North Haven High School graduate Ryan McLoughlin has taken his local music roots on the national trail.

McLaughlin, a 2007 NHHS grad, has been touring the country’s east coast and Midwest as the base guitar player for two youthful and Boston-based rock bands, Same Mistake Twice and Angleworm. He’s also a third-year student at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, having picked up the base guitar when he was 12 years old and played the tuba throughout high school.

McLaughlin toured last summer with both four-piece rock bands, including the 2009 Warped Tour with Same Mistake Twice, making stops in Boston, Chicago, New York City, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, as well as Camden, New Jersey and Ann Arbor, Michigan.

“It’s not a glamorous life, but it’s a lot of fun,” McLoughlin said of touring. “It makes you feel good when other people like your music.”

An ambitious but modest rocker, McLaughlin is in the stage of building a name for himself and his bands. “We’ve been out touring the country and trying to get our sound out there,” he said.

McLoughlin founded Angleworm in 2001, and successfully auditioned for Same Mistake Twice in 2008. Same Mistake Twice is fronted by female vocalist and fellow Berklee-student Alisha Dixon, who advanced to the Hollywood rounds in Season 7 of Fox’s reality competition American Idol.

McLoughlin described Same Mistake Twice as mainstream punk/rock, and Angelworm as having a more “underground” and Clash-inspired sound. “The bands don’t play the same types of venues,” McLoughlin said. “That’s what makes it so much fun to play in both.”

The bands have played in all sorts of bars, concerts, fairs and other locations. McLoughlin said that one of the most interesting places that Same Mistake Twice performed was the Risque Café in Chicago.

“It was down the street from Wrigley Field,” he said of the café. “It was really cool. They served bourbon and played really weird movies.”

A memorable spot where Angleworm played was Asbury Lanes, a bowling alley and concert venue in Asbury Park, New Jersey. “They set up a circular stage in the middle of the lanes, so that people were bowling all around us,” McLoughlin said.

As young rockers paying their dues on the road, McLoughlin and his bandmates must serve as more than just musicians, most importantly doubling as the groups’ marketers.

“You got to promote yourself,” McLoughlin said. “You got to package yourself. Nobody is going to do it for you. You got to make a name for yourself. I think that’s the toughest part about this that many people don’t really know about. You have to get out there and promote and book your own shows.”

“It’s a lot of hard work,” McLoughlin added.

The off-stage duties eat into the bands’ free time and touring budgets. McLoughlin said that the groups played or promoted themselves every single day while on tour.

“We don’t get to shower every day,” he said. “We’ve slept on a lot of floors. We don’t make any money. The lead singer of Same Mistake Twice works two jobs. Right now, it’s just about having fun.”

The groups have posted their tunes and shows online at MySpace and YouTube, including Same Mistake Twice’s music video for their single “Get Out” at myspace.com/samemistake2x. All the extra efforts are paying off, according to McLoughlin, as both bands have developed a passionate following.

“It’s hard to make it in the music scene,” McLoughlin said. “You have to build a fan base. We’re starting to get one for both bands. At some of the first shows we played, there were only five to ten people in the bar. Now we see the same faces in the crowds. People are sticking around and singing along to our songs. It took a lot of hard work.”

The bands’ reputations are even beginning to precede them.

“It’s really exciting when you go to a new state where you’ve never been before and everyone already knows your songs,” McLoughlin said. “The other day, we got contacted by somebody from France who wanted to fly out here to see us live.”

The North Haven bassist said that he learned many of the aspects of putting on a music show from his time in NHHS rock groups, jazz ensembles and school bands, while under the tutelage of NHHS music teacher Ken Tedeschi.

“Tedeschi was a big help,” McLoughlin said, “especially with the jazz band. My senior year, he let me and a few other students run the group. We picked the tunes and put it together. It helped me to have control of something for when I went off to college and put together bands. It taught me how to run a band.”

“While playing in bands in North Haven, I learned how to interact with people,” McLoughlin added. “That’s one of the most important things to learn how to do in music. On the road, you have to be able to talk to everyone and know how to be nice with everyone.”

The NHHS music teacher also allowed McLoughlin to sharpen, broaden and display his musical talents.

“Tedeschi gave me a lot of opportunity to play,” McLoughlin said. “When I played the tuba in the school’s brass quintet, we played classical music, and we played all over town.”

Tedeschi had praise for his former tuba player.

“He was congenial and had a wonderful personality,” Tedeschi said of McLoughlin. “He was a hard worker. He was able to involve those around him positively, whether in a band, brass quintet or a rock venue. He’s just a wonderful boy.”

McLoughlin said that Same Mistake Twice is finishing up a new record, under their small record deal with Boston-based label District Kills Records, while Angleworm is working on new material. Like any intelligent and ambitious entertainer, McLoughlin is keeping his options open. He’s majoring in professional music in Berklee, with an eye to education.

“After I graduate, I want to get my masters in education and teach music,” he said.

In the meantime, McLoughlin will keep his ear to his music. “Right now, I’m just playing some music and touring,” he said.

For more information on Same Mistake Twice, visit myspace.com/samemistake2x. For more information on Angleworm, visit myspace.com/angleworm.