For our final Band of the Month in 2015 we thought it was only right we blow out the year with a bang. This year we have brought you bands from far flung places like Georgia and Hungary but we finish the year back home and in the capital with hardcore outfit Stand Alone
Bio:
Stand Alone formed early 2014 when 4 strangers met online. Either frustrated with the lack of opportunities locally or simply new to the country, the one thing they had in common was the desire to write music from the heart.
After their individual persistence to form/join a band locally had exhausted all avenues they turned to an online music forum, designed for forming bands. As coincidence would have it four guys of a similar age, experience and within a stones from of each other had logged on, within twenty-four had laid down the foundations to start what would become ‘Stand Alone’.
After a preliminary pint at local music venue and still a member short, Steve invited his high school friend of indie and acoustic background to try his hand at playing bass and performing backing vocals for what at this point had been called the ‘hardcore project’.
Within a few weeks using Iain's home studio and catalogue of song ideas we finally had the resources to start writing the Stand Alone E.P. With each member adding their ideas, experience and flavour to the songs, also collectively working on the vocals the record started to take shape.
Iain and Alex hailing from South Africa and Spain respectively added a new dimension to the project, having the experience of both playing guitar and touring in successful hardcore bands on their home soil gave the project the diversity it needed, giving a new perspective to what potentially could have been just another ‘British Hardcore Band.’ Richard’s love for fitness, punk and traditional hardcore brought energy and stamina to the project, with tasteful symbol work, rhythmic single pedal play and fluid drum rolls a formula for organised chaos had been formed. Joe’s love for music has seen him bring vocals and various instruments to numerous solo and group projects over the years, his natural transition between smooth and heated vocals brought the passion of indie rock to a hardcore band, breaking the normal formula. Steve’s vocal background has seen him perform in several heavier projects, with the experience of actively performing and touring in local hardcore and metal bands, with fire still in his gut and conviction in his lyrics the 5 links in the chain had formed.
Members:
Iain Stalker - Guitar
Alex Jimenez - Guitar
Joe Blackford - Bass/Vocals
Richard Carswell - Drums
Steve Kerr - Vocals
Influences:
Killswitch Engage
Alexisonfire
La Dispute, Defeater
Poison The Well
Comeback Kid
You have your debut EP out in December, what can you tell us about it:
The ‘Stand Alone E.P.’ explore issues of abandonment, grief, the human experience and the struggles of modern life. At its core Stand Alone aims to bring heartfelt and passionate songs, no showboating or bullshit. Just simple songs from the soul of five former strangers. We all really wore our hearts on our sleeves and laid ourselves on the line. We wanted to capture the honesty and sincerity behind our own personal conflict and struggles.
Current Release and Where Is It Available:
By the official release you should be able to find us on all the major distributions sites and apps.
Future Plans:
Our main focus is to gig as much as possible, we’ve taken a lot of time out to record our debut EP and now want to put our money where our mouth is, too show you the hearts and energy behind the product. We all live to be on stage and all love to perform, feels like home. We’ve already started working on EP number two so will look to recording that in a few months.
Tour Dates:
We’re in the process of booking a tour for early next year, we have our EP release show at ‘The Black Heart’ in Camden, London on the 14th December. Event link HERE
How is the London music scene for an up and coming band:
To be perfectly honest, it's difficult. A lot of venues are closing and those local venues that remain open can be hard to get given a chance with. London has so many talented band and musicians that promoters can have a habit of sticking to the bands they knew or only stick to a certain sub-genre of music to promote. It all becomes a little ‘clicky’ but we love the challenge, keeps us on our toes and pushing harder.
If you were the Prime Minister for one day, what would you do:
I’d cut all the salaries of the MPs and the rest of the government to a basic wage, arrest all the bankers that keep crippling the country and make ice-cream vans make the ‘99 flake’ back to 99p again.
If you could go back to any time in history, where would you go and why:
I’d go back to the Jurassic age to check out all the cool animals and insects. I have a love for nature so being able to see things we only have interpretations of would be cool as hell. Also I could take a camera with me and try get a photo riding a T-Rex.
Is there anything you would like to say to our readers:
Thanks for taking the time for checking us out, if you like what you hear or have read then please don’t be strangers, share the love.
Links:
At the moment you can find us on:
Facebook
Bandcamp
Soundcloud