WonkaVision | Spring 2007 | Feature(s) posted on May 21, 2007, 03:52:40 PM.

IndieHQ.com | May 2007 | Interview posted on May 21, 2007, 03:51:27 PM.

I am excited to bring you this interview with Andrew Paley of the Static Age. I had been familiar with the band’s name for quite some time, but it wasn’t until one of our distributed labels, Reignition Records, had started working with them and their latest album, Blank Screens, that I really started to pay attention. It is funny that having those types of personal experiences is usually what it takes to put a band at the forefront of your thoughts. I am glad that I have had the experience to get to know this band; their sound is incredible and every time I listen to their album, I think, “When is this band going to get the notice that they deserve?” Their sound can be described as the vocalist for Knapsack/Jealous Sound fronting The Cure of Depeche Mode. The band rocks while also retaining the beautiful textures of electro pop. I love this band and hope that this interview inspires some of you to check them out. The band recently inked a deal with Leave Home Booking and with luck, they will start to get on some killer tour packages. I saw them recently in Denver and they blew me away. ?Andrew Paley was kind enough to elaborate on his thoughts on what he looks for in a label, what he thinks of the future of label business models, and the bands/records that inspire him. Thanks Andrew for taking the time to do this interview. IndieHQ: When did your band start? Where is your band based? What label is your band on? Do you do the band full time? What don’t most people know about you/your band?? StaticAge: The band started practicing in 2001, but played shows in 2002. Our previous band had broken up, and we had been left without a singer. I’d always been a guitarist, and someone talked me into trying to sing, as I’d been writing many of the band’s songs for years, and I suppose it seemed like a good idea at the time. We practiced without a name through the end of 2001 and booked a few local shows in Burlington, VT in early 2002. We settled on The Static Age as a name pretty last minute so someone could make flyers. We then started working on our demos in a friends bedroom (which became “The Cost of Living” record). The drummer broke his leg, and we didn’t do much until a DIY tour that summer (around school schedules, of course). The band is currently split between New York and Vermont, with members getting together at our practice space outside of Woodstock, NY every other weekend. Our most recent record, Blank Screens, is out on ReIgnition Recordings. As for full time? At this point, we just got home from a 7 week tour with plans to leave again in June. In the two months between, we’re going to be writing and demoing songs for the next record. It may not pay all the bills, but we’re all living it pretty much non-stop. IndieHQ: Where can people sample your music? Myspace url? Website? What is your latest album? What is your best selling release? How many has it sold?? StaticAge: People can listen at myspace.com/thestaticage, purevolume.com/ thestaticage, or thestaticage.com. You can also grab the record on iTunes, if you’ve got virtual money burning a hole in your digital pocket. The latest album is “Blank Screens.” The one before that was “Neon Nights Electric Lives” (which came out in 2005). Which one sells best? I’ve no idea. IndieHQ: What do you look for in a label? How did you hook up with your label? Would you ever consider signing to a major label? What advice do you have for bands attempting to get a label’s attention?? StaticAge: I look for absolute creative control and a label head that doesn’t have sticky fingers. They’re hard to come by. We hooked up with ReIgnition out of friendship, originally. Same goes for Tarantulas Records before that (for “Neon Nights”). As for advice, watch your publishing and remember that you’re the artist — the labels need you (and, given the state of things, you don’t necessarily need them anymore). Protect yourself and know what you’re getting into. IndieHQ: I run a label and attempting to sell music in the post-file- sharing, post-Tower Records retail landscape is more difficult than ever. Do you feel that file-sharing/copying has helped or hurt your band? How??? StaticAge: It certainly hurts record sales, but it’s a sign of the times — and it’s a gigantic opportunity for artists that are willing to work and labels that are willing to adapt. We can’t stop it, and the smartest ones will take advantage of it early (they already are). The change will be good in the long run because the record industry was painfully bloated on the major level, and it was seeping into the mindset of some on the “indie” circuit as well. The system needed an overhaul, and it’s getting one. Where it all goes from here in terms of the big picture, however, is anyone’s guess at this point. And people might as well get creative with it in the meantime. IndieHQ: Do you have a booking agent? Who? Do you have a manager? Who? How important is it to your band that you have a booking agent and manager on your team?? StaticAge: We do have a booking agent and a manager. We work with Leave Home for booking (they also do AFI, Rancid, The Damned, etc). We just recently started working with them, and they’re some of the greatest people we’ve ever met. As far as management, we work with Melissa Emert-Hutner. We fought off having a manager for awhile, but were willing to talk when we found the right person. So far, it’s made life much easier and allowed me to focus more energy on actually being in a band and writing (rather than dealing with the day-to-day stuff that goes along with it). We did it without a manager or a booking agent for the first couple years, and I think that was extremely important in terms of developing the band within itself. It tested us and made us into a family. Having gone through that, we were more willing to entertain the idea of an outside manager so long as they could become part of that family. So we adopted Melissa, so to speak. And the same goes for Stormy, Jeremy, and Nicole at Leave Home. IndieHQ: As music sales continue to decrease and music distribution changes, there has been lots of talk about a new label business model where labels will need to start taking a share of the band’s merchandise, publishing, and ticket sales. How do you feel about this idea?? StaticAge: I’d say many labels have been trying that sort of stuff for a few years, actually. We’ve been offered deals with all that stuff included (minus maybe the ticket sales). We turned them down. My feeling is that labels will have to bring a considerable amount to a band to try reaching that deeply, and bands should always be careful about giving up too much of themselves to someone that doesn’t deserve that sort of reach or control. It’s all in the how the deal is worded, ultimately, but I’ve seen a lot of grotesquely one-sided language in contracts that young bands are strong-armed into signing for fear they’ll miss their “big opportunity.” I think people are afraid of waiting and pushing ahead on their own, and I think that’s one of the big reasons labels have been able to get away with so much, unfortunately. IndieHQ: If you were forced to describe your band to someone by mentioning the 3 bands that most influenced your songwriting, which bands would you mention?? StaticAge: That’s nearly impossible for me, as I think our songs can vary across a wide spectrum. In terms of artists I admire, I’d guess Peter Gabriel, The Psychedelic Furs, and maybe The Clash…but that really doesn’t cover the spectrum of what I think we do or where we’re headed next at all. IndieHQ: What do you see as the future of music sales?? StaticAge: Good question. If you find out, let me know. IndieHQ: What 5 albums are you currently listening to most?? StaticAge: This only really covers the last couple days, but…?Tom Waits — Orphans?The Draft — In a Million Pieces?The Mountain Goats — Tallahassee?Nine Inch Nails — Year Zero (this record is really growing on me)?The Knife — Deep Cuts (I came late to this band, but “Heartbeats” is a fantastic song) IndieHQ: If you could get everyone in the world to listen to one song by your band, which one would it be? Why? Is it on your Myspace page? ?StaticAge: I wouldn’t know which one to pick. I’m a bit attached to quite a few of them. Start with the ones on the Myspace page, in any order you like. -- Virgil Dickerson

