• By MICHAEL FARRAR
• Special to 2theadvocate.com
• Published: Oct 2, 2008 - UPDATED: 3:25 p.m.

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Many bands still pose as indie rockers even after years of mastering the game of music business deal-making. the Dark Knights of Camelot, however, can really claim their sound is fresh as they begin their debut road trip across the South.

"This is our first tour, and we just want to move people, bring some energy and inspire people, you know? Get people excited about seeing the show," band leader and guitarist Ben Shea said.

Shea openly admits that as a music fan, he feels let down by most of what he hears in popular music today, which is why he decided to form the Dark Knights of Camelot.

"We just want to wake people up. Do something original. Bring back some quality to the music that seems to have been lost," Shea said.

the Dark Knights of Camelot's three-man roster includes Shea (guitar and vocals), Simon Davenport (drums) and Harry Crumpler (bass and vocals).

Coming together as the Dark Knights of Camelot was not a casual decision. There were some real consequences to joining the band.

"Simon pretty much sacrificed a scholarship at USM [the University of Southern Mississippi] to be a part of the Dark Knights of Camelot. Harry Crumpler owns T-Bones Record Store, the last, best independent record shop in Hattiesburg, Miss.." Shea said, noting that both college and business were put on hold in order to start their very first tour.

the Dark Knights of Camelot have a straightforward power-pop style without any pretense, but they don't forget to give listeners a melody. Songs on their Myspace page include rockers like “Wanna Be” and “Luster Lack,” plus quieter tunes like “Man Down Acoustic.”

Many of these tunes can be heard as part of the 'Roughs' EP. Even though the EP was released under the name the Dark Knights of Camelot, it was actually created before the band really came together.

"Those songs were written growing up, and I did that with my childhood best friend, David Stark. We still do some of those songs, but [we've] definitely taken on a new identity," Shea said.

For Shea, making the 'Roughs" EP was necessary to get things moving.

"I had to put something down. We did that in one room in Hattiesburg, doing it ourselves. I pretty much took six months to mix it. [I] just went ahead and put it out, despite not having a band together," Shea explained.

Even though the time it took to record and mix every single second of the "Roughs" EP was utterly exhausting, Shea is very upbeat about the recordings the three-man band is currently making.