Ahead of their appearance at this year's Barn on the Farm, indie upstarts STONE are buzzing to hit the festival circuit.
Words: Sam Taylor.
It must have been hard being 'a band' over the past few years. There's a traditional order to things - put out music, build up a live following, go do the festivals. At least two thirds of that has been a muddle at best, for obvious reasons, but now we're finally getting back to something approaching normality things are looking up. Building a rep as a live band already, STONE are ready to get onto the festival circuit proper. With Barn on the Farm just around the corner (yes, that's one of the places you can catch them this year - Ed), we pulled lead guitarist Elliot out of a bedroom writing sesh to find out more.
Hi Elliot! Who are you all, and what are your roles within the band?
We have Fin, our lead poet and frontman, Sarah on bass and Alex, who hits things with sticks. Then me, who provides loud guitars and general chaos.
How did you approach finding your sound, did you go through a lot of experimentation? Are you all into similar things?
Fin and I had been playing in a previous band together for a couple of years before forming STONE, but we both have spent a lot of time trying things out and channelling our influences - hip-hop, rock, punk. Songs have come and gone, but after writing our single 'Stupid' a few years ago (which just properly came out), I think that really set the foundations for what would become our sound. After writing 'Leave It Out', Fin found his rhythm in his brand of Scouse poetry. He loves hip-hop and good lyrics, narratives and such, like The Streets. I like a lot of post-punk, psych and shoegaze and just finding out what horrible or sweet noises I can make with my guitar. I think just over the years, our chemistry has just been building, and we have found our little eclectic blend of Scouse noise, but we're still pushing ourselves and finding the gold. I read a YouTube comment describing us as 'post-apocalyptic Scally rock', and that line just sits in my head rent-free.