AbsolutePunk.net | Spring 2007 | Interview / Review posted on May 21, 2007, 03:48:39 PM.

The Static Age Posted on 03-26-07 by Jon Foucart First off, can you please state your name and what you do in The Static Age? Andrew. I sing and play guitar. The band recently began a six week US tour. How has it been going so far? Minus a bit of van trouble, everyhing's been going great. We're hitting a lot of places we haven't played in a year and a bunch of new ones we've never been to as well. We're about two weeks in and are down in Texas at SXSW at the moment -- so far so good. Are any other tours lined up for after this current tour? Definitely. I know that there are plans in the works to start a summer tour in June. We get home from this tour in Mid-April, take May off, and then head back out again. We're hoping to get over to the UK/Europe later this year as well. We had a tour planned and mostly booked through a German agency last year, but ended up recording Blank Screens instead. We'll see what happens with that in the Fall. Now the band recently had their new full length, Blank Screens, drop via Reignition Records. How has the response been so far? We tried a bunch of new things on this record, and the response seems positive. I generally avoid reading reviews these days, but a lot of people have come up to me personally or hit us up online to let us know how much they love the record. And that feedback just makes us all the more psyched to try the new songs on the road. I read that if you digitally purchase the album, you get a bonus track remixed by Ocelot Mthrfckrs. How did you end up working with those guys? Well, it's sort of in keeping with form at this point. We're developing something of a history when it comes to remixes and alternate versions, apparently. There were Jade from AFI's and Daz from the Explosion's remixes on our last album, and there's also an alternate house/dance version of our song "Amphibian" called "Red Lips" floating around that was done by a Greek DJ named Christian Cambas, just to name a few. That said, when we were considering a remix on this new stuff, Ross from ReIgnition got us in touch with a couple of his old friends in the Rise (who are now in Ocelot Mthrfckrs) about potentially remixing "Trauma." They were psyched on the idea, and iTunes seemed an appropriate place to make it available. We're talking with other people now about other remixes at the moment as well. A video for the single "Cherry Red" surfaced in January, are there any plans to shoot another video, and if so which song will be selected? There's been talk of shooting something later in the spring. Nothing's been planned at all yet, but I think the band is interested in trying something with animation. We've been talking to a few people about ideas and what we could accomplish with stop-action in particular, but no song has been selected as of yet. Going favorites are "Blank Screens" and "Skyscrapers." Let's talk a little about Reignition. The band has been with the label for a little while now. What can you tell us about your relationship with the label, as well as how they have helped mold the band that The Static Age is today? Well, ReIgnition has been great to us because they've let us do whatever we want. They've been completely hands off in all aspects of our record and artwork, which was very important to us. Ross Seigel had been talking to the band for a long time (even back before Tarantulas), so when we left our previous label, ReIgnition stepped right in and offered us a chance to get right back in the studio and we jumped at it. As for shaping the band? I don't think ReIgnition has really defined us in any way, and that's what everyone wanted from the outset. Our deal with them is a one-off, so we're just taking it as it comes for the time being. For someone who hasn't listened to the band, how would you explain your sound or who would you compare the music to? I've never come up with a proper answer to this question, I don't think. This question and the "who should your band tour with?" question are both tough for us. If you have ideas, I'm all ears. All said, thanks to modernity, I can leave it at this: listen at myspace.com/thestaticage. That should give anyone a pretty decent idea. That about wraps it up. Feel free to leave any closing comments or shouts outs here. Thanks again for the interview. Thanks, same to you. The Static Age - Blank Screens by Scott Irvine Why are sunrises so coveted? Daybreaks have occurred countless times throughout this planet’s history, and yet those few minutes where that scorching Sun rises just enough over the horizon to send the tree line’s shadow flying and numb our bodies into an almost timeless state -- life is still. We have an almost completely opposite reaction than nature at this point. Those morning breezes, scurrying animals, swaying trees – all but motionless during those minutes while we stand slack-jawed during a particularly stunning sight. Nature is almost insensitive to the thoroughly routine planetary procedure. Abrupt interjection or not, it’d be futile to deny the same system, to an extent, happening in certain parts of music reception. In The Static Age’s case, those accustomed to the small sect still devoted to carrying on new-wave influence and electronically experimenting with indie rock’s darker side will find Static Age nothing new or special. They’re nature – the rustics who have stuck behind an apparently prominent sound in rock today. Consider me the hiker who stands atop a hill taken aback by the sight before my eyes. Blank Screens is the sunrise. Perhaps the album caught me at a good time; a moody temperament undoubtedly induced by school’s sloth-like crawl. Each jitter of the keyboards as they paint twilight murals across Andrew Paley’s faux-hushed, slightly despairing voice catch me a waft of relaxation-in-sound and promptly relay their sometimes rock lean/sometimes minimalist new-wave lean through ever gracious arrangements. Paley even has a slight punk tinge to his vocals, possibly having been learned during his stint with River City Rebels, which adds a gruff aspect to the otherwise arty songs. “Cherry Red” somehow exemplifies the artwork in the pictured sunset’s lipstick colored focal point. The song is also the best on the album, so they probably kept the latter in mind to somehow tie the lead-off in with the artwork’s theme. However, with the sunshine-y keyboard intro, you would think the setting of the song is later than the time of a sunrise. Paley confidently and quickly sings, “She sings a siren’s song/I am the damage done” during the especially upbeat chorus, juxtaposing itself to half of the album’s other songs; i.e. slower, more paced such as the following track “The Bluebird Room”. With keyboards that sound straight out of “Mad World”, the former is as slow as the band gets. Though it seems like it would be a turnoff for a band that composes some solid rock-based songs such as the title track, “Blank Screens”, it’s really an interesting route for the quartet. If my sole mention of the keyboards is getting old by now; apologies. Though, I can’t feel too bad as it is the most striking aspect to the album. From it’s almost Appleseed Cast glitter in “Skyscrapers” to its modest glum in “The Last Light in the West”, keyboardist Sarah-Rose Cameron makes this album what it is. All the same though, bassist Adam Meilleur dominates the rhythm section with his oddly distorted four-string that sounds as if each chord is being reflected in a mirror. Besides the actual musicians, credit must be paid to producers Michael Birnbaum and Chris Bittner as this is has to be one of the best sounding albums of last year. Each instrument is perfectly paralleled to one another, and Paley’s voice is perfectly filtered into the crisp croons that dominate each and every track. Sunset closes this record with not a bang, but a whisper: just how the hiker, nature, and the terrestrial forces expect it too. Blank Screens has bent my expectations on what could come out of such a dependency on the keyboard and moody, almost retro, instrumentation. Hopefully you’ll catch this album, released last year mind you, before you lose sight of what is still meaningful in the indie rock scene these days. In that, you can be the hiker too; paving your own paths and catching sight of some of the few sunrises left to still be coveted.

TheRedAlert.com | April 2007 | Live Review posted on May 21, 2007, 03:47:44 PM.

