In this interview spotlight, we chat with Will of Stealing Signs about music, influences, their newest project and more.
Full Q&A, links and streams can be found below.
https://soundcloud.com/stealingsigns/never-know-1
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
We are from Essex and we create guitar based music that will make you feel better about life.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to stay the course?
As a band we are all friends from school so I guess it’s that friendship that is the glue that holds us all together. We just try to keep it fun and not let the dark side of the music industry get us down, we’re kind of like R2-D2 in Star Wars. There are times when it gets tough for the little guy, but he still manages to take the piss out of C-3PO whilst also helping out the group in someway.
Who or what are your biggest influences when it comes to your creativity?
I suppose mainly each other and the experiences we have as a band. So when we get to go away to festivals or cities like Paris together, we come back inspired to keep creating new music so we can go and perform at those sorts of places again. We obviously all have our own musical influences which shapes our music but we are big fans of movies as well. So every so often you might hear a film or tv reference pop up in our music.
How is your new release different than previous ones? Did you set out to accomplish anything specific?
We actually recorded this EP in a music venue as opposed to a studio which was pretty cool. We wanted the EP to have a bit more of a ‘roomy’ sound and I think you can hear it more on this EP than our previous release.
Do you face any challenges as an indie musician in a digital age? On the flip side, how has technology helped you (if it has)?
It’s easier to release your music to the world but the river you’re swimming in is busier than ever. There are so many bands for people to choose from. Because everything is now instant with social media, you almost have to be creating a brand rather just being a band. The music is now the easy bit, it’s getting people to click on a link that now seems to be the challenge, but I guess if R2-D2 can fix the hyperdrive on the Millennium Falcon than there’s no excuse for us to stop trying.
How do you feel about streaming services? Any romantic attachments to the physical formats: vinyl, 8-track, cassettes, CDs?
I use them and they are again really useful for getting music out instantly to more people. However I do like a good vinyl. What I think is weird, is that if we posted on Facebook ‘Our new single is now on Spotify’ compared to ‘You can buy our single on vinyl!’ people would be more impressed with the vinyl release, but there are definitely more likely to listen to it on Spotify.
Where can we follow you online and hear more music?
Haha, nope sorry you can only find us in record stores… Na of course we are in all the usual places. Facebook, soundcloud, twitter, instagram, carrier pigeons (wouldn’t that be great!?)
www.facebook.com/stealingsigns, www.soundcloud.com/stealingsigns, www.twitter.com/stealingsigns, instagram: @wearestealingsigns, Pigeon code: STLN27
Anything else before we sign off?
The force will be with you, always.
Thanks! Will Daly – Drummer
