Five person strong band, Stolen Stream are currently trying to make a name for themselves locally and aim to go about it in a different way than most, a way unseen in recent years, but not un-welcomed. They, like past bands mainly from the late 60's, 70s and early 80s, aim to create conceptual albums. Sgt Peppers, Tommy and The Wall are a few notable conceptual albums (albums with a running story or topic). The examples above are a few of my all time fave album, so that made me want to find out more about this particular band on the up.
Their last and first album release was "Incipio" a five-song war themed album centered around the story of the "Unknown Soldier". A bold move for a debut album, with a topic/story not too many will be aware of, but one that's got them noticed by this blogger and hopefully more to come.
Find out more about the band below along with info on their inspiration and the bands history.
We are long-time great friends and have known each other all prior to the starting of the band. We all met initially through Shaun... Shaun and Keith were in a previous band called 'Strange Minds' and prior to that have been very good friends. Jack is Keith's younger brother. Shaun has known Sam since primary school and Michael since college and we all met through those circumstances.
Shaun Smyth - founder, lead vocalist, lyricist and rhythm guitarist.
Keith Roberts - drummer, percussionist and backing vocalist.
Michael Davies - lead guitarist and backing vocalist
Sam Collins - bassist, sound tech' and backing vocalist
Jack Roberts - Keyboard & Guitar
What main band/artist influences does each band member bring to band?
Our main band/artist influence we bring to the band is completely diverse from, AIR to Metallica, we each have completely different music taste which contributes to the benefit of having such a diverse sound and an open mind to music genres.
Our personal inspirations vary:
Shaun - Captain Beefheart, Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, The Animals, The Zombies, Rammstein
Keith - Brand New, John Lennon, Slipknot
Michael - Coheed and Cambria, Metallica, Three Doors Down, System of a Down, Linkin Park,
Sam - Keep Of Kalessin, Five Finger Death Punch, Sonata Arctica
Jack - Arctic Monkeys, The Beatles
You state you like to tell a story through music. What inspires these stories and the way you tell them?
Incipio is a first concept album released by us. The initial concept of the album was based on the story of the 'Unknown Soldier' - one of the track titles on the album. The story of the unknown soldier was written to allow the listener to create their own interpretation of who the solider was and what the story consists of. This essentially provides the listener to make their own choice and opinion, and doesn't actually provide closure to the story which gives the album its unique twist.
Are you looking forward to any gigs later this year?
We are looking forward to a lot of gigs both locally and nationally after the release of our upcoming album 'Magentas'. We estimate that we'll have a few acoustic low-key gigs, in Liverpool from July onwards and then bigger gigs following the album release in September.
How would you describe Liverpool’s music scene at the moment? It seems to be alive and buzzing at the moment.
I feel so lucky to come from a city with such a rich musical heritage, from the sea shanties to the Merseybeat and beyond. It's fantastic to be part of the Liverpool music scene. FOREVER MY BROTHERS. Hopefully, Stolen Stream will flourish in Liverpool and maybe our influence will grow.
What three words would you choose to describe the band?
Diverse, Different, Determined - 3D
Where do you see Stolen Stream in a few years time?
I'm planning on leaving the Navy in five years time and I hope we're on at least our third or fourth album and have gigged loads and loads. I'm hoping it will be a case of carrying on, rather than starting again. I don't want us to be a musical footnote in the Liverpool scene. I want our diverse music taste to be our strength and key ingredient for something enjoyable for us and others. - Keith
Stolen Stream - Incipio Review
From the start its evident this is a band which wants to showcase their diversity, not wanting to be shackled to any one genre and has a message/story to tell. Their complex lyrics sung throughout the songs included within their release are sung well and are not too complex that the listener loses interest.
Certainly I've noticed potential in the songs released by the band in that already they show good knowledge of what goes well together to make a song sound great and have shown they can produce songs with different moods. They showcased good planning in that they had an energetic opener and finale with loads of interesting material in-between. If they can replicate this on a bigger scale, I'd be further impressed. I enjoyed listening to the songs and seeing where they led me and will lookout for any further releases as and when they come.
However, as any new band will no doubt have a few minor teething issues, Stolen Stream are not without any. Minor attention needs to be given to the vocals backing and lead separately and when harmonising to give the songs more energy. Their use of the heavier vocals on "Organised Chaos" seemed out of place to the rest of the songs. Perhaps, if the band wanted to keep this style of singing, it would be better placed throughout the album at critical points, instead of just in one place separate and totally different then the rest of the songs. Criticism aside, the band is still probably finding the best way and sound to get their message across and I look forward to seeing their progress.
Check Stolen Stream's social media out below to find out more and follow them
Facebook // ReverbNation // SoundCloud // YouTube // Website // Twitter
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