I am frequently baffled when I go to shows of fantastic bands like The Static Age, and there aren’t more people there to see them. Granted, the show was in Pomona—which isn’t exactly the hippest town in California—and it was on a Thursday, but there really wasn’t an excuse for the lack of turnout. The Static Age, hailing from New York and Vermont-ish, are about midway through their tour in support of their latest release, Blank Screens. Although the album came out in September 2006, this is their first cross-country tour in support of it. Prior to this they have mostly been milling around the Northeast, except for when they take time out to do things like open for AFI, or play SXSW. They opened with the title track off Blank Screens—an album that is inspired by multiple genres, and difficult to classify.  Unless you are into being branded, classification is unnecessary anyway. The Static Age’s keyboard and guitar effects could be misinterpreted as a throwback to the 1980s if they weren’t done with such taste and careful construction. Frontman Andrew Paley’s voice, which resonated so nicely in the Glass House, also sets The Static Age apart from the masses. There aren’t other voices like Paley’s; you really need to experience it for yourself in order to understand it. It’s a deep, polished and remarkably handsome singing voice that every dude wishes he had. Their set was, to my dismay, fairly short because it was a smaller show, and it is a shame because things seemed to be going so well and the energy was wonderful – and then Paley’s guitar took on a mind of its own (as instruments often do) and just stopped working during one of the last songs. Good musicians always carry a spare, though, so they were able to pound out one more song, which happened to be a brand new one. They did not mention the name of it, but it seemed written in true Static Age sprit and was successfully executed by way of the new guitar. The band plans to spend much of 2007 on tour, so although this time around Pomona didn’t really get the memo, hopefully (should they play there next time around) there will be more of a turnout. This is the type of band that clearly loves performing, whether in front of 50 or 5,000 people.  They have a way of charming their way into their audiences hearts even those who are unfamiliar with their music. Plus, they aren’t bad to look at—and who doesn’t like to watch a bunch of attractive people playing good music? — Alexis Roberts

Hippo Press | December 2006 | Review posted on May 21, 2007, 03:42:59 PM.

The Static Age, Blank Screens Reignition Records, 2006 If it were scientifically possible, I would swear The Static Age vocalist/ guitarist Andrew Paley to be the love child of Nick Cave and Peter Gabriel. The Burlington, VT, quartet remain one of indie rock’s best kept secrets, and keeping things from others just isn’t fair. Traces of the Psychedelic Furs, The Police, and Joy Division can be linked to the band but in no way make up the better sum of their parts. Blank Screens is only the slightest departure from 2004’s Neon Nights Electric Lives. Equally striking by design and slick production, the band has forged ahead with a more progressive approach and a highly politicized lyric sheet. Making no excuses for his left side lean (see: the entire journal section of the band’s Web site), Paley could be a promising political contender for the DNC if this band thing doesn’t work out. While most rock bands can be linked together easily by their Mesa guitar heads, the trademark characteristics here are immediate. Pulsating bass lines awash in thick chorus, classical-goth keys, spidering melodic guitar lines, and enough stuttering dark disco beats to emerge the Bee Gees from their grave (even though they’re clearly not dead). Here, growth and a much darker ambiance have taken the band away from making a sequel. Where some of Neon Nights most favorable moments stood at the front of the composition, the best melodies and most intimate moments lie deep within “Trauma” and the captivating title track. Taking cues from the quiet croon of his own side project Paper Tigers, Paley steps out for three songs on his own for Blank Screens. With the band stripped away, all but echoed synth blips and the chilling beauty of his top notch vocals remain on “The Bluebird Room”. The retro vibe has transcended into almost every sub-genre of pop at this point in one form or another, but it is the darkwave nods and skewed beauty found throughout The Static Age catalog that remains one of the most honest additions in recent years to a trend that they clearly transcend. There was no one else doing anything like Blank Screens in 2006 and honestly, there won’t be in the years to come either. A- — Sean Joncas Originally at: http://www.hippopress.com/music/The%20Static%20Age.html

Status Magazine | November 2006 | Interview Feature posted on December 15, 2006, 03:10:00 AM.

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Amplifier Magazine | November 2006 | "Blank Screens" Review posted on December 04, 2006, 10:35:15 PM.

RockSound Magazine | November 2006 | Profile posted on November 27, 2006, 09:36:59 PM.

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Audio Blood Magazine | November 2006 | Feature posted on November 20, 2006, 04:55:30 PM.

