Scarlett O’Hara Members Are Making the Grade — in High School

Somewhere in Texas' Rio Grande Valley, the members of Scarlett O'Hara are writing songs for their Rise Records debut whilst juggling the usual band business of dealing with agents, managers, label lackeys and publicists. That is, if they're not dealing with nagging parents, trying to solve algebraic structures and dodging college recruiters. That's because five of the band's six members are still high school seniors, and as you may have guessed, being in band with a label deal goes a long way in high school.

"Its really cool going to school when everyone knows you're somebody, that's for sure," says Alek Samodouroff, guitarist and one of the band's vocalists. Thanks to Rise Records -- who signed Scarlett O'Hara in October and will be releasing their debut full-length next fall -- Samodouroff is also getting more attention from the ladies. "I have a girlfriend, but, you know ... I hear things."

Scarlett O'Hara will spend the rest of the school year writing material for the disc ("The lyrics aren't really deep, I'm going to be honest with you," the guitarist says), and they plan to hit the studio after graduation in June. Hopefully, they'll be able to track the album in a month's time, and then they want to hit the road and hop on whatever tour will take them.

Like the other dudes in the band, Samodouroff has no college plans after school, and his parents are supporting that decision. "I really want to do this full-time, and I mean, how could you pass this up?" he asks. "My parents told me that if they had the opportunity to do it, they would."

Of course, we asked the 17-year-old if he'd ever seen the movie or read the book that inspired his band's name -- and no, he's not even sure what 'Gone With the Wind' is. So how did the guys arrive at Scarlett O'Hara as their name, if they've never seen the 1939 film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's 1936 tome?

"It was extremely random," says Samodouroff. "I had never even heard of the movie before, and when we first started out, we had a different name. I don't even remember what it was. So, we were sitting around, just thinking of new ones. At the time, we all liked Norma Jean. So one of our friends, he was just like, 'Scarlett O'Hara.' And we all just thought it was cool and agreed on it. It sounds cool. Maybe I should watch the movie ... so I know what the hell I'm talking about."