iSound

Eighteen and just out of high school, the F-Ups may be young, but the self-described outcasts and longtime friends have been together as a band since 1999, when they first joined forces in their suburban Rochester, Minnesota junior high for a battle of the bands competition. And after five relentless years of daily practice sessions and local gigs, they're realizing their dream of releasing a CD and going on the Vans Warped Tour to play alongside punk veterans like Bad Religion, Anti-Flag, NoFx, and the Vandals. The F-Ups paid their share of dues playing in basements and pool halls across Rochester ("the land of the Mayo Clinic and IBM," Travis notes dryly, adding, "Our biggest motivation to get signed was so we could get out of this place"), but things didn't really start happening for them until they entered a talent contest hosted at Minneapolis's Quest Club. "We didn't make it the first year we competed" Travis recalls, "but we got an honorabl...