Be My Doppelganger was shocked when fans began to sing along to the lyrics of their songs at a show in New York City.

On their first cross-country tour, the “melodic rock” foursome had managed to attract fans from all over the country and even across seas.

At the first New York City gig, they met a group of Austrians who had planned their vacation to the U.S. around the show.

“Going to New York our first time was cool because there were people there to see us,” said Matt Glick, vocalist and guitarist for Be My Doppelganger. “That was real surprising.”

The band has played big city venues from San Diego to Seattle and Baltimore to Chicago on several national tours.

Be My Doppelganger  got together in 2005 with intentions to stay solely in the studio. But after they began to play together, they decided to start doing shows.

After their start, Be My Doppelganger underwent a few member changes before they reached their present partnership.

Ryan Dunn plays guitar, Thomas Poole drums and Glick’s brother Bradley plays bass and assists vocals.

Fans have referred to Be My Doppelganger’s sound as “pop-punk.”

“Our influences are a lot more broad than a lot of bands that are considered pop punk,” Glick said. “We have roots in punk rock for sure. There’s not much we are not influenced by.”

Early to mid-90s alternative—nowadays considered classic—rock plays a major role in their inspiration; bands like Nirvana, Elastica or Dinosaur Jr. British invasion bands and psychedelic sounds from the 60s have also influenced the band’s music.

Poole said they might be the only “pop punk” band that doesn’t listen to pop punk.

After numerous failed band attempts prior to Be My Doppelganger, Poole said he loves the freedom he has now.

“I think every other band that I’ve done before, we always had this goal of, ‘We are going to do this–sound like this.’,” Poole said. “With (Be My Doppelganger) we were just kind of like, ‘F*ck it. We are going to do what we want to do.’ We never put any sort of limit on what we wanted to do.”

“Our last record is probably the one recording we are most proud of,” Glick said. “It just kind of turned out perfect, I think. Except for the release of it, which was a nightmare.”

Glick said everything that could possibly go wrong with the release of its third album “Artless” did.

Be My Doppelganger’s members said the high points of their musical career, so far, consist of when they toured with their childhood idols.

“We played some really cool festivals with bands we grew up idolizing, which has been pretty cool,” Glick said.

His favorite memory is playing with The Dead Milkmen, who were a huge underground punk rock band in the 90s, Glick said.

In previous years, the band would only play shows occasionally in Evansville, but they’ve been performing locally more frequently, due to their busy schedules. Glick recently relocated his restaurant Bagelrama from Henderson, Kentucky to downtown Evansville.

“It’s like a party,” Poole said. “We promote a lot of heavy drinking–but responsibly–we like to have a good time and we like to make other people have a good time and interact with us.”

The members of Be My Doppelganger said their show consists of a definite punk rock vibe.

“We take playing seriously,” Poole said. “But we don’t take ourselves seriously at all.”

Be My Doppelganger will perform Friday at Cecil’s Bar & Grill located on Virginia Street.