Published at: http://www.audioblood.com/features/staticagefeat.html Post Punk, But You Kinda Gotta Hear It By: Amanda Reid Photo: myspace.com/thestaticage From the moment that I first heard the Static Age’s new record Blank Screens, I was intrigued. Not because of their dreamy but strong guitars, or their thoughtful, politically charged lyrics, it was mostly because I couldn’t describe it properly. It seems like there are an infinite amount of labels for music lately, but I found it almost impossible to pin down the Static Age’s spacey brand of rock into a pre-prescribed genre. So when I got a chance to interview lead singer Andrew Paley over the phone, I had to ask him how he would label his music. But even he was stumped. “I have the same trouble, I think its actually that’s been one of the things that’s kinda worked for the band in some ways because its not very easy to categorize us. And I think in some ways it has made it harder for people to figure out how to push us or talk about us or put us in magazines…I’m kind of proud of the fact that we are a bit harder to categorize.” He went on to explain, “When this band started…we were going to try to write something that sounded quite different than what we’d been used to and write something that comes from a whole different well of influences, things we’d been listening to and ideas we’d been having.” So Andrew just made up his own label for when people ask him: “post-punk-but-you-kinda-gotta-hear-it.” I think it has a nice ring to it. But don’t judge him by his not so technical terms; Andrew has had a lot of experience in the music scene. “When I first started playing in a band I was pretty young and the first tour I went on, it was actually a national tour when I was fifteen,” he admitted modestly. Andrew was involved with the punk and alternative scene in Vermont growing and being in a band has always been his dream. I then asked him if he dreamed of being a “rockstar” as a little kid, and was surprised when he said no. “It wasn’t about being a rockstar, it wasn’t about some greater end, it was about playing in bands, writing music, getting in the van and touring.” And he does seem suited for life on the road. “ I gotta be honest with you, you certainly do get tired sometimes at the end of being out for a few weeks at least. You want to come home and have a week off. At the same time, it sort of just gets in your blood for some reason and you end up home for a few days thinking it’ll be great to sit around and relax for even a few months and all of a sudden you realize how bored you are.” The company on tour certainly isn’t too bad. The Static Age has been able to tour with amazing bands like the Hot Hot Heat, Interpol, and most recently, AFI and the Explosion, though this was not their first time with either of these bands. However Andrew is frequently linked to fellow Vermont band River City Rebels, whom he toured and recorded with for a bit. However he’s quick to clear up that he was never actually part of the band. “It’s funny when I read things about how ‘one of the members used to be in the River City Rebels, now he’s gotten more mature. Because to me, the Static Age was always my thing…The River City Rebels was just something I did with some guys from the scene for 6 months or less.” Though Andrew’s history with the River City Rebels isn’t evident in Static Age’s sound, Andrew’s background as a media and communications student is obvious in the bands lyrics. Though he insists that Blank Screens wasn’t meant to be a ‘concept record’, he admits that current events and politics are a common theme throughout the record. “I think that in the band each member is socially and politically conscience in their own way. The last five years in this country has given us reason to be wary of the state of things. I think all art, what you’re surrounded with, and what you’re thinking about is what plays into what you are doing and that’s what happened very much on this record.” But The Static Age is not just singing about the state of the world today, they’re doing something about it. Andrew said, “ I think the band has always tried to align itself with political causes”, some of which have included playing campaign rallies for their Vermont Senator, Bernie Sanders, and actively promoting other causes such as Music for America and Anti-Racist Action. All that do-gooding has certainly paid off; the Static Age has been pretty successful for such a young band. But Andrew doesn’t seem too concerned with making it big, he’s just going along for the ride. “I mean it’s obviously grown quite a bit and we will keep going because, of course, we would like for that to happen, but it’s still just about wanting to be in a band and having the right to record, and make the records we want to make and tour with the bands that we love and as we see fit. So as long as that’s the heart of it, what comes will come I guess.”

Verbicide | November 2006 | Interview posted on November 20, 2006, 04:51:45 PM.

