Von
Stella…“The Untold Story?”
Why
on earth would anyone want to know more about Von Stella or its
members outside of the music they make?
The
question, friend, still echoes between the collective 8 (at times,
interchangeable) ears attached to Andrew, Edward, Brent, and
Matthew. And while the previous statement conjures images of some
enormous-headed alien with highly advanced hearing capabilities,
you've no doubt come to strip us of what little privacy we have. So,
(sigh) here goes…
Matthew
(drums) beat his skins in various bands, mostly with Edward (see:
Sunday Cannons, 360 Loose, Bunny, and e.joseph) and more recently
with Andrew in the band The Set Up. One day, a moving van plopped
Edward right-smack-dab in the middle of the county of Harford, just
a 10-minute (often times impaired) drive away from Andrew a Scottish
transplant who now hails from the not-so-quaint town of Bel Air, MD
in the U.S..
In
the early months of the Year of Our Lord, 2016, Andrew (a true Scot
hailing from New Castle, England) and Edward, after having dispensed
with many nights of drinking and playing rounds of “hey, I'm
working on this song…whattya think?” to one another started to
gel like a fine gravy that's sat out on the kitchen counter a few
days too many. The end result: a 2-singer, 2-song-writer band in
search of a drummer and bass player.
Then,
in a shear moment of glorious desperation (actually, it was a few
weeks later), they invited drumming stalwart Matthew to the party,
and as expected, he spiked the musical punch with 200-proof rock
rhythms. All that was needed now was a bass player. But more
importantly, a person who could put up with the never-ending shite-circus
that Andrew, Edward and Matthew had been dishing out over recent
years.
As
if a tattooed gift from heaven had arrived… Andrew and Edward met
Brent (another Belairian) whilst taking a piss in a local Karaoke
bar bathroom. The 3 realized they had a few things in common… No,
not that thing, you gutter-mind! They basically had an affection for
the same kinds of music, tattoos, beer, whiskey, and Steve McQueen.
The most important commonality though was that the band
needed a bass player, and Brent just happened to be one. And a damn
fine one at that--as later rehearsals would prove.
In
six weeks, the band wrote 10 songs, chose the name Von Stella and
headlined its debut show on July 3rd, 2016 at The Royal in Baltimore
to a venue full of drunks and rave reviews, and never looked back…
OK well…they looked back a little because when you play in the
dark recesses of any city, it's a good idea to turn around now and
again and see who's behind you. But, you get the point.
The
remainder of 2016 looks as busy as a sword swallower at a
knife-throwing contest for Von Stella (recording sessions both live
and studio, shows in the mid-Atlantic region through September, a
short tour abroad in the UK in mid-October, more shows and recording
after that, selling merchandise to the likes of you, Thanksgiving
dinner in November, and filling young little stockings with joy
before, during and after December).
The
band thinks its ridiculous to label their brand of rock with phrases
like, “Recommended if you like…” “We’re heavily inspired
by…” “Our all-time rock idols are…” Crap like that only
serves to undersell or oversell Von Stella's songs; plus, it insults
your intelligence as well. Instead, just give the music a listen and
decide for yourself if it's worthy enough to grace your i-Pod or
some other pod you may have. Others more sober than Von Stella have
said a resounding “yes!” So, you won't be alone out there if you
decide to do the same.
Stay
tuned…and don't drink the water.
FREE
Live song downloads at www.vonstella.com
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