It was probably fate for the band Outdates to finally coalesce in the name of rock.

“[Bass player] Ally [Einbinder] is from Albany, I’m from Pittsfield, and [drummer] Andrew [McCarthy] is from Holyoke, and we’d all drive a few hours away for shows all the time, and we were all at the same show, like 10 years before we met, probably many times,” says guitarist Marc Candilore. “Some people think that’s crazy. We know tons of people all over the world this way, though. It’s what we do.”

In 2007 Candilore compiled four-track demos of six songs that would eventually become the foundation for Outdates. He says it took awhile to find the right people to help fully bring the music to life.

“Also I was a recluse and working on solo stuff and not showing it to anybody,” he explains. “So it took a couple years before I got back out from under the rock and into the idea of hanging out and working with other people.”

After hashing out 10 tunes, he shared his recordings with Einbinder and McCarthy, who learned them from the tapes. Lyrics were—and remain—the last element to join the party.

While the punky three-piece loves power trios like Minutemen, Rush and The Kids, the original idea was to add a fourth member.

“We actually tried out three or four girls as a second guitarist early on,” recalls Candilore. “I hadn’t played guitar in a band in six years, and Ally more or less learned how to play bass when we started, so we figured our sloppy sound could use some backup. But nobody was up for it. Nobody else fit in, and once we tightened up, it was just so easy for the three of us. We were doing everything as a unit so it was hard to get somebody else in for the whole group deal.

“It wasn’t just ‘Come to band practice once a week,’ it was ‘You’ve got to come to these parties with us and get pizza with us and go to this festival together.'”

For recorded material, Outdates boasts a self-recorded, self-released six-song demo, Make Way For Outdates, and a 10-song cassette EP, They’re Only Outdates, also self-released.

Next up for the band is a single due in May from Shock To The System Records, and Sick of Talkin’, a seven-inch EP set for release this summer.

“We have a lot of songs, so there’s a lot of records to make,” Candilore says. “We’re going on tour at the end of June down the East Coast and going in a circle through the Midwest and back.”

The trio is also plotting a West Coast tour for the fall.

For songs and shows, visit www.myspace.com/outdates.