Link: here. Northern Exposure The Static Age Burst Out Of New England And Onto The National Stage With Blank Screens >>INTERVIEW BY Ben Conoley >>PICS Courtesy Of Reignition Records The sphere of what constitutes punk rock has no doubt become a lot more encompassing within the last few years. While this has caused a few headaches and calls to “up the punx!” it has also given fans without their middle fingers in the air the chance to discover some great music they may not have before, while at the same time giving those making music the opportunity to branch out in different directions. While members of The Static Age used to (and sometimes still) play punk and hardcore, the band isn’t typical within the scene. Then again, with bands such as AFI expanding their sound and getting only more popular, it may only be a matter of time before that all changes. Sure, The Static Age might get their name from a Misfits song, but their similarities end there. The Static Age play heavily moody and atmospheric songs with a large dose of electronic elements thrown into the bag. Blank Screens is the third full-length amongst a handful of EPs and singles released by the Vermont-based group. Andrew Paley, who handles vocals duties for The Static Age recently took some time to discuss how the band has maintained their DIY ethics and managed to find themselves a quality niche within the punk community. Blank Screens was recently released. How’s it been treating you so far? I think it has been received well. I try not to read too many reviews, because it could [affect] the way [I write]. I treat it as a sideshow. People send me the good ones. You just shot a video for the song “Cherry Red,” off of Blank Screens. How’d the shoot go? What’s the theme? It was good and it was freezing cold. We had the misfortune of deciding to shoot our video over three days in upstate New York in the woods in an abandoned hotel. It was 20 degrees at night. My brother is a film director, and it was the fist time we collaborated. We just got stationed in the room and played with a bunch of ideas. How do you see yourself fitting into the punk community? I don’t know. It’s been an interesting dance we’ve done. When we started we set up DIY tours like we did with our older bands, and we ended up touring with hardcore bands because of everyone we [already] knew. We enjoy being the band that didn’t make sense sound-wise, but ideologically fit in. I guess in some ways it might help to be the band that sticks out. The next morning when a kid was saying who was playing with band “X” they can say, “a bunch of punk bands, and that band with keyboards.” Yeah, I think there’s almost a tendency to have this perception that if you are in a punk band, you have to tour with punk bands, or hardcore bands [have to tour] with hardcore bands. But my first show, when I was 14, was a Texas is the Reason show and they were playing with Madball. I was talking to one of the guys in Most Precious Blood — Justin Brannan — and he said something along the lines of, “There are so many sounds in your head, and you should run with them all. Life’s too short not to.” It was an interesting thing to say, especially from a guy from Most Precious Blood. Post-punk music with heavy doses of electronic elements has been getting big, such as Hot Hot Heat and The Stills. Have you had the opportunity to jump to the majors? When the idea of the band started based on songs I was writing, it was late 2001 and there was no post-punk revival. We started in the punk scene and because of the kind of band we are and because we have a keyboardist there was interest in the band, but we made conscious decisions to turn down certain labels. I’ve seen people I know get signed and exploited and end up not knowing who they are and their band falls apart. When this band started we made a decision to want it and really have to focus on it. So we made the decision not to pursue major labels. You’re pretty media savvy — what role does politics play in the band? The need is more and more with society. It’s always been there for me. I was always politically active, getting involved with campaigns, anti-war; I started an Anti-Racist-Action in my hometown. It was sort of there with last year’s record. During that year we were playing rallies. We were working with Music for America. But with Screens it’s in the content of the record. It’s not a conscious decision, but an evolution. Is it a challenge to take your music and transfer it to the stage? It’s interesting. This is the first album where we got into any sequencing. Previously, we got on stage and if the keyboard would have two parts and there was a part that had to be left out, so be it. Lately we’ve been talking about adding a fifth member to see if we can create the songs on stage [in whole]. How does The Static Age plan to close out the year? We have a handful of shows coming up with AFI and the Explosion. We are doing CMJ and then doing shows in the Northeast. We plan on another full US tour and then a European tour that has been on the backburner for the whole year. We’ve been wanting to go for a few years, and it would be good to get there by February. Get the video out and see what happens, then record.

ForTheSound.com | November 2006 | Interview posted on November 15, 2006, 02:39:17 PM.

