Forget about sugar plums dancing in your head. At the age of 16, Derrick Sugimura, 20, psychology major, dreamed of owning a rhythm guitar for Christmas. The only problem was that he didn’t know how to play one, so he made it his priority to be self-taught for a chance to strum his way into stardom.

“When I was a kid, I was always interested in music and wanted to sing or be in a group, (but) there was nobody to teach me, since my parents didn’t know anything about music,” Sugimura said. “I didn’t know where to go for lessons. I guess the cards weren’t played out for me at the time.”

After Sugimura received the guitar for Christmas, it just sat there for a couple of months. While dust collected on his guitar, he finally took the initiative to put it to good use.

Sugimura wasn’t like other musicians who started at an early age. He had no musical background and music did not run in his family. In spite of his lack of musical experience, he still wanted to be a singer and guitarist, and his mission to be one led him to surrounded himself with friends who were in different bands.

“I didn’t want to waste it, so I started playing with it a little bit,” Sugimura said.

Sugimura learned how to play the guitar by going online to look at tabs and chords. It also helped that a lot of his friends played the instrument, so he was able to get pointers as well. While the guitar didn’t come as naturally to him at first, singing did.

“I guess I am just lucky that singing came easily for me,” Sugimura said. “I practiced on my own, didn’t take any lessons and nobody taught me.”

As his interest in music grew and his guitar skills improved, Sugimura watched a live show of a band named 81 Days. Sugimura recalled how big of an impact that concert had on him as an artist.

“After that show, I knew I had to do something like that,” Sugimura said. “My friends and I had nothing to lose, so we recorded a song that was eight minutes long with a tape recorder just to see what it was like.”

After a long hiatus, Sugimura formed an alternative rock band named Save Me Stereo, formerly known as Black Hawk Surrender. The band’s first name didn’t fit the group at the time and it took them a while to come together as one sound.

When Jontin Caluag, 19, drummer and band mate first joined the band he wondered, “what kind of name was Black Hawk Surrender?” Derrick along with his other band mates knew that they needed to change it.

“Derrick called me one day and asked me how I liked ‘Save Me Stereo’ as a band name and it worked,” Caluag said.

Sugimura got the idea to use Save Me Stereo when he wanted their music to heal people.

“I wanted something that described the feeling of music saving people, a name that really clicked,” Sugimura said.

Save Me Stereo is influenced by different bands such as Best Interest (a local Torrance band which broke up a long time ago) and oldies from the ’70s and ’80s like The Police.

“We are very unique with our own style and try to come up with our own thing, but I think we can be compared to Incubus and the Fall Out Boys,” Sugimura said. “We started out really slowly because the members of the band had their own thing going along with some problems in the band.”

Sugimura, lead singer, songwriter and regular six-string electric guitarist for the group said, “the band took many months off in-between practices” and questioned whether his band had the potential to be a real band.

“There were many times when we didn’t practice for weeks, sometimes months,” Sugimura said. “Plus the fact that I had absolutely nothing to write about, and writer’s block was really taking its toll on me.”

A pivotal point for the band happened when Sugimura checked his MySpace inbox earlier this year and found an invitation for his band to play at the Chain Reaction.

“There were a lot of people at the show,” Sugimura said. “That was a turning point for our band because we felt like we belonged and we made our mark as a real group. It just went uphill from there once we saw our potential.”

Sugimura writes the basics of the music sheets and lyrics, but gives his band mates the freedom to interpret the music themselves.

“The end product is all of us, not just me,” Sugimura said.

While other musicians play just to play, Caluag says, “Derrick feels what he writes and plays.”

“When we play (music), I feel like when (Derrick) strums his guitar, he feels the notes with his fingertips,” Caluag said. “And I can immediately make a rhythm to what he plays.”

Sugimura and Save Me Stereo encourage people to come check them out at their upcoming performances: The Palmer Room in West L.A. May 26 and the Filipino Independence Day Festival in Carson June 6.

All profits that Sugimura and his band make from the next shows will go toward a demo CD of their music with songs such as “Post Card” and “Don’t Panic.”

“Hopefully with these shows, we can save up enough money for a demo CD or an LP, so that you guys can sing along or shout out to your favorite songs,” Sugimura said. ”

Sugimura and Save Me Stereo are always looking for new gigs so leave them a message on MySpace.

For more details on upcoming concerts and the band, interested persons may visit www.MySpace.com/savemestereo.

“We’re just a group of people that make music and we want you to hear what we make, especially since we all contribute to the songs and the sound (as a band),” Caluag said.

While the group is currently gaining some success, Sugimura is trying his best to balance his focus between school and music.

“To be quite honest, it’s tough right now, especially since our band is doing well,” Sugimura said. “Because of our success, I tend to focus more on music instead of school, but I do acknowledge that school is very important.”

If music is where the success is, Sugimura will not hesitate to go that route.

“Life presents so many opportunities and I am looking to take advantage of those that are given to me, whether it be music or school,” Sugimura said.

“Life is great for me right now.”