We were really lucky to catch up with the amazing band Stumble Day following April’s EP release of ‘Stumble Day’. Check out the interview below!
Tell us about yourself?
We’re a brand-spankin’ new band out of the bay area. It’s Rock with a songwriting focus and – if I might compliment my bandmates – a high level of musicianship. We met straddling the jazz and DIY punk worlds in San Jose. I’ve known Jason, the bassist since I was 5 (that’s 20 years), and Dillon, the drummer since I was 14 or 15. Justin is a new and good friend and the most recent addition to the band.
What is your songwriting process?
It varies, but for the most part, I start with a melody and some changes. The lyrics are almost always last, but sometimes they all happen together at once. Pretty much everything I write about comes from my life. Best gig ever played? Well – to be perfectly honest we haven’t played a load of gigs with this band! We’ve been working together on and off for the past two years, but between me travelling abroad and the guys working with various other projects…I believe the best gig ever is yet to come.
Tell us about your latest release?
This is a short collection of 5 of the first tunes I wrote for this group. They deal with relationships, addiction, wanderlust, ennui, and struggling to adapt in the capitalist machine. I’m playing the piano on a few of them and guitar on the rest. “Enough” is a standout track – and one of our most metal overall. As I said – the last two years have been quite sporadic for us, so this has taken way too long to come out. It’s a great record. But the songs are also old to my ears now.
What message do you think your music conveys to your fans?
My whole purpose as an artist is to find and convey the beauty in a baffling, largely inscrutable and often callous world. The perspective I write from is admittedly rather cynical and the subject matter often pretty negative, but music is a way to safely approach and process difficult truths, so I hope people take it that way.
Who are your musical influences?
I love Paul Simon. He and Joni Mitchell are the king and queen of songwriting for my ears. I grew up playing a lot of grunge and punk and prog stuff with Jason, so there’s subtle and sometimes not so subtle Soundgarden, Jeff Buckley and Nirvana flavours in almost everything we do. I also play and listen to a lot of Americana. There’s some Neil Young in there.
Who are your non-musical influences?
Most of the people in my life.
What do you think are the biggest obstacles for bands/artists today?
We’re all fighting for a tiny slice of an enormous pie. It’s easier than ever to distribute your music and harder than ever to make anyone give a flying fuck about it. It’s even harder to monetize; everyone expects everything for free.
What advice would you give to other bands/artists starting out?
Work on your writing; make sure you’ve got something good to present. You won’t at first, you just have to keep hacking at it every day.
Hopes for the next two years?
I hope this f*cking COVID thing goes away and we can play live again. I just want to see a return to the possibility of touring and playing festivals… this live streaming thing is kinda lame.
FVMusicBlog April 2020
https://www.facebook.com/stumbledaymusic
https://www.instagram.com/stumbledayband
https://stumbleday.bandcamp.com
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