Long Island, NY’s Stand Still burst on to the scene in 2021 with their debut EP and since have followed with a second EP and now their debut full-length titled “Steps Ascending” out now on DAZE. Their melodic hardcore style will take some of you back to names like Silent Majority, Inside, Capital, and Taking Back Sunday. The LIHC scene is diversely stacked right now and bands like Stand Still are leading the charge on the melodic side of things. Guitarist Bryan Natole was interviewed in early July. The rest of Stand Still is: Gerry Windus (vocals), Steve Hallam (guitar), Mat Rienecker (bass) and Andre Valerio (drums). In more recent news the band announced that they will be doing a 6 date tour of Japan in December. Lead photo by: Steve Levy, Graphics by: Paul Turano.
IE: Hey Bryan, where exactly are you right now and what would you usually be doing around this time if you weren’t answering these questions?
Bryan: Hey Chris, thanks for having me! I’m currently in the van on our tour with Soul Blind and Askysoblack. Usually around this time of day I would be at the office at work. I’m glad to be on the road instead!
IE: It’s been a little over 2 and a half years since we interviewed Stand Still in a parking lot before your second show in Oakdale, Long Island. Since that time you released an EP in 2021 and now we have the band’s first full length in “Steps Ascending”. Can you start off by telling us about this new album? I read that the band spent over a year driving up to Silver Bullet Studios in CT to record these 10 new songs?
Bryan: We spent about 3-4 years writing the music as a group and then recording it at a level that we were happy with. We worked with our friends Greg Thomas and Chris Teti of Silver Bullet Studios from November 2022 through January of 2024 to record this record. Greg produced, engineered and mixed the record, while Chris helped with mixing and engineering. It took countless road trips, bear sightings, movie nights, coffee runs, beers, and smoke breaks to get it all squared away, but we are all very happy with the final result. Actually, funny story… the first day we went to do scratch tracks, we were fresh off a late flight coming back from touring the West Coast with Life’s Question. Someone crashed into a telephone pole near the studio and knocked the power out for the whole day. We improvised and started the record out by recording scratch tracks on a laptop in the dark next to a fire in Greg’s living room hahaha!
IE: That last time we interviewed you we were just coming out of the pandemic and bands were just starting to play shows again… Your singer Gerry mentioned there were a lot of pandemic induced anxieties and stress that went into the making of that first record. It was also mentioned that all of you or the majority of you were furloughed from jobs at that time and four hour practices on a weekday were a common thing for Stand Still. Assuming your personal lives are somewhat normal again can you talk about how the band currently functions as opposed to a few years back? Was it a lot harder to put this new album together with maybe less personal time on your hands?
Bryan: So things have naturally changed a lot since the last time you interviewed us. We are all back to work full time and that definitely limits the amount we can practice and write music together. What’s interesting is that the fact that we had such a head start with our last releases from the extra time provided by the pandemic, that we have been writing the music on “Steps Ascending” already for over three years. Both of our first EP’s were both written and recorded in 2020, so we have been writing new music since then that became “Steps Ascending”. Even more interesting is that some of the songs that are on “Steps Ascending” were initially written years ago. I wrote the song “Steps Ascending” when I was 15 years old in about 2010/2011 with my good friend Michael Smith on drums. So long story short, this album is a long time coming and has been in the works for years.
PHOTO BY: STEVE LEVY
IE: There are already a couple of well-produced music videos for songs off the new album. Can you take us through the making of each?
Bryan: We worked with Tom Flynn for both the music videos to support the new LP. He did the video for “Loose Ends” off of our last EP, “In A Moment’s Notice”. He absolutely killed it on that video so naturally we had to have him back to do our videos for the LP. He directed videos for the songs “In The Dying Light of a Setting Sun” and “In My Blood”. “In The Dying Light Of A Setting Sun” was filmed at a larger venue in Huntington that cannot be named but probably can be inferred from this sentence. “In My Blood” was filmed at some of our best friend’s house, the Smith House in Lindenhurst, where Taking Back Sunday also filmed their video for “S’old” last summer. The Smith House is a legendary house that has hosted tons of IYKYK punk shows over the years including Taking Back Sunday, Capital, Victory Garden, Stand Still, Koyo, Private Mind, Innerlove and many others. Shout out to our friends Christopher, Michael, Tone, Danny, and Liz for letting us use their space! (Click HERE to watch the “In My Blood” music video).
