Lots of musicians have gotten their start playing in school. Encinitas' John Cooper, lead singer of rock band the Howls, is one of those -- but his path was a little different from most.

Home-schooled with his three brothers, Cooper never had a chance to learn an instrument in the school band or orchestra. Instead, he found himself writing songs for academic credit.

"Being home-schooled, I really focused in and did a lot in the areas I enjoyed and excelled in, and just enough to get by in the areas I didn't so much enjoy -- like math and science," Cooper said by phone recently.

"I was doing a lot of writing -- I didn't enjoy poetry so much, but I got a lot more out of writing and playing music. My dad and older brother had guitars, and I'd use them when they weren't looking.

"I don't have a whole lot of musical training -- I never took band or lessons. Our bass player and drummer, and our guitarist, are all a lot more scientific about it.

"It probably took me about twice as long to figure everything out."

After about a year and a half writing songs, Cooper figured it was time to perform them in public. He said he did a couple of solo shows at bars in Ocean Beach and Pacific Beach, and a couple of open mics at Hot Java Cafe in Carmel Mountain Ranch, when he decided his songs needed a full band.

And so, a year ago this month, Cooper founded the Howls (named after an Allen Ginsberg poem he admired) with drummer Dave Gargula and a since-departed bassist. After three months, Caleb Chial joined on bass.

"Dave was a friend of my little brother's, and Caleb was a friend of a friend. He and Dave were in some metal bands in high school. Caleb actually played drums originally, and Dave was playing bass. Dave is originally a drummer, and Caleb can play everything, so he bounced to the bass when he played with us."

While the Howls were originally founded as a vehicle for Cooper's songwriting, he said the band and the music have each evolved in the past year.

"Originally, I would come in with songs and I'd be like, 'OK, these are the newer songs, I'm feeling this,' and we'd do it. But the more we've been playing -- we play two or three gigs a week and then practice another two or three times, and also record a lot on our own -- it's become more of a collaborative effort. A lot of the newer songs are the three of us, where originally it was just me coming in."

To flesh out its sound, the band has also been using a variety of lead guitarists, Cooper said, but is having a tough time finding someone who fits in with the rest of the band. Of late, though, Nik Ewing has been filling that seat, and he'll play in the band's North County shows this week.

As for the future, Cooper said the band is working on an EP, which it hopes to release this summer, and is planning to do some regional touring. The band's members are young enough (20 to 23) to not have families or established careers, leaving them the flexibility to go on the road.

"We're going to start booking more shows out of town -- up the coast, Arizona, Nevada -- stuff we can do on our own dime."

And while the band members hope, as do most musicians, that a label picks them up, Cooper said they'll release the EP on their own and see where that takes them in the immediate future.

"I'm not going to sit on my hands and wait for someone to come and do the work for me."

The Howls, with the Moviegoers

When: 9 p.m. April 25

Where: The Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave., San Diego

Admission: Call for cover

Info: (619) 284-2848 or myspace.com/thekensingtonclub

Web: thehowls.com