Springfield rock band dogdeck (never capitalized) has only two rules when it comes to the styles of music it will play: no metal, no country.

Guitarist and lead vocalist Kevin Berard says that he and band co-founder/drummer Mike Arnold were weaned on ’90s rock and the Seattle sound, but they take cues from all sorts of sources, “from the Beatles to Rage Against the Machine.”

The group began with Berard and Arnold jamming together in high school in 1994, with the two often playing out as just a duo. They invited a few guest bass players and guitarists to join them back in those formative years, but Berard says that “no one really stuck.”

In 2001, Berard’s brother Brian took on the bass-playing duties and the trio played local parties and bars and “flew under the radar” until 2008, when Kevin decided it was time to take things to the next level.

Practices and shows increased in frequency, but it wasn’t until brother Brian took on lead guitar duties that things kicked into overdrive. Close friend Mario Manzi was recruited on bass, and 2009 was spent diving deep into the Western Mass. music scene.

The band had an “official comeback show” as a quartet last January at Theodores’ in Springfield, and has played a slew of gigs since. The guys recently added Mike Lynch on bass, after Manzi packed his bags for Texas.

Berard says that he wrote most of dogdeck’s body of work a long time ago, and as the band evolved, so too did the sound.

“Most of the time it’s just a jam, and finding that right lick or phrase,” says Berard. “Not really sure how it happens. It’s very organic, it just flows.”

Dogdeck put together a six-song demo it dubbed Budget this past summer.

“The name stems from the fact that the studio time is so damn expensive,” Berard says.

The band recorded the tracks at Northfire Studio with Grammy-winning sound engineer Angelo Quaglia. Although the material remains unmastered, Berard states that the process and quality of it exceeded their expectations.

“God willing, I would spend every day of my life behind that glass,” he says. “It’s an amazing process and the people at Northfire were amazing.”

All of the tunes from those sessions can be heard online on dogdeck’s MySpace and Facebook pages.

So what’s next for the now laser-focused crew?

“Right now we are getting settled with the new and hopefully permanent bass player and just doing our best to put the name dogdeck out there,” Berard says. “It’s all just practice, practice, practice and writing. It’s a tough business, and we are always learning. Hopefully the new year brings some expanded success. We are booking shows in the Boston area and hope to expand south into Connecticut and New York as well.”

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