That was all of two years ago. Steven, 11, formed the band with fellow Williams fifth-graders Elizabeth Seger on keyboards and Rayden Oricine-Clark on drums. He took the band's name from his third-grade teacher, Lisa Enders.

A couple of days before the June 10 barbecue, The Enders had a three-song set ready to go. They'd been practicing once a week in Steven's living room and, with help from his dad, Greg Garcea, had learned the Beach Boys' "I Get Around," the theme from The Outer Limits and that classic party tune "Louie, Louie."

Steven, who's a big fan of the Beach Boys and the Beatles, had to give his bandmates a music appreciation lesson when they started playing together.

"I liked the music, but I didn't know it was them," Elizabeth said of the famous '60s bands.

Elizabeth and Rayden also had less experience than Steven, who started piano lessons in second grade, then picked up guitar and drums along the way. Elizabeth also took piano lessons in second grade but gave up tickling the ivories a short time later. She didn't play keyboards again until she joined The Enders. Rayden had never played drums before joining the band.

"It's easier to practice with the band," Elizabeth said. "I'm better at memorizing where your hands go than I am at reading music. It's getting easier and easier to play the songs."

It fell to Greg Garcea to show Elizabeth where her hands should go and Rayden how to keep a steady beat, and to teach all band members their respective parts for each song.

"They made it easy," Garcea said. "We were lucky to get three kids who can really play. Since they started this, they all want to learn each other's instruments."

The Enders' parents, who sit in on the Friday afternoon rehearsals, say practice is making the band close to perfect. Elizabeth's mom, Anne Samuels, said the young musicians are learning more than musical skills.

"It helps with left and right brain stuff," she said. "When they're playing now, you see them communicating through eye contact and head nods."

The Enders don't have any other gigs lined up, but the band members said they'd like to keep playing together as long as possible. All three tried to enroll in Castillero Middle School's performing arts magnet program but were put on the waiting list. Steven and Elizabeth will head to Bret Harte Middle School this fall, and Rayden will attend John Muir Middle School.

Meanwhile, they said they'd consider playing some dates this summer, with some caveats.

"I couldn't imagine playing at a friend's party, but I could imagine playing at other people's parties," said Elizabeth. "I want to show off in front of people I don't know."

The Enders' proud parents say classmates are impressed that their friends are even in a band.

"They influence a lot of kids," Charlotte Garcea said. "When they see our kids play, it inspires them."

In putting The Enders together, her husband said, "they did something 13-year-olds do at age 11."

The Garceas say other residents of their Almaden Valley neighborhood don't seem to mind the sounds of the band's weekly rehearsals.

"Our next-door neighbors don't complain about the noise because we bought the drums from them," Charlotte said.