Imagine being a student in Orange County, California in the 1990s, surrounded by bands like No Doubt and Reel Big Fish. Imagine finding yourself in a place where all you want to do is write and design album covers as you sit in class.

“I just kind of stopped paying attention in class around junior high,” Ash Costello, the frontwoman with the two-toned hair for the band, New Years Day. “I spent those days dreaming of what my stage show would be like, what my band would wear on the stage, and how we would sound.”

The bar was set pretty high in that 12-year-old mind that had seemingly checked out of the mandatory educational process. That bar has yet to be reached, even with the milestones the band has achieved in its almost 15 years of existence.

New Years Day has started to enjoy airtime on both, satellite and terrestrial radio, especially with the new release, “Shut Up,” from the month-old album, “Unbreakable,” the band’s fourth studio recording. It has been a long road, Costello said.

“There’s a quote about overnight success. It seems to take a very long time,” Ash said. “I like to think we are still at the beginning of the journey. I want so much more. I want to be headlining arenas. I want that Rob Zombie stage show. In terms of the road we are traveling, it looks the same now as it did when we started. We have a lot (of road) ahead of us.”

Along that journey, the road has seen an evolution in terms of sound coming from the stage for New Years Day. Starting out with the sounds of No Doubt still in their heads, the band members have progressed from the pop punk and radio rock sound to the alternative metal, and nu metal fans of bands like Skillet, Halestorm, and In This Moment, would be familiar with.

As it all has progressed, one thing has continued to ring true for Ash and her band. The writing comes from life and what’s around her.

“Man, I wish I could write something with the mindset of, ‘OK, that’s going to sell. That’s going to be a big hit,'” she said. “Each song that I write comes from a different place, a different experience.”

“Unbreakable” is a collection of emotion and is charged with a raw feeling sure to give those feels a tug and at the same time energize you to move forward. That momentum is what has kept Ash going in the music business.

“You know, it takes a bit of a blend of insanity and stupidity to do what I do,” she laughed. “Seriously. You just have to have that blind faith to push forward and keep going. I like to call it an ignorant confidence.”

New Years Day will take the stage at Buffalo’s Town Ballroom Saturday. Joining her on stage will be Diamante and Savage After Midnight.

“This is going to be a great … rock show with women in charge,” she said.