Taipei Houston performs at August Hall in San Francisco on Dec. 16, 2021. Derek Tobias/STAFF.

SACRAMENTO — Life comes at you fast if you’re Myles and Layne Ulrich, the up-and-coming alt rock duo better known as Taipei Houston. The brothers with rock and roll in their blood have been working at a breakneck pace. In just the past few months, the band has hit the road with the Melvins, opened for Muse in Los Angeles, and will release debut record Once Bit Never Bored on Nov. 4.

The Ulrichs—sons of Metallica’s Lars Ulrich— say the experiences flash by but they try to enjoy them when they come.

“It’s a really wild ride and that’s kinda what makes it fun” drummer Myles Ulrich said at Aftershock Festival in Sacramento, where the band played earlier this month. “Sharing the stage with Muse was just such a full circle moment for me; I feel nothing but humbled and excited.”

Sonically, the band sits squarely within the spectrum of alt-rock, mixing in a little Royal Blood, White Stripes and Queens of the Stone Age. It’s not difficult to see the resemblance of both brothers with their famous father. Growing up, they didn’t think of their dad as “Lars from Metallica,” but it did open them up to a world of influences that would set them on a path toward music.

“For me, at least, the main thing was being around people who are interested in music, especially from a young age growing up listening to Sabbath and Iron Maiden, but also into things like Oasis—being around music people is always fun,” bassist-singer Layne Ulrich said.

The brothers said their dad has provided guidance, but by and large lets the two pave their own path in their career.

Taipei Houston performs at BottleRock Napa Valley at the Napa Valley Expo on May 29, 2022. Nate McKinley/STAFF.

“He’s given some general advice, though I don’t know that there’s really any soundbite,” Myles Ulrich said. “He’s been really supportive of it and thinks it’s really cool.”

“[We’re] working on the best songs and best art that we can,” Layne added. “That’s something that we’ve always felt encouraged about.”

The band has played two of Northern California’s largest festivals in BottleRock Napa Valley and Aftershock. Amazingly, the band exists within what’s become a sub-genre of sorts: Acts fronted by the children of Metallica’s band members, along with Robert Trujillo’s son Tye Trujillo in OTTTO and Castor Hatfield’s Bastardane.

All of these bands played together on one bill at The Chapel in San Francisco during Metallica’s 40th anniversary week in late 2021.

“The Chapel is such a legendary venue, just being from the Bay Area and playing there was super sick,” Layne Ulrich said. “It was fun to play out there and have a good time.”

Taipei Houston performs at August Hall in San Francisco on Dec. 16, 2021. Derek Tobias/STAFF.

While the Ulrichs have their set roles on stage, it’s very different story in the studio. They said the songwriting process is collaborative and they wear a number of different hats.

“We’re a really down-the-middle collaborative band,” Layne Ulrich said. “We all kinda do everything. I sing in the band, but we both work on vocals. Myles plays all the guitars on the full project. … He has a lot of great solos and a lot of great guitar moments that, live, is not his showcase, but in the recordings it is.”

While they may have grown up in a heavy metal household, the music of Taipei Houston doesn’t occupy that space. The band’s sound digs into dynamic bass-driven alt-rock with heavy percussion. Once Bit Never Bored is tightly constructed, urgent and energetic in its fuzz-tone riffs.

Whether it’s the festivals or the clubs, the band said it’s excited to hit the road in a big way and find new audiences.

“Seeing people’s reaction to it because for a lot of them, it’s their first time seeing us,” Layne Ulrich said. The Melvins tour in particular helped set the tone on the road, Myles added. It gave the band an opprtunity to play many places for the first time and learn from extreme veterans.

What would be the ultimate gig for the burgeoning duo? Both Ulrichs want to play Rock in Rio, or a night (or five) at London’s Wembley Stadium. But more on the immediate horizon?

“Honestly just getting to play for people who are interested in coming to hear music,” Layne Ulrich said.

Follow Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.