Some bands just want to have fun, and that's what Plywood Jungle has been doing since 1992. The group is unapologetically a cover band and admits that they never had intentions of getting signed or writing their own material. Each member has a full-time job and is happy just being a weekend musician. Guitarist Sean McEvoy jokingly explains why he's in a band, "People always ask me why I do this, and I tell them I have three reasons: I'd be in a bar anyway, so I might as well make some money, get free drinks, and be the center of attention. None of us ever had the intention of getting signed. Lancaster has a lot of great original bands, but that's not us.

Lead singer Tony Erkens agrees, "We've always done all covers except for one song we wrote. It wasn't actually a bad song, but I'm comfortable doing covers and I think I can speak for the band on this, too. It's easiest to leave the song writing to the people who do it best."

McEvoy and Erkens are the founding members of Plywood Jungle, and have been playing together since the late '80s. They're now joined by Denny Felizzi on drums and Ted Gockley on bass. McEvoy remembers starting out playing mostly new wave music like the Cure and Psychedelic Furs. The group's sound has changed over the years to include music from the '60s to current radio hits. "Back when we started," he recalls, "we wouldn't play a song unless we could exactly mimic a band."

As avid music fans, Plywood Jungle has closely watched music change over the years. Felizzi states, "I really like music now. I think it's going back more to the roots of rock and roll."

"I like where it's going because it's going back to the more three- and four-piece types of bands," McEvoy says. "You don't have a lot of synthesizers anymore."

Deciding on which songs to perform is easy for the band, and they agree it's often by popular vote. "The fact is, though, Sean picks most of them," Erkens explains. "For some reason he has a better ear for picking the songs than we do."

As a cover band, Plywood Jungle understands the importance of adding a few audience favorites to their performance, even if they're not favorites of the band. "I'd like to say that every song we do is the best song ever written, but it's not true," Erkens says. "There's a fine line between a song that's really cool to play for a musician and a song that's gonna make people leave. There's actually music that's too complicated, too good."

"Right," McEvoy continues, "when you're in a bar, you know the people want to dance. Period." Erkens breaks in, "Yeah, we have to do some songs we may not like, but people want to hear them."

"For instance, we had just cleaned out our studio, and we found a bunch of old set lists, and the first page and a half of one was stuff we don't even play anymore," McEvoy explains. "It was stuff like 'What I Like About You.' That's a song that will always pack the dance floor, but we can't stand it. In fact, we have a new rule now when we pick songs to do; everyone has to like them. Basically, we still like what we play, but we do have some songs that we think are more like filler songs."

Interestingly enough, Plywood Jungle doesn't use play lists anymore, which is quite a feat, considering their repertoire. "We have a master list, and I decide what gets played song by song," Erkens says. "We started this to avoid playing the same songs over and over. There are only a handful of songs that the band needs advanced warning on. Usually, I can just turn around, and say 'this is what we're doing right now,' and they can just play it."

Gockley continues, "Another reason for not using set lists is because maybe your set list isn't what everyone in the crowd wants to hear. Tony can come in and feel the crowd. He sees what they're into. He knows really quickly what their into."

Attracting crowds is easy for Plywood Jungle, but the band admits they don't have one specific type of fan. "No joke, it goes from college-age up to, literally, senior citizens. I've seen 50-year-olds dancing at our shows," Erkens says. "I like to think that we play the stuff we do well enough that even if it may not be what an audience is gonna listen to at home, they'll enjoy it anyway. Many times people have said to me 'this isn't even the stuff I listen to, but I really enjoyed your show.'"

Plywood Jungle says they have never had trouble getting gigs in Lancaster, and they attribute the town's large music scene to the number of bars that showcase live music. "Just look in BarFly," Erkens states. "There are, like, 8 million clubs in this town. Young bands can get together and start playing anywhere."

"Plus," Gockley continues, "there are just a lot of really good musicians in this town. People go out to see bands and they say, 'I'm gonna be as good as that guy.'"

"A lot of the bands playing in town are just 17 and 18," McEvoy says. "They're' just playing for the door, so the club isn't losing any money. If the band is crap, they don't get invited back, but if they're good, their name gets around and people go out to see them. You can go block to block in this town and there's a bar witha band in it."

Plywood Jungle says they're not trying to get gigs too far outside of the Lancaster area. Their favorite clubs are McFly's and the Pequea Tavern. "We like the Pequea because the people down there are really willing to have a good time," Erkens states. "I can't stand a crowd that just sits there with the attitude 'I dare you to entertain me.' If that's your attitude when you come in, you're not going to have a good time no matter how good a band is."

"There are clubs we quit playing because we never had a good time there," McEvoy says."And these were clubs where we got good crowds," Erkens continues.

"Right, McEvoy explains, "but it wasn't worth it to play there because if we're not having fun, it's not worth playing. When it becomes a job, we'll quit."

Bands come and go over the years, but Plywood Jungle has managed to remain. This is interesting for a band that never actively looks for bookings and doesn't have a press kit or demo tape. Erkens explains that clubs seek them out by word of mouth. "Sometimes a club will ask us for a demo tape or press kit," McEvoy says, "but I tell them we can give them a list of club owners to call; they're our resume."

Collectively, the group attributes their staying power to their quality of music and avoiding "flash in the pan" songs. Dedication to their fans is also important. "It may sound corny, but I'd really like to thank everyone who comes out to see us," Erkens says. "It's been a lot of years, and we could have very easily been forgotten, but we're still having a good time, and I think they are, too."