On their Hopeless Records debut, Prove It, DIVIDED BY FRIDAY don’t waste any time broadcasting their mission statement: “This is right where I belong, and I’m not moving/I’m here to prove it.”

Indeed, proving they belong is the cause the Laurinburg, North Carolina, quartet have championed since their inception a half-decade ago. Villanueva and Morgan met in the seventh grade, and by the time the two reached high school in 2006, they were performing and writing songs under the moniker Divided By Friday. They developed a strong web presence and connected with fans around the world but faced a number of obstacles and doubts from nay-sayers due to their youth.

“When you see a band of kids drive up in three different cars and pull their equipment out of the trunk, it raises eyebrows,” laughs Villanueva. “We always heard people talking and telling us we couldn’t do this or we’d never amount to anything more than just a high school band. It definitely drove us to spend more time perfecting our craft and finding out who we were.”

Unfazed, the band toured whenever they had time, filling school breaks and summer vacation with treks that took them up and down the East Coast. Now, after a series of self-released EPs and being dubbed as one of Alternative Press’ “100 Bands You Need to Know in 2011,” Divided By Friday’s distinct style has taken full shape on Prove It. Rooted in an honest-to-goodness rock sound packed with passionate lyrics and infectious melodies, the EP explores everything from straightforward pop-rock (“Prove It,” “Growing Up”) to moody, high-octane anthems (“The Dark Passenger,” “Lost In Limbo”), all with the ease and success of acts twice their senior. Lyrically, Villanueva draws on the experiences that have colored the past five years of his life as he and his bandmates have strived to meet their dreams.

“It’s definitely really positive,” the singer says. “We’ve experienced the best times of our lives getting to where we are, but there’s a dose of reality there too. When you really look at it, we’re living a selfish lifestyle. We leave home for weeks and months at a time and hope that the people we love will understand and still love us back.”

Still, the band admit they’re in it for the long run. After all, they don’t know anything else. “We dropped out of college for this,” Villanueva continues. “I just want to inspire people to chase what they want in life. I felt like this was our calling, like we were made for this. It’s the only way we’re going to be at peace with ourselves. We’re never going to stop fighting.”

-Written by Evan Lucy