INTERVIEW W/ STONE: "We learned what STONE really is!"

STONE have been one of the most exciting, visceral acts in the Liverpool scene for a good few years now. They’ve gained a cult following for the intensity of their live shows and last year they finally delivered what the fans had been calling for… their debut album. ‘Fear Life For A Lifetime’ was a poignant culmination of their journey so far and was a fierce Rock record laced with heartfelt undertones. However, there was a rumbling in the background that the album release process had left the band feeling a little dejected and dissatisfied with the industry . Yet, rather than sit around and moan about their experiences, the Scouse quartet got right back to it, going independent diving straight into album number two.

After playing a series of house shows and secret sets to reconnect with fans and that pure love for live music that drove them in the first place, they announced the aptly named sophomore album ‘AUTONOMY’. The album has just been released and we caught up with them to chat about their experiences of releasing their debut, falling back in love with making music and what fans can expect from their new album…

Photo Credit: Charlie Barclay Harris

Q. How did you find the experience of releasing your debut album? What did you learn from the whole process?

A. “Navigating the industry for the first time was pretty dizzying. The process of recording it was pretty cool, going over to America in 2023 set a great backdrop and some fun experiences which we’re hugely grateful for, but something kind of bothered us about the album and the proverbial fingers in the pie. We felt the record had a mix of energies and felt like a band having an identity crisis – a band caught between the earnestness of their music and the pressure to write a hit to please a bunch of people. Don’t get me wrong there are some great songs on it; it just felt a bit confused and having to force ourselves to play this game with social media felt even more confusing. We learned that it’s important to lead with our own voice, but it’s something that takes confidence and trust in ourselves. But most importantly, we learned what STONE really is. And you’ll hear it on the next record”.

Q. Talking of the next record, can you tell us why you chose the album title ‘AUTONOMY’?

A. “The album references the state of wanting to take control of our music, integrity and release in line with our vision after navigating that major pop world who tried altering it. But the record is not strictly a commentary on that its really about taking AUTONOMY over our lives in every way. Fin touches a lot on his personal emotional journey with sobriety and his relationships on the record and there’s lots of introspection throughout .For the band, AUTONOMY signals our unity as a group and our taking agency as a unit, becoming the band we know we are”.

Q. Does it feel liberating to be switching label to V2 Records and having a fresh start?

A. “We do feel free from the confines of a major pop label and their parameters. We feel creatively liberated with a team who understands our DNA and journey and fully respects and supports the STONE vision. The music was written by us with no A&R pushing for a shortcut or a hit. No creative input, just a thumbs. In that sense it’s refreshing and has reenergised us from a time of slight disillusion”.

Q. From playing smaller house shows to your secret set on a bus, have you been playing fan-focused shows to help you fall back in love with making music?

A. “I’m not sure whether it was a deliberate plan to stoke our love of the music necessarily, but it’s just a part of our ethos of doing as much for our fanbase as we can and keeping the STONE relations. We’re in that sort of place where festival stages and bigger cap shows can and should coexist with intimate club shows and these DIY experiences, and we saw a lot of inspiration watching old footage of bands like Fugazi playing house shows and totally random spots in the US to like 30-60 people, and we wanted to bring that into our world. It felt a little quiet after festival season, and we were just feeling proactive. We have a history of trying out things for fans and showing up in someone’s living room just feels like a unique experience they won’t forget. But it does help keep the fire burning – those shows have been a lot of fun”.

Q. What was behind the decision to include your fan favourite anthem ‘MONEY (HOPE AIN’T GONE)’ on the new album?

A. “It’s just a very important song for us and a flagship in the STONE catalogue – we figured it should have made the first record not just our first EP. So we decided to bring it around and loop it into the AUTONOMY era. It’s an outlier of the album in that it was not written new for the record but it’s a great fit and it just felt sort of serendipitous to include and reclaim it into our new bolder, freer incarnation. To their credit, they let us take it back no problem. Plus, it lets new fans find it. Something old, something new”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RDShIRvCN1MOE&v=ShIRvCN1MOE

Q. How would you say the sound of this new album differs to your debut?

A. “Working with the genius Rich Costey and the team on ‘Fear Life For A Lifetime’ in the Vermont wilderness was an unforgettable experience, and the songs we love on the record, we really love. That being said, we wanted this second album to better reflect the whole band. I heard a lot of feedback from people at shows who pointed out how much more ‘raw’ and heavier we sound performing our songs live compared to the record, and we attribute some of this to the input we’d been getting from some people who wanted to change our sound into something safer and more palatable. So we wanted to go back and capture how we sound from the practice room to the stage and emulate that on the new record. One of the ways we did this was just recording live as a band in the studio, with as little double tracking as possible, we know we’re a force onstage so why shy away on the album? We also wanted to hone in our heavier sound and Fin and I had found ourselves listening to a lot of hardcore punk bands from Fugazi to Turnstile and liked the idea of fusing some of our British sounds with a US punk influence. You can hear that on ‘NEVER AGAIN’ for sure.

In a full circle moment, we found ourselves recording this in Liverpool, with Rob Whiteley of Whitewood Studios in the Baltic – me and Fin recording a lot of early things with him dating back 10 years, as well as him having helped track a couple of things for our punkadonk 2 EP. It was brilliant to work with Rob who approached this with care and his professional curiosity. It was also fitting to give that love back to Liverpool after spending so much time away”.

Q. What do you want people to feel while listening to the new album?

"We want people to really feel STONE in our full form. We want no longer to be this band that people project onto – whether that be corporate pop pressure, or fans who want to hear more of the heavy stuff. We want to be STONE and this is it. We felt like the first album felt a little bit of hodge podge of ‘songs that capture the early 20s blah blah’ and dressed up and sometimes rolled in glitter - but really it felt like a mixtape than a full album. This is an ALBUM. And it’s STONE at our most recent and our most cohesive. Coming into ourselves. Honing the craft. Taking AUTONOMY – personally, creatively, sonically."