Through the black magic that is internet video chat, our very own Tom Monahan recently talked to Stickup Kid frontman Tony Geravesh about signing with Billie Joe Armstrong’s Adeline Records, what Dan Yemin told him about balancing school and the band, and where they’re at in the process of putting together their upcoming full-length.
How and when did Stickup Kid form?
A few years back the guitarist Bo [McDowell] and I went to Kansas City, which is where I grew up, and on the way we stopped at a hotel and wrote a song together called “Sometimes, Kansas City,” which is on our first record [The Sincerest Form of Flattery]. We had the idea to start a band for a while before then, and I was originally going to play guitar, but once we jammed, it made sense for me to be on vocals. Every day we write more songs, we play more music, and it evolved into this. We actually just celebrated our 3 year anniversary! We went to Chili’s and had a good meal.
Was 2011’s The Sincerest Form of Flattery the first thing you recorded together?
We had an EP called The Fight Nothing, but that was really DIY and I don’t think you can find those songs anywhere. So the first legitimate recording was The Sincerest Form of Flattery.
The Sincerest Form of Flattery was released on Better Days Records. How did the band’s relationship with them begin?
We met Cassidy [Myers, owner of Better Day Records] because he would set up shows for us in Washington and he was always really friendly. At the time, we had some other options to try and release The Sincerest Form of Flattery, but those fell through. We were at a point where we were considering releasing it ourselves. But Cassidy said he was interested in putting it out, and it just made sense because he was a good friend of ours. We have the same interests in music and the same goals in terms of his label. We decided to go for it.
As a band, what are your major influences, musical or otherwise?
A big influence on us is Saves the Day, who we think is really underrated. I was just talking with our bassist Jonathan [McMaster] about how Saves the Day and everyone kind of come from the tree of Dan Yemin, Kid Dynamite and Lifetime. That’s where it started out for us, getting into those bands and records. That shaped the fundamentals. We’ve adopted Dan Yemin’s outlook on life, playing music for fun and taking life “by the horns” I guess, grabbing it and trying to do something with it.
You see Dan, he has three great bands [Lifetime, Kid Dynamite, Paint it Black] AND a Ph.D?!?
Exactly! I had a chance to talk to Dan about balancing school and the band recently. I’m actually in school myself, and I was conflicted about the whole touring and school thing, but Dan was able to do it! I hit him up and he was like “you know, if you’re dedicated to both of those things, there’s no reason you can’t do both. And when you’re driving you have a lot of time to read your books and study.” And that’s true.
What are you studying? How are you handling that balance?
I’m studying business marketing full time. It’s tough balancing school with the band. It’s weird having this expectation, especially from my parents. I try to do the best I can in school and be in the band at the same time, which they know I really want to do. Bringing it back to what Dan told me, if you’re committed to both, you can make it happen. If he can get a Ph.D while on the road, then I can do it. It’s a matter of giving and taking. You have to sacrifice band time to do homework, and sometimes you have to sacrifice school things. Maybe it would be fun to go to a football game, but if we have to get some songs done, I have to cut that part out. There are a lot of late nights doing homework. It’s all about time management.
What is the band’s songwriting process?
We write songs on our own, and then come together to make them happen. For Nothing About Me [the latest 7-inch], I wrote the first two tracks, “Breathing” and “Lighthouse,” and Jon wrote the last three songs “You Are Captain Hook,” “The Weather Outside is Weather” and “Dreaming of Kenny Rogers.” What I like about the process is that no one writes about the same thing, but the feelings expressed are the same. It might not be about the same person, or the same event but they all have the same substance. For the EP, we were all mainly writing about needing someone more than they needed you, and coming to that realization. There are other events and situations that are tied in with that, but that was the overriding theme of the EP.
Nothing About Me is your first release through Adeline Records. How did you guys get signed with them?
That was a pretty complex situation! Our friend Jeff [Bradley], who is in these bands Lifesupport and Flex, is friends with Eddie [Kitaoka] from Adeline. One day Jeff was at a party and he was going to tell Eddie about a project that he and I were working on together, and he showed Eddie some of Stickup Kid’s music. He liked it a lot. After a few months, I spoke to Eddie for the first time on the phone, and it ended up being a good three hour conversation, just about music in general. It was like what happened with Cassidy from Better Days. We found out we had a similar mindset about music, and it really made sense. At that point it was like “Let’s make an offer and get the ball rolling.”
Did you get to meet Billie Joe Armstrong [Green Day frontman and co-owner of Adeline Records]?
I get this question all the time! [laughs] I haven’t yet, but I’ve told people that I have, and every time someone asks I make up a wild story.
How about you make up a story for Punks in Vegas?
Yeah, I’ll give it a shot! My usual go-to is that Billie Joe invited me to his home in San Diego, a big illustrious mansion. He took me out to a nice fish dinner where we drank some nice wine and talked about music. Then I went back to his house where we jammed all night. That’s usually what I tell people and they’re always like “OH MY GOD!” Seeing the expression on the person’s face just kills me every time! I’m sure we will get the chance to meet him pretty soon.
Editor’s Note: We asked about Billie Joe’s recent on-stage meltdown in Vegas and subsequent trip to rehab, but Tony declined to comment, out of respect for Billie Joe.