Link: here. Date: November 13th, 2006 Band Member(s): Andrew (Vocals, Guitar) Could you please start by stating your name and what you do for the band? Andrew, and I play guitar and sing. You guys really blend a lot of sounds in your music, a lot of older influences it seems like, where do you get your musical influences for the band? We're all influenced by everything around us all the time -- it goes beyond music. I think the things we've experienced collectively and individually over the past year have had as much to do with the sound of this new record as anything else. That said, musically-speaking, we all grew up listening to different stuff, and that plays directly into the band. When I was five, I had a bunch of tapes by artists like Elvis Costello, and Tears for Fears, and The Psychedelic Furs, and Cyndi Lauper, and I just never stopped listening to that music. Later on, I discovered Metallica and picked up a guitar for the first time, and then punk rock, and spent years listening to the Clash, and Propagandhi, and the Descendents, and so on. Along the way, I also picked up personal favorites like Peter Gabriel, Bob Dylan, and Tom Petty. And all this by the time I was 19 -- I had been playing in touring punk and hardcore bands with a whole bunch of other ideas in my head about how to write songs, and it took me another year or two of playing around with demos and keyboards in my bedroom before this band came together...and everything I'd held on to along the way became a part of it. And each of the band members has a story of similar length involving other styles and artists -- I think that melting pot is one thing that adds to the sound. Basically, there aren't just a couple bands we can point to and say "there, those bands, that's what we sound like." It makes it harder to describe the band's sound (and I've seen some articles about us that say "For fans of" and reference bands that make me cringe), but so it goes. When you started in 2001 there was not much of a scene for Post-Punk revival. Do you feel like it is more welcome today? Yes and no. There's been some sort of so-called post-punk "revival" that's been called out, but I don't know if I agree totally with that idea. All of a sudden, there are some rigid definitions that come about, and bands with keyboards, a few pedals, and a couple interesting drum beats are all lumped together under "post-punk," no matter how different they may sound or how many other ideas they incorporate. It's sort of the necessary curse of the "genre." The closest we come to fitting with a genre at all is loosely under post-punk, so that's where we've been settled. And the perceived "revival" of that batch of styles really just means that a group of kids grew up in the same era, were influenced by a whole series of similar cultural events and artists, and then started bands. All bands have influences, and all bands take ideas they like from the landscape of music history and reinvent those ideas for themselves. Some pull from large or varied pools of ideas to meld into their own singular idea, others from small or less varied ones. So, of course there are going to be sonic similarities when a slew of new artists crops up, hence the genre "revival." The trick is doing something that takes what came before and expanding upon it, adding to it, and making it uniquely your own. Whatever the case, I think "revival" is a weird word to begin with, simply because the genre of post-punk was born less than 30 years ago, and in the grand scheme of things -- even culturally speaking -- that strikes me as a relatively short period of time. I don't think it ever really went away, either. So maybe the term "evolution" works better in my head. Has the band gone through any big changes due to the leaving of your drummer in 2005? Not necessarily. A new member obviously adds different elements to the band, but losing Bobby was more about losing a friend than a bandmate. He and I had known each other since I was in middle school, and it was hard to see him go. That said, there was never any question as to what we were going to do about the band, so we just pressed on twice as hard. Thankfully, Coby from Say Anything was able to lend us a hand for a couple of tours until we settled on a permanent replacement in our new drummer Tim. Being on a smaller label owned by members of The Explosion, do you feel like you have a harder time getting your music out to people? Well, we actually haven't worked with Tarantulas since last year -- which was partially owned by a couple guys from The Explosion -- so things have changed. We released our last album "Neon Nights Electric Lives" with them. The new album, "Blank Screens," is actually on ReIgnition Recordings, which is a label affiliated with the magazine Law of Inertia. That said, we made a conscious decision to work with a label like Tarantulas at that time, and to work with a label like ReIgnition this time around. We had some offers on the table -- partially due to the hype of the Post-punk "revival" happening -- and we turned them all down because we wanted creative control, because we wanted to be more involved, and because we wanted to be a real band, for lack of a better term. I adhere to the idea that struggle makes a band -- as a group of artists -- better (hence the very birth of the Blues, as example). We decided to take the time to work on records with no expectations of singles or album sales, to experiment enough to figure out what we really wanted to do and who we are as a band -- ultimately in