WILMINGTON — A local resident is taking the next step in his music career.

Evan Hilderbrandt and his metal band Eternal Void were the first signed act for Tragic Hero Records this year.

“None of us really believe it. We’re still trying to get used to the idea of it because we’ve been at it for so long,” he said.

He described the signing as justifying all the shows they played going until the earlier morning hours then getting up for his day job — a loan officer at Wright-Patt Credit Union — and driving in their old unheated van in the winter.

“It’s what we’ve wanted to do for a long time. It’s good to actually say ‘Hey, we did it and we did it on our own terms,’” he said.

The band got its start in 2008 and was more of a side project, he said. The band consists of Hilderbrandt on guitar and backing vocals, Logan Adams on vocals, Kyle Davis on guitar, and Dylan Krebs on drums.

Hilderbrandt and Krebs met in 2007 when Krebs was the drummer of a Wilmington-based band called Solitary Confinement. The band later broke up, but Hilderbrandt kept in contact with Krebs and eventually got brought on to Krebs’ other band Eternal Void.

The record label signing is another item to an already busy year for him, which includes his regular day job and planning his wedding in October.

His fiance, Kristina Decker, is beyond proud of him and his bandmates for achieving this goal, especially after the bands tough times.

“I’ve been with Evan since he joined Eternal Void many years ago when we were just 17, and it’s amazing and inspiring to see how far he and the band have come since then,” said Decker. “Making music has always been his life, but getting signed to a label has been Evan’s dream for as long as I can remember. They deserve every bit of recognition for it and I know they won’t disappoint. “

Hilderbrandt’s journey in music began with playing guitar at age 13, with his path to metal starting around high school with friends recommending music to him.

“When I started out I was mostly into classic rock-type music like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Then a lot of friends started introducing me to heavier things and something about it clicked,” Hildebrandt said.

They’re planning on doing a re-release of a previous album they made independently called Catharsis. That’ll be out on March 2. They’re already in the process of writing their second album which they hope to release by the end of the summer.

The music will be available on iTunes and Spotify with the hopes of it being released on physical copies in stores.