To Andrew Conway, music isn’t simply the art of sound or an audible noise — it is a mind-altering substance.

Throughout a series of events that could be tagged as the script for Disney’s “It’s a Small World,” Conway came to know Nick Tobar, Tyler Cosco, Doug Smith, Adam Smith, Brad Smith and Brian Keller.

Together, these seven men comprise Conway & Company — the funk/rock/hip-hop music group that Conway and guitarist Tobar began building over five years ago after tag-teaming an American Idol audition in Rochester.

“The universe put us in each other’s path,” Conway said of the band members. “If something great is offered to you and you turn it down, that’s pretty dumb.”

Tobar was playing guitar for an area country band called Dobbins Creek when Conway’s then-girlfriend suggested the two audition for American Idol as a duet.

Conway and Tobar worked so well together musically that Tobar ended up leaving Dobbins Creek to play with Conway more often.

“I was hoping he wouldn’t have a problem walking away from that,” Conway said.

As the real-life script of “It’s a Small World” panned out, Adam Smith, who had been playing in a band with his brothers Doug and Brad Smith called Doc J and the Smith Brothers, invited Conway and Tobar to play at Cornstalk Festival in Fairmont with them.

“It was awesome,” Conway said. “It was like a supergroup.”

Conway & Company has been performing in its present form for between four and five years, but operating a 7-piece band is not always simple.

Two of the band members — Brad Smith, keys, and Brian Keller, saxophone — live in Hays, Kansas, so sometimes practices are rare and the writing process can be difficult.

“(The Kansas-based band members) are like kids knowing there’s a fun game going on somewhere else and they can’t play it,” Conway said of the distance between Smith and Keller and the rest of the guys. “It takes a lot of work. We’re a group; everybody is needed.”

Since the musicians have been working together for so long, they feel comfortable relying on each other on stage even after periods of little practice.

“There’s a comfort now, more than at the beginning, that everyone can hold their own,” Conway said. “I can be on stage and not worry about what everyone else is doing, and so can everybody else.”

Conway said the group still manages to play two to three shows per month on average, especially because several annual events schedule the band each year. The guys have played at several bars in Austin, as well as at venues in Kansas, Nebraska and Montana to accommodate the two Kansas-based members.

Conway & Company has also been on two successful month-long tours, one that covered three states and one that covered 14 states.

The band’s next step is to expand its fan base to the Twin Cities area. Conway said they haven’t played much in that area of the state and would like to branch out.

The group’s sound is evolving and may include more horn in the future, as well.

“We’re looking to add more horn,” Conway said. “Horns are ear candy. You can include horns into any song.”

The guys are also toying with the idea of pursuing record labels on which to sign. Although no opportunities have presented themselves yet, Conway said being signed can get tricky. One thing holds true regardless, though — all seven of these men care about their music and expect to be taken seriously as musicians.

“We’re professional musicians, whether we’re signed onto a label or not,” Conway said. “This is what’s fun for us — it’s a passion.”