CLICK BELOW TO WATCH THE “IN THE DYING LIGHT OF A SETTING SUN” MUSIC VIDEO
IE: Do you have any advice for bands who have thought about but have not jumped into making a music video for their material?
Bryan: I don’t feel like music videos are necessary, especially for a hardcore band. But if you want to visually convey some of the messaging or themes of your songs or record, then a music video can definitely help you accomplish that. We typically brainstorm an idea spawned by the themes in the music, and then we choose a director we like and trust to bring our vision to life. My best advice is to do whatever you want and not to worry about what other people think.
IE: What would you say are your top three favorite songs off of the new album and what about them makes them your favorites?
Bryan: This is a tough question because we were very careful to not create any filler songs and to put our best foot forward with any track that made the final cut. I love every song that made it on the LP, but my top three are “Avoiding The Intersection”, “Gridlock Apocalypse”, and “Tower Of Gold”. Those are my favorites because they get hooked in my brain, because I feel they are great examples of what Stand Still sounds like, and because they showcase our growth from previous records we released.
IE: What about the album cover for “Steps Ascending”? Can you tell us about it and how the lyrics of the song may or may not tie in with the cover photo?
Bryan: This photo, along with other photos that were used for the single’s artwork and promo were taken by our friend Cody Ganzer. (additional imagery for the record was captured by Steve Levy and Matt Viel as well). The message we were trying to convey with the album cover was that the subject is running away from something that is out of frame and is open to the interpretation of the listener. The steps in the background ties in the theme of the song “Steps Ascending” with that additional visual.
PHOTO BY: STEVE LEVY
IE: Do you keep track as to how many shows the band has played so far and what have been some of the cooler places you have visited?
Bryan: Since we last talked, we had to have played hundreds of shows. We are halfway through 2024, and we have already played almost 50 shows already just this year. My favorite thing we’ve seen while on tour is probably Niagara Falls (Canada side), my favorite city to play (aside from Long Island) is probably Chicago, and my favorite venue we’ve played is probably Che Cafe in San Diego.
IE: What kinds of jobs do the members of this band hold down and are you guys in anyway holding back on tour offers or shows to keep those jobs long term?
Bryan: It’s a constant balancing act to juggle having serious careers and being in a touring band. Even with some small limitations, we all feel like we are constantly touring and staying as active as any other band. For work, I do marketing for a roofing company, Gerry works in music management with Gold Theory Artists, Andre is in corporate marketing, Mat is the lighting director at Paramount and some other venues, and Steve is basically a freelance graphic designer and part time stagehand. Sometimes we need to get fill-ins in order to make stuff work. We try not to take anything for granted and we take every good opportunity we are given and run with it.
PHOTO BY: ELYZA REINHART
IE: What’s the tour or weekend trip setup like for this band? Do you usually all travel in 1 vehicle? If so… is there a Stand Still van or do you rent one each time? Who controls the music/playlists on the trip and what are some bands that everyone in Stand Still can agree on as being awesome…
Bryan: Lately the tour set-up for Stand Still has been renting a van from our friend Jon of Innerlove. He drives for us as well which allows us to relax and have fun. Gerry always controls the music and doesn’t let anyone else pick what to listen to except on rare occasions which usually means we are listening to some robot beep boop music or his favorite band Ween. Everyone in Stand Still can definitely agree on listening to the Long Island bands that Stand Still takes influence from like Silent Majority, Capital, TBS, Brand New, Heads Vs. Breakers, Inside, etc. We typically are crashing at friend’s houses and going to the best local coffee/pizza/food spot in every city. Making sure we try good local food is one of the things on tour we can always agree on.
IE: Although there isn’t a lengthy history just yet for Stand Still is there anything that the band has done to this point that you are particularly proud of?
Bryan: Honestly when we first started this band, my only goal was to just make energetic hardcore music that stacks up to the music of local legends and my role models and by doing so, inspire the next generation of LIHC kids. I never would have thought Stand Still would be at the level it is right now and that I would be able to literally travel the world with some of my best friends living the dream. What started as humble expectations has evolved into the realization that the sky is the limit for this band. But if we fade into history and the only thing we do is inspire one kid of the next generation to pick up that torch… that would be all I need to consider this band to be a huge success.
IE: Thanks for taking the time to do this, any last words?
Bryan: Thanks again for having me! Thank you to everyone involved in putting this record out. Shout out to the next generation of LIHC- Submerge, Deadshot, Liberate, Ten Years Out, and a ton more… don’t sleep!
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT STAND STILL BY CLICKING HERE
