Interviews: Stand Up Stacy

In this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Punk Rock band Stand Up Stacy from Germany. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for your band name? Did you plan it or did it come out just like that?

The name of our band is quite new, as we chose to rename us just this year. We made a list of 50 possible band names or so, but none of them really worked out for us. At that time, our bassist Markus was in Singapore for a few months, where he saw stickers on the subways with a mascot called “Stand Up Stacey”. That cute figure reminded people to offer their seats to older people or pregnant women. As soon as he came back he told us about it, and we instantly liked the name and the story behind it. So we kicked the “e” in “Stacey” and decided to go on with that one.

2. Why did you choose to play punk rock?

The band kind of emerged from rock- and punk-rock coverbands we used to play as we were students. So we played songs like “The Hell Song” from Sum 41 at the age of 15 or so, and one day tried to create something similar. And of course punk rock was quite a good place to start if you couldn’t handle your instruments, too.

3. Did you guys know each other before the band was formed?

Not really, but some went to the same class for a few years, but didn’t notice each other that much in all that time. Crazy to think about it nowadays, cause almost every band member got recruited after a little chat and some beer house parties we all went to. So it was like “Hey you, I don’t know you, but you look kinda fitting and drunk enough to join my punk rock band. And someone told me you can play drums”

4. Each band member’s favorite band?

Simon (Drums): Sum 41

Daniel (Lead Guitar): My Chemical Romance

Uwe (Rhythm-Guitar, Vocals): Linkin Park

Markus (Bass): The Killers

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

With our upcoming album “The Magnificent You” we really went on another level of writing about the people around us. We kinda did that from the start of our band, but this time, maybe as we got older and more complex problems evolved inside and around us, we suddenly were surrounded by people with some serious, really bad trouble. So we empathized and thought about how it must be in their shoes, or found ourselves in a unhealthy situation. We really sucked that in and worked on the songs until the feeling we wanted to create felt absolutely right. Same with the lyrics. We really got neck deep into some conversations about desperation and what keeps people going, and rewritten a whole lot of stuff until it sounded absolutely right. Luckily there also were a lot of joyful moments or friends we can’t thank enough to be around. So some songs give us a very positive feeling if we listen to them these days.

6. Can you talk about your new single “Something to Believe”?

That one came out of nowhere and changed our understanding of the band as soon as we heared it. We listened to some programmed instruments and demos of the track for quite a while, and Simon, our drummer who writes almost every line for all instruments, tweaked and changed the song here and there, until it became that complex dance-track-but-rock-anthem you can listen to now. And the sing-along finale is something very special and sounds so different to the rest of the song, that it feels like an unknown force wants you to hit the “repeat”-button as soon as the song ends. Lyrically, it’s about a negativity that seems to infect a lot of people these days, where so many little problems build up to one gigantic mess of depressive, staggering thoughts you can’t escape from. The song wants to remind you that it sometimes can be easier than you think to step away from those feelings, and that it all starts with you and how you see yourself.

7. Who would you like to record a featuring with?

We’d definitely go for Eminem, featuring us on a heavy alternative rap rock track. This man still has air in his lungs to deliver at least 10 more sentences and lines of text for that song, as we’d be lying on the studio’s carpet, black and blue in our faces and gasping for air after hardly trying to deliver.

8. Whom not?

Ed Sheeran. Feels like everyone is doing a feature with him these days. I mean seriously, it’s tough to see that songs in the pop genre barely happen without any featuring these days...

9. Where was your last gig?

We played a very cool charity concert in Munich for Viva Con Agua, an organization that tries to create drinking water supplies all over Africa, e. g. in Ethiopia. They have so many cool projects at music festivals and other events for young people, where they try to clarify what they’re trying to achieve and how you can get evolved. So it was a no-brainer for us to come and help to mobilize some fans to attend the concert and finance something good with their conert ticket.

10. Any of you has ever suffered from stage fright? Any tips for beginners on how to beat that?

Not with the band, but ironically our frontman found himself in a situation similar to that, where he held a talk in front of a group of bored, desinterested kids. Think even at a gig it’s not that bad to express your jumpiness and those inner voices who tell you to run fast, run far. Bite your tongue, step on to a mic and tell people about how much it means to you that they are here for you, that they are listening to you right now, and that you find that thought scary as sh*t. As with so many other stuff it’s important to talk about it. And as soon as you know that they know, it won’t feel that stressful anymore and will get better and better every time. Maybe you got someone by your side who breaks the ice for you, if that first step seems too hard to take.

11. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you?

To answer that question people need to know that we always play in white shirts, braces and with a bowtie around. So one day there was that girl who asked us if we’re ironing our shirts before the gig ourselves. Like what else? Bring our mommies to the show to do that for us? For christ’s sake, no! We’re punk rockers! We don’t iron our shirts. We barely wash them at all!

12. What do you think of your fans?

It often seems in our everyday surroundings that it’s so hard to find people similar to you, to really find someone to connect to, where you can have a good chat and nice conversations about no-matter-what. At our gigs and interacting with our fans, it’s always such a great experience to get in contact with them, hear about how they see our band, our performance, politics, friends & families or the world. It happens so fast that you’re in a good conversation with someone you just met, but all the sudden it feels like you know each other very well and can talk about anything and everything. Maybe it’s the concert before that breaks the ice, or a short exchange of compliments, but as soon as we’re on the show floor chatting with our fans, we’re so grateful to have such good people around, who stop by and want to let us know certain things. That’s what live concerts are here for: to get to know each other, without f*cked up social boundaries or prejudices.

13. What do you think of our website Breathing the Core?

It’s gold to be just one click away from so many talented artists who float around in the so called “underground” of music. As soon as you click on a sub-genre like “Post-Rock” or “Progressive Punk” you got so many great artists around you can check out. May it be the music itself or what those talents got to say, it’s so great to have it all bound together in one place. And when you know that feeling where you just can’t wait for the release of your favorite band’s next album anymore, you definitely find something to check out in the meantime here.

14. Something to add to end this interview?

It’s been a ton of fun to go through these questions, so thank you so much to everyone who is involved in making this article available to everyone who landed on these lines. As soon as our new album “The Magnificent You” drops, we encourage everyone who listened to a bit of it to get in contact with us and let us know what you think. We’d be so grateful to hear your opinion. Thanks for now.