Let’s talk about Las Vegas. The band played here earlier this year at East Side Joe’s with Forever Came Calling and our friends Last Call, how was that show?
It was cool man! There was a nice little skate park in there, I was hitting the half pipe and doing what I could. I’m not very good at skating! It was a good show with a pretty decent turnout for never really playing in Vegas before. Well, we’d played Vegas once, but that was before anything was even happening, so it was cool to come back. And it’s always good to see my boy Austin [Jeffers] from Last Call. Last Call and Forever Came Calling are my guys. It was really fun. I love Vegas. It gets really cold at night, so bring a jacket.
Editor’s Note: We filmed a Stripped Down Session with Stickup Kid after that show. You can view it here.
How did your band meet Last Call?
We met at Yayo Taco in Las Vegas. We played a random show with them and I went up to Austin to tell him I liked his Iron Man tattoo. That was the first thing I ever said to him. I found out he was a Minnesota Vikings fan, and being from Kansas City, I’m a big Chiefs fan. So we sat and talked about football and music for a while, and watched each other’s bands. I was like “Dude, you guys are sick!” and he was like “No, YOU guys are sick!” and from then on we’ve been like best friends. He’s a really good dude. It’s cool to meet people in different places, because you never see them again in the same place. I always see my friends that I meet on tour, on the road somewhere else.
Stickup Kid headlined It’s Been a Summer Fest this past July in Centralia, WA. How was that?
It’s always fun going up to Washington, especially because Better Days Records is up there. We went up there once before they put our first record out, and we were blown away. There was a room full of kids screaming all the words. It’s humbling to see people feel so strongly about the music we provide to them. So It’s Been a Summer Fest was nothing less than we thought it would be. We met a lot of new fans. We met the guys in Turnover and Citizen, who we knew of but hadn’t met yet. Turnover are our guys now. We got to go to Voodoo Doughnuts, which was really cool. One doughnut is good, but don’t go for the second one; it’s kind of overkill. I had a glazed doughnut with Cap’n Crunch on it, so I ate the first one and got a glass of milk and went for another. After the second one I was like “I shouldn’t have done that.” I was not feeling good after that.
You do guest vocals the song “Stuck” on the new Heart to Heart record [self-titled]. How did that come about?
Well, Nick Zappo [Heart to Heart frontman] has been one of my best friends for the past two years, ever since I met him at a show we played together down South. Our band walked up and met them right as they were leaving. We were apparently in kind of a rough area. Someone had threatened to shoot Nick and he was like “I’m out of here!” When we finally hung out again, he became one of my best friends. All of those guys are my dudes. Nick was like “Hey I have a song that I want you to sing on. Can you come, write a part and sing it?” I was like “Dude, I’d be honored!” We were down there recently for The Story So Far, Seahaven shows and I recorded my part and wrote the lyrics. It was cool.
You guys are playing The Fest in Gainesville, FL this year. Is it your first time?
Yea, first time playing and going, so I’m humbled to say the least.
Who are you excited to see?
A Wilhelm Scream and Shook Ones. If there’s any video footage of Shook Ones you’re going to see my tearing it up. Anti-Flag, Frank Turner, Lagwagon, Propagandhi. Go Rydell is another band that I liked growing up. There are so many bands playing that I’ve wanted to see. I’m beyond excited.
On the upcoming I Call Fives/With the Punches tour, Stickup Kid is unfortunately not playing the Las Vegas date. Is there a reason for that?
There’s not any particular reason. I think the dates were booked already, so when we got added they already had a pre-determined route that we couldn’t alter. So unfortunately we’re not going to be able to make it out to Vegas, but hopefully in the near future we’ll be able to get out there.
Any new releases on the horizon?
Right now we’re in the writing process. We have six songs about 70-80% done, and 18-20 songs that are about 10-15% done. It’s a big work in progress, but the direction we are heading in is very exciting. We wrote Nothing About Me right after The Sincerest Form of Flattery came out, and we were actually debating whether or not to put “Dreaming of Kenny Rogers” on The Sincerest Form of Flattery. It was the exact same time period. We’ve been sitting on this material for a while. Our drummer Cameron [MacBain] was drumming for The Story So Far for a while, and we couldn’t do a lot while he was filling in. Bo and I were really getting antsy, writing music and ready to roll. We are beyond stoked to actually be writing, and every time we jam we come out feeling really stoked. Our passion for writing music has been reinvigorated.
Can we expect any changes to your sound with this upcoming record?
The songs we’ve been writing are different in a sense; they aren’t all fast anymore. Imagine that, our music not being fast! But it’s a natural progression. When we wrote The Sincerest Form of Flattery, Cameron was 14. Cameron is still a teenager, but the rest of us are all in our early twenties now, so you will hear our maturity coming through, which is cool and refreshing. We’re hitting our stride right now.
When can we expect the full-length?
I would say within a year. We’re entering the studio this month and are mapping things out to get going on the full-length.
Interview by Tom Monahan
Photo of Tony Geravesh by Emily Matview
Get more Stickup Kid on their Facebook page: facebook.com/stickupkidca
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