “We actually go out and talk to people, we’re personable about it. Try to keep it on a friendly level.”

Big City Reverie’s next show is Thursday, Feb. 23 at The Pour House in downtown Raleigh. The band will be playing with Boxbomb and The Capulets.