Considering the terrestrial airplay and internet radio success Engloria snagged with their 2010 debut EP Sundown, nobody could have blamed the Albany, NY based powerhouse alt rockers for coasting a little on their highly anticipated follow-up. But frontman and main songwriter James Stewart says the exhilaration of their live performances over the past year inspired him and his cohorts-his brother Brandon Stewart (drums), Michael Gleason (bass) and Devon Scott (guitar, vocals)-to amp up and let their latest tunes evolve onstage. Translating that energy into the studio, the three tracks on their latest EP, Drive, capture a band on a mission, complete with greater songwriting depth, dynamic production and recurring themes of travel and mobility.

Engloria's music is traveling well so far. They're constantly on the move, playing everywhere from Saratoga to NYC, where they recently gigged at the upscale art gallery Cin-m-art and are scheduled to perform at Gavin DeGraw's club National Underground in January 2012. Engloria has also opened for renowned up and coming bands like Kitten and Koji.

"Lyrically," says James, "most of our songs use imagery of places, travel, and scenarios that express the emotions of characters in the songs. Home, far away, traveling, coming and going... the perspectives and situations change from song to song, but a great deal of them use metaphors to paint a picture, encouraging the listener to associate the song's characters with themselves, someone they know or something they've gone through or experienced. Travel and mobility seem to have risen as a recurring theme in a lot of the new songs. I feel subconsciously this is derived from the energy within our sound and association with material that we feel define us as musicians. I get a feeling of movement, or a sensation of being moved, when writing and performing our songs, so translating this emotion lyrically just came naturally."

The musical chemistry of Engloria comes naturally from the fact that the two Stewart brothers have been jamming together all their lives and have been friends with Devon and Michael since high school. They all played in a multitude of bands in various genres before they decided to blend all of these influences and create Engloria. James moved from drums to piano and guitar as the frontman, which was the catalyst for Brandon joining as the drummer-the point where everything started to gel. James had graduated from college and landed a career job at an ad agency when he realized that music wasn't just a hobby, but his ultimate passion.

"Once I realized this, I decided to make a leap of faith, and focus my efforts into my songwriting and performing," he says. There's no doubt that having my own home studio has been a great opportunity to capture and perfect our tunes along with a rehearsal space for the band. In 2010, we released Sundown and started performing around the tri-cities area in upstate New York, getting a great initial response from fans. A big turning point was being asked to open for Young The Giant, which gave us the confidence that we could find a niche for ourselves. We love the way everything is evolving. It's exciting that we don't know just what's around the corner. It's also a little scary, but in a good way because we're all fully equipped to take Engloria as far as we can go."