Indie rockers STEREO OFF is a five piece group out of NYC, with electronic overtones, that makes this new project truly straight forward with an approach that is danceable, yet melodic with even catchier riffs and keyboard accents that lasts for days on end. In short, this group have got material and plans in the making with no sense in stopping! Discover what was said about themselves, music, and future plans at work.
1. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
Sebastian, our singer and producer, used to write and produce mostly hip hop, while Niall our bass player fronted a couple of bands on the UK rock scene. The two met in New York City through mutual friends and enjoyed similar music, so when both were itching for a new project they teamed up to start writing additions to the electro-rock tracks Sebastian had cooked up. Soon they enlisted Steve Williams (of Heavy Howl, a band you should definitely check out) on guitars, with Niall moving from guitar to bass. Bridget had been playing professionally on the classical music circuit of Carnegie and the like, but wanted to expand into punk, pop and other genres. Alongside joining a couple of other bands she joined Stereo Off, first on Keyboards and strings, and then when Steve left to focus on solo material she shifted to lead guitar.
2. What’s the origin of the band’s name?
One of us wanted "Haute Stereo" which all the other members hated, so to keep it democratic we kept the "stereo" and then threw words into a hat to vote on. Someone wrote "Off" and we liked it because the name related to audio, specifically: sound as an esthetic.
3. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?
We all live in New York City, and we rehearse and record in Brooklyn. The music scene here is rather spread out and now in smaller bubbles, since genre-specific clubs and classic spots closed down. Things are also very corporate here now so for example Williamsburg is a family tourism destination, not as much of the haven for live music that it once became when classic Manhattan venues started disappearing. Real estate is so expensive that places have to host a lot of everything and be less scene-specific, but the upside of this is you see more cross-pollination, so there are less ‘gatekeepers’ for newer artists. There are plenty of local NYC bands and artists we love in many genres. For post punk you gotta check out the band PUSH! and we’re also really feeling Blood Blush. If you like indie rock, pop or psyche, you’ll love Your 33 Black Angels. For breaks and trip hop, Cru Jones is really killer, and in hip hop you will definitely want to hear 1kGaines or Leo Coltrane.
4. How would you describe your style?
Electro-rock with a lot of Synthwave and post punk vibes. It’s a weird pop band, essentially.
5. What have you released so far and what can someone expect from your works?
So far we’ve dropped three EP discs, three music videos, and a bunch of one-off Bsides and singles. The first EP "NY 5 Songs" is simply the first five tracks we liked of the early stuff we made, which was written to be very strait-forward rock with a little electronic flair to it. The second release ‘The Long Hot Winter’ is where we went more electro and started to lean more toward synths, while the 3rd EP called "III" is where we paired down to a trio and got more into pop, post punk and Synth wave sounds. The third disc is where the "Sunsetting" video comes from and that should give you a good idea of who we are and where we’re going with it.
6. Do you have any new music in the works?
A ton of new music and we’re currently writing and recording our first full-length LP. We will probably release it as singles over the next year and then drop the full LP as a special release. You can hear little sneak-peek snippets of the tracks we’ve been working on,
Via our Instagram accounts @deloriantokes
www.instagram.com/stereooff
Plus previews as we go along on Twitter at @stereooff
www.twitter.com/stereooff
7. How about playing shows and touring, have anything planned out?
Maybe touring as we get closer to completing the album and honing the new album. Meanwhile we’ll be playing shows throughout NYC and the tri-state surrounding area. There will be more announced soon but for now set your calendar for July 11th at Coney Island Baby, an event with Roku Gin sponsors and Nadia Kazmi.
8. What plans do you have for the future as a band?
We are really feeling heavy cyberpunk and goth vibes lately so you’ll see more experimentation with that in the future. We are into doing more multimedia pieces and we’re planning on creating custom scoring for the upcoming series Black Betty. You can see the original of this action-revenge short at the Deviant Children Productions YouTube page. We’ve also scored a few avant-garde flicks with the Chopstick Graffiti team. Most of us are gamer's and really want to work with some indie game designers in the future. Sebastian is also into remixing other artists and you’re going to see more of that happening as well.
9. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
Our formal commercial releases are on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Bandcamp and Amazon, wherever you like to preview and buy digital music. Here’s an easy link for now: https://linktr.ee/Stereo_Off_Music. Music videos are on YouTube along with film scores and other pieces.
10. What is it you’d like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time?
We make this for you to dance to physically but also conceptually. Music sets a scene, but not just to tell one story. It creates a space and time to inhabit; it is world-building. So if you feel it’s directly about you when you hear it, that is real and true. It’s way we felt when we wrote it so we’re sharing that through time and space. That is where we truly feel human and alive and we’re honored to share that time and place together with you.
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