the hopes that we'd build something better in the end. It might seem naive or unreasonable, but we'll see where it takes us. Paley is a former political science student, what would you being doing with that if he (you) were not in a successful band? I was actually a student of Journalism and Media, not political science as has been said, but I tied it into much more progressive and social causes, and the arts. I'd probably be doing exactly what I'm doing now, which is to say "having ideas and arguing about them." Good arguments are the birthplaces of thought, and I'm something of an addict. Beyond that, I'd be writing a lot more. I'm sitting on a novel that's about two-thirds done, and thinking about ideas for another one. If I wasn't recording and touring, I might already be on my third. So much for focus. The Static Age is not your average scream and gang shout politically charged band, do you think you are still able to get your political message out even though you are not presenting it in the package most people are accustomed to? I don't really think about it like that, and if I did, I'd have to say that I'm glad we're not presenting it in a package people are accustomed to. And I think if anyone is thirsty for ideas, they'll pick up on them whether they're shouted or whispered or written down. When you are writing a song is there a certain goal you wish to achieve? Will you discard a song if you feel it does not achieve this goal? As far as a goal goes, not necessarily. In fact, the worst songs I've ever written were the songs I consciously decided about beforehand. As soon as I think "I want to write a song about X," I can be sure it's going to be scrapped. It has to be less conscious than that. I think that art, at its core, is about reaching below the outer layers of yourself and exposing what you've got hiding down there. Taking that out, putting it in the light, and pushing it out to someone else is the process an artist goes through. In that process, sometimes you get anger, or frustration, or fear, or resolution, or a number of other things. Sometimes it comes out political or social or extroverted, sometimes it comes out emotional or personal or introverted. However it shapes up, taking that gut reaction, and putting it into words against music is creating something. More often than not, I'm along for the ride when I'm writing. I put pen to paper and just go. Sometimes it doesn't work at all, and sometimes it just comes on with a life of its own. If that whole process goes well, the song works -- no matter how much it may not sound like a hit to someone in A&R. If it doesn't, it's discarded. "Count the Dead" for instance was written after reading a piece about how many Iraqis have been killed in the current conflict, and how rarely those numbers get reported. I was so frustrated by the pureness of apathy to living, breathing human beings based simply on invented ideas of nationality and ignorance, I sat down and wrote. On the other hand, if I had thought "I want to write a song about war," "Count the Dead" would have never made it onto the album. You guys have a new release out, if you wanted to present it to someone who had never heard the band before what would you say to them? What songs would you play for them? I would tell them to listen to the whole thing twice. In order. Because that's the way we left it for them to find. And more will make sense the second time around. How do you feel about the state of the scene today? The more it grows, the more beauty and ugliness it creates. The balance holds, but you have to dig harder to find the gems in the rough. That and, like all good things, the fact that it's been co-opted by big business as the latest youth trend to exploit. So it goes. For more on that, read "Commodify Your Dissent." Many kids today know nothing of bands that really started it all like Refused, Promise Ring or Mineral. Do you think kids can really appreciate where the scene how far the scene has come with no appreciation of it’s roots? I think it depends on how you look at it. To some people, listening to music is about a connection to immediate ideas through sound that holds a profound meaning in and of itself. If that's the case, then I think that anyone can connect deeply and immediately with any band in the scene -- and shouldn't be chided or looked down upon for not knowing the names of bands who tapped similar things a decade or two ago. In one sense, staring backwards will get us nowhere. Furthermore, that band's sound is influenced by the scene's roots, so in some small way, the uninformed listener is appreciating the past in spirit if not by name. On the other hand, if you're referring to the scene as a cultural movement and a force unto itself, I would argue that not understanding its history will be its future demise -- or perhaps its current demise (because it's that much easier for big business to co-opt, and reinvent in a glossy, ready-for-mall-America way). As soon as we forget what counterculture can mean, we -- or at least any semblance of revolution we may hold dear -- are doomed...and I worry this may have already happened to a significant extent. Is there anything else you would like to add for readers of For The Sound [dot] com? Support independent journalism in any form -- whether the focus is politics, or music, or technology. The only way we're going to keep our ideas democratic, our art alive, and ourselves informed is to promote alternative sources of information. So, for instance, keep reading For The Sound.

