Here is my interview with Josh from Still Rings True! Read up on what he has to say about where they come from, what influences them and what is coming next! Big thanks to the Josh from Still Rings True for answering my questions and Jake Simcock at Break a Sweat for helping me out with setting this up. Hope you guys enjoy! Feedback is welcome and appreciated, but most importantly, I strongly urge you to take your energy to check out Still Rings True! This band is backed 100%, now scroll down..

• First off, what’s your name and what do you play in Still Rings True?
• I’m Josh, I sing and play guitar.

• How did you guys form, or come together as a band, so to speak? What ‘sparked’ Still Rings True?
• Me and guy named Don Robinson were coming out of another band at the time, and we met Dave, who also had a band that was stopping at that time. We got to talking, and decided we wanted to start something new. We ended up writing a couple songs that week and recording demo’s of them in our practice space. We booked a way too long tour, burned a shitload of demo’s, had some shirts printed and hit the grind. The rest is history..

• Who are some major influences on SRT? What’d you guys grow up on musically?

• The three of us come have some pretty diverse influences and first loves musically. I’ve always been in to punk rock and hardcore, definitely more so in to political type bands and whatnot. Dave came up on 90’s pop punk, and Leo really gets down on R&B and that smooth pimp shit like that. As a band, we’re all huge fans of bands like Propagandhi, Strike Anywhere, A Wilhelm Scream, and shit like that. We pretty much eat sleep and breathe fast punk rock.

• What inspires the band lyrically? (One thing I really admire about Still Rings True’s debut ‘Tear Down The Walls’ is the fact that it doesn’t have many, if any songs about girls.)

• I just feel like there’s so much more important stuff to be talked about, and as a band, we feel that we’re lucky to be in a position where people are actually paying attention to what we’re saying. Music is a vehicle that we can use to put out ideas we care deeply about as people. Music can create change, it’s in my eyes one of the only truly free art forms left. The way we live in this world is nothing less than destructive. We are causing permanent damage to the environment around us, not to mention every living thing in it, including ourselves. This isn’t opinion stuff, it’s fact, the evidence is everywhere if you care to look. That’s pretty much the inspiration behind our band in a nutshell.

• Tell us about the song “Anger Is A Gift” and the meaning behind it;
• We were trying to put out the view point that it seems like punk rock and hardcore scenes, which could be said were born out of discontent, have become kind of complacent. The song is about recognizing injustice around you, and using this community we have to express the anger we feel, use it to create positive change. Anger is a powerful driving emotion, just like love, sadness, or anything else. It’s a natural human thing, and it’s felt for a reason. Sometimes ‘staying positive’ really only means ‘turning a blind eye’, and that’s kind of a destructive mindset to have in the midst of such a violent and unjust society. We need to get angry, to get up, and to act on these things.

• Can you share what the song “What We Carry Inside” is about?
• Watertown is pretty much your typical military base town. A lot of poverty, a lot of nothing going on. The crazy thing about it is that we have one of the most talented groups of young people here that I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, drugs and alcohol take their tolls, and I’ve had to watch close friends and family waste amazing intelligence and talent. It’s about refusing to give in to that kind of stuff.

• Do you think this is going to change on your next release? Or will it maintain the same environmental outlook as TDTW?
• The way I feel about our presence in this world will never change as long as we exist in this current state, and the feeling is absolutely mutual between the three of us.

• On the note of your next release, have you begun working on new material?
• Yeah, we’ve been writing some new jams lately, getting in the groove, and pushing our limits. Definitely in writing mode that’s for sure.

• Will your next release be an EP or a full length?
• We don’t have any concrete plans right now on what our next release is going to be. Could be a split, EP, it all just depends on what direction it takes naturally.

• You guys seem to be constantly touring, any fun tour stories? I know you just got back from a few weeks with Maker and Rust Belt Lights.
• Tour is just a fantasy world in and of itself. It’s complete detachment from the reality of every day life. No work, no responsibility, just music. You get to wake up every day knowing the only thing you have to worry about is playing punk rock. It’s a pretty amazing thing to get to do, and we’re grateful just to be able to. Crazy shit happens all the time, that’s for sure..

• I saw on your Facebook page you guys are heading to Europe, how stoked do you feel about your European tour?
• We’re pretty stoked. It’s getting put together right now, and we’re just gearing up, getting excited, and making a shit load of plans that come along with touring over there.

• Have you guys ever been to Europe before?
• I’ve never been there personally, but Dave and Leo have. They assure me that it’s going to be amazing. I’m pretty pumped.

• Any bands you guys would urge anyone reading this interview to check out?
• Absolutely. Get into Latin For Truth, After The Fall, City Lights, Bellwether and make sure you check out Atlas, Maker, Rust Belt Lights, our boys in Get A Life, and Alive & Well. All amazing bands.

Still Rings True general info;

Facebook

Twitter

Buy Still Rings True jams on iTunes.

Support Still Rings True and buy swag.