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Sevenstar looks, acts and sounds like a bunch of rock stars.

More than rock stars, the members of the passionate and volatile local band have been overcoming their differences for four years to get their musical message across.

The band consists of four devoted friends who just happen to also be incredible musicians.

David Barwick, 21, Joplin, Sevenstar’s lead singer and guitarist, has been playing guitar for almost 10 years. Barwick never seems to stop moving – his face spastically switching emotion. His energy for life carries over to his stage performance in the form of jumping and diving around the stage sometimes to the point of falling to the floor during concerts, all without missing a chord.

“Dave’s really passionate in his writing and in his life,” said Nathan Getz, 19, Joplin, Sevenstar drummer. “He’s fueled by everything around him.”

Getz was born into a family of musicians and began playing the drums at age five. He plays passionately and is infamous among fans for breaking drumsticks during concerts and practices.

“I have a problem with breaking sticks,” Getz said. “I probably go through three (sets) per concert, along with going through cymbals every six months and occasionally breaking a drum head.”

Daniel Fluharty, 20, Joplin, bass player, found his first guitar in storage where it had sat for 30 years. Fluharty is tall and thin with large black-framed glasses and vintage T-shirts that make him look more like a Weezer band member. His self-proclaimed nickname is “Flu,” and in high school, he ran for student body president with the slogan “Catch the Flu.”

Matt Harp, 19, Springfield, electric guitar, started on his musical journey by learning to play the piano at his grandmother’s house. Since that time he has become a diverse musician admired by his fellow band members.

“He’s the best musician in the band,” Fluharty said, “but he’s also the most versatile. He went from a Metallica-cover band to our style.”

The band members describe their style as “modern rock with an emotional edge.” Their songs are expressive and intense, with timing that meticulously builds to an emotional climax. The members derive inspiration from various rock groups, predominantly Our Lady Peace. They focus on intensity and transitions when writing songs.

All members contribute to the songwriting process, an important fact when the band strictly adheres to only performing their own material. The subject matter ranges from depression to relationships.

“Our songs are very personal and about some kind of struggle that we’re having,” Getz said. “Our songs aren’t always sunny because we write about the reality of our lives which isn’t always sunny.”

All of the members come from different musical backgrounds including indie rock and punk, with only one band they all agree on: Our Lady Peace. The various backgrounds sometimes lead to conflicts. Practices can get hostile when preparing new material, but the passionate environment means better musical output.

“We’re definitely combative,” Fluharty said. “But if we were all the same, we’d only have one song with eleven breaks. We have a lot of diversity.”

Differing opinions carries through to the songwriting process and sarcasm sometimes runs high, but the band members deal with their differences through humor.

“First, one of us has an idea that nobody likes, then that person makes us all learn it, we all hate it, then we play it in concert and everyone hates it, and then eventually we play it enough that people forget that they hate it,” Barwick said.

The band members endure the disagreements with a greater goal in mind of sharing their faith in God.

Their relationship with God always takes center stage during performances, and the members pray together before every practice and show. They decide who will pray first by each person calling out either “white, meat, cheese or wheat,” until they form the layers of their “prayer sandwich.”

“It’s our faith,” Getz said. “We want to share our hearts with people, we’re not shoving it down people’s throats, and we’re not going to cast stones at people when we’re so flawed ourselves.”

The band is sometimes asked not to share its faith onstage, depending on the venue, and in those situations Barwick said their actions have to speak louder than words.

“After a concert at Karacter’s, a guy came up to us, and it was apparent that we’d really made an impact on his life and all Dave said was ‘we play for God,'” Getz said. “That’s the whole point of us playing together. We have really big differences of opinion, but there’s always stuff like that, and we can work it out.”

Sevenstar’s new album Never Dark went on sale Feb. 24, and a formal release party is planned for March at an undecided location. For more information, or to buy the album, visit the band’s Web site at www.sevenstarrock.com.