SkylinePress.net | November 8th, 2006 | "Blank Screens" Review posted on November 15, 2006, 05:24:26 AM.

Only the darkest and psychedelic voids of darkness could have formed what is described within The Static Age. With loads of influences that stem from classical to other more recent rock, we can see through the black and white forest into the red sun that offers us these 9 tracks of blood sweat and mystifying darkness that threatens to enthrall us all. This pair of three guys and one girl has dug deep enough to bring us the noise of dark water, and it is up to us to listen to this twisted playground of sound. The title track "Blank Screens" begins the album with sonic fillers and whispers that mix with the guitar effects and background noise. A complex beat is correlated and creates a pop fairy tale, filled with an echoed xylophone and an exhilarating bass line that jolts down the line. A soft and rather synth projecting song is a great way to start the CD. A similar drum beat is the primary focus of "Skyscrapers," as a toned guitar strums along with the captivating lyrics that cry out for a stead fast ear and a solemn conscience. A maraca keeps the beat from drifting off and allows for a controlled beat that leads the effort in a proactive way. Ambient and echoed bells vibrate with a hymn of enlarging airs of sound for "Lights In the Attic." A fond harmony whispers with the vocals that come close and direct sweet nothings in your ear, as an unfaltering beat shapes the sound for long times to come. "Trauma" has a bass dominated feel to it, even as guitars shoot through the holes and project their light, the bass is just so strong. Psychedelic guitars bend and break the rules with their progression styles that are engaged with vocal arithmetic. Soft pillows put your head in a trance and weigh your eyes down into sleep. The continuingly up beat synth trial for "Cherry Red" fills your cheeks with color with light singing and catchy riffs. Time is taken for this tribute song that calls out your inner most thoughts with cascading drum beats and ethereal atmospheres. "The Bluebird Room" begins with keyboard personalities that echo into the night with their bell ringing likeness. Vocals are placed gently down on a bed and are tucked in for the night with soft flicks of the tongue and movements of the mouth. A sonic metronome beat blinks and flashes with timed scattered skylines in the background. Repeating guitars spread the foundation out and allow for riffs of creative measure for "Count the Dead." A bass composition takes over and brings the causous vocals on a rollercoaster ride of a song with twists, turns, and balanced melody. A variable release of stress that comes from such a well thought out conversation of rhythum and energy. A perverse rendition of twisted bass and xylophone action that rings out a medley for the thick dark underbelly of "Marilyn." This song allow for the lead singer to extent his range and move out of the whispering phase and speak out loud and clear. Rain drops of guitar alchemy swell up on the rocks, which stretch and elongate to fit the rough picture that sweet lyrics cry out for. For a final shot in the night, The Static Age offers up their rather long and epic track "The Last Light in the West" as a bookend for "Blank Screens." A well oiled machine incorporates a steady beat of drums and toms, that go hand in hand with the accompanying synth and keyboard bustle. Short flights of beautiful words escape the efficient machine and are covered back up. Yet the sounds still continue into the static and fog filled night. This album is like trying to contact ghosts through electronic means. If you look and listen closely to the calming white noise, you get solid emotion that are un biased and filled with thought. Much of the CD was portrayed like that as vocals were gentle and delicate with docile whispers and nuances backing them up. The guitar work was plentiful and had a wide range, such as some were used to form the strong base and then had streaming waves of riffs that decorated the outside. Such a beautiful representation of their unique musical gradients showcases it self with flying colors and subtle ever reaching messages. In this age of Static, we weren’t given a blank screen, but rather a one filled with seemingly endless possibilities. ~ Pernell Fowler November 08 2006

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