STAY
PHOTO BY: Cal Knapp  l  WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/stayrock

WITH A BAND NAME LIKE “STAY” I AM PROBABLY RIGHT WHEN GUESSING THAT YOUR SONGS ARE MOSTLY ABOUT LOVE AND RELATIONSHIPS?

Haha yeah there are definitely a good amount of songs we’ve written dealing with these topics. I think talking about love and relationships is something that’s always been a staple of Pop music and Rock & Roll because it’s so universal and relatable to people. For me, the easiest things to write about are the things that are meaningful and personal to me. I think that’s always the best way to stay honest with yourself and other people and if you’re fortunate enough to be able to connect with people through that then it’s really an amazing, amazing thing.

TALKING ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS… READING THROUGH YOUR MYSPACE PAGE ONE CAN SEE THAT YOU GUYS LIKE TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR FANS. DO YOU SEE THAT “RELATIONSHIP” WITH YOUR FANS GROWING AS THE BAND GAINS MORE MOMENTUM?

Yeah I definitely see that relationship with our fans growing with us organically as we grow. I really don’t wanna become one of those bands that stop’s interacting with their fans when they get bigger just because it gets more difficult too. I mean, I understand it will get to a point where we can’t respond to every single person but we’ll definitely still try and we’ll always, always continue to keep a relationship with all the amazing people that are responsible for us being where we are and taking us to where we ultimately want to be :)

STAY CURRENTLY HAS A DIGITAL EP OUT WHICH CAN BE DOWNLOADED FROM iTUNES TITLED “GAMES WITH GIRLS”. HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN OUT AND WHERE DID YOU RECORD IT?

GWG has been out for one year come January 1st, 2010 and we recorded it in New Windsor, NY at Nada Studio with John Naclario. I think he did an amazing job and he’s also done recordings for some of our favourite bands like Brand New, My Chemical Romance and Just Surrender.

“GAMES WITH GIRLS” IS A TITLE THAT CAN REFER TO MANY GOOD AND “BAD” THINGS, WHY DID YOU CHOOSE IT?

It’s funny because I still remember the exact moment in NY while recording the album that we sat down to pick a title for it. We were at a Denny’s near our hotel and we basically just started throwing out different names since we really hadn’t had a chance to think about a title until that point. I think Games With Girls was just the best thing we came up with out of all the titles we had haha.

As far as relevance goes, the songs are mostly about girls that have played head games with us at some point in our lives and we’ve probably done the same to a few girls as well…

YOUR RECORDINGS SOUND VERY “POLISHED”; IS IT EASY FOR YOU GUYS TO REPLICATE THAT SOUND LIVE OR IS LIVE PERFORMANCES A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SCENARIO WITH ITS OWN CHALLENGES?

I think it was somewhat challenging to replicate the songs because we wanted to have all the same sounds and as many vocal parts as we did on the record which is a lot. It took a while before we were really happy with how well we could replicate the album live while still giving people a show. So yeah, basically for me the live performance is almost always a different scenario with its own unique challenges compared to the recording process.

IS THE BAND PLANNING TO HIT THE ROAD MORE THIS YEAR AND DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS YET WHERE YOU WOULD LIKE TO PERFORM MORE TO BUILD UP AN EVEN BIGGER FAN BASE?

Oh yeah we’re definitely planning to hit the road hard in 2010 and we basically wanna go everywhere in the US! We’ll probably do more regional touring at the beginning of the year and hopefully a lot of national touring by the end of the year. We’re all super excited to get back on the road, meet new AND old fans, and to be able to support some bands that are bigger than us!

THE BAND PLAYS THE KIND OF RADIO FRIENDLY POP / ROCK THAT PLACES YOU IN A VERY COMPETITIVE MARKET. I DON’T KNOW IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO DO A FULL ALBUM, BUT LOOKING AHEAD; DOES THE BAND HAVE AN IDEA WHAT DIRECTION YOU WOULD LIKE TO TAKE WITH YOUR MUSIC?

We’re actually writing new material for our first full length record right now and we’re really stoked to be able to get new music out to people. We basically wanna just keep growing as much as we can musically and continue to do what we’ve done but do it better and on a bigger scale. We’re really careful about balancing making music we really like and making sure we’re not alienating anyone that already likes what we’ve done.

IMAGE PLAYS A BIG ROLE IN ANY GENRE. DO YOU THINK THE MUSIC VIDEO FOR THE SONG “MADDIE KTHX” HELPED A LOT WHEN IT CAME TO SHOWING PEOPLE AN “IMAGE” OF WHAT THE BAND IS ABOUT MUSICALLY AND IN REAL LIFE?

I think it helped give people a visual of us that may be a little more accurate than how’ve been portrayed before. We’re all still really the nice guys that people see but we’ve never shown ourselves hanging out and partying or anything like that. We do like to have a good time too! So we got to give people a taste of how hard we rock out and some real party footage too which is cool.

THE BAND IS CURRENTLY UNSIGNED. WOULD YOU GUYS LIKE TO CONTINUE YOUR MUSIC CAREER AS AN INDEPENDENT BAND OR ARE YOU LIKE MANY OTHERS CHASING THAT BIG RECORD CONTRACT?

I don’t consider us to be a band chasing a record deal by any means and I’m really happy to have control over the music we make. That said, we really want as many people to hear our music as possible and if we were offered a great deal by a great label and it was the right timing and fit for us, I’m sure we’d consider taking it. However, if we’re able to continue making music and growing larger as an independent act, I’d be fine staying unsigned.

YOU GUYS LANDED AT NUMBER EIGHT ON PUREVOLUME’S “TOP 20 UNSIGNED BANDS OF 2009” LIST. THAT MUST BE A HUGE CONFIDENCE BOOSTER HEADING INTO 2010?

It’s definitely is! We’re really stoked that Purevolume.com decided to choose us a Top Unsigned Act this year and we’re really thankful to them and everyone who’s helped get us to this point! It really means a lot to us to finally start getting more recognition after working so hard all year. It’s really a great feeling!

ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR ANYTHING ELSE FANS SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR?

We just wanna thank Mirovia Magazine for the interview and everyone else who’s been supporting us in any way! We really have the most amazing fans and we couldn’t be here without them - keep checking back with us because we have some ridiculous shit planned for 2010! Thanks again!

INTERVIEW BY NEIL VAN ZYL