Kansas City-based band The Strive opened this year’s Mix 93.3’s Red, White and Boom. I had the chance to meet with them after the show. (Photo by Jacob Elyachar).
By: Jacob Elyachar
Recently, I had the chance to cover Mix 93.3’s Red, White and Boom at Starlight Theater. Of the many acts that were featured at the concert, pop rock band the Strive stood out to me through their ability to connect their music to the crowd and their interaction with their fans both on-and off-stage. Since their 2010 debut, the Strive has recorded multiple singles, a debut EP and had the chance to share the stage with multiple acts including Hawthorne Heights, Yellowcard and Gavin DeGraw.
I had the opportunity to correspond with the Strive’s lead vocalist Brendan Stevens and we talked about the formation of the band, how they got into music and their Red, White and Boom experience.
Jacob Elyachar: How did you guys get into music?
Brendan Stevens: Each of us has had an elaborate musical background. For me, (Brendan), music became a huge part of my life in the sixth grade when my dad forced me to join my middle school choir. He knew I loved to sing, but I was terrified to join because of what other kids would think of me. I stuck with it though and I completely credit choir and the performing arts such as musical theater for getting me through high school. I’ve absolutely loved performing ever since. I picked up the guitar in 7th grade, and always had a passion for the pop/rock, warped tour scene, kind of music. For me, it started with New Found Glory, and from there I wound up loving this scene of music, and love the music we make.
Luke Davis, our lead guitarist admitted to me the other day that the movie “School Of Rock” was the whole reason he decided to pick up a guitar in the first place. Luke took lessons for almost eight years, and started teaching kids on his own. From there, he’s put up multiple covers on YouTube of songs from artists like Relient K, Paramore, and the occasional Taylor Swift cover. He’s competed for multiple scholarships with his skills. For our rhythm guitarist, Greg Dowd, bands from the mid 2000’s influenced him to pick up a guitar. Bands like Green Day and Blink-182 were the first bands that he really tuned into and wanted to learn how to play. Greg’s been performing now for around five or six years, and has been in multiple acts before The Strive that landed him opportunities to play at places like The Beaumont Club and the Uptown Theatre in Kansas City.
Michael Zenk, our bass player, comes from a huge family of music lovers, so he has always been inclined to follow music. Michael was listening to The Beatles “Rubber Soul” album on a record player by himself by age three. Michael was also heavily involved in his high school orchestra program, playing the viola. He’s been to state competitions multiple times, and has achieved many “one” ratings, which is not easy to achieve.
Nick Stacy, our drummer, comes from a family of multiple musicians. His dad, Scott, has been involved in the music scene for a few decades, and has played in touring bands, and also owned his own studio. Nick’s mom was a performing vocalist for many years as well, and has a voice that could blow anyone away. Nick decided to start on the drums because he’d watched his dad for so long, and wanted to be part of the family tradition. He started off by taking lessons, picked up the theory quickly, and has been posting YouTube drum covers since the age of 13. With over 200 covers under his belt on YouTube, he as achieved over a few million views on his channel and is considered one of the best drummers on YouTube.
JE: Could you please describe the Strive’s history?
BS: To make a long story short, The Strive came together in October of 2010. My buddy Kyle Ward and I had been working on a few demos together from an acoustic duo project that we formed that summer. However, Kyle was still working on a solo album and needed someone to track drums to his record. Kyle made a Facebook status, and Nick responded saying that he’d love to track drums to his record. When Kyle went to Nick’s studio to have the drums tracked, Nick suggested that they start a band, and Kyle asked me if I’d like to audition with him for this new project. Nick sent us a demo of a song with no name, and we quickly added vocals to it and titled it “Dreaming of You.”
The rest is history. Nick had been working with Luke for a few years, and “Dreaming of You” was one of their instrumentals. We eventually decided to put Greg Dowd, one of my friends from high school on rhythm guitar, and Michael Zenk picked up the bass for the first time, just to join The Strive. Kyle and I would be a duo of lead singers and the line-up was set with six members. Eventually, we collectively decided as a band that having two lead singers did not make any sense and was difficult to give our listeners a specific voice to get into. We decided that Kyle’s direction with our music did not match the five of us, and eventually it led to us asking him to leave the band, and then everything was set into place for where we are now. We are still very close friends with Kyle and wish him the best in whatever he may do.
The current line-up consists of the five of us. Nick Stacy on drums, Greg Dowd on rhythm guitar, Michael Zenk on bass, Luke Davis on lead guitar, and myself as the lead vocalist.
JE: Let’s talk about your second single: “Caught Inside.” What was the message behind the song and what was your reaction when you guys heard that it was the top of purevolume.com’s playlist for unsigned acts?
BS: “Caught Inside” was an idea that came to be only a few weeks into us being Kyle and I brainstormed lyrics for a few days, and Kyle decided to write most of the verses about his nephew who had been suffering from a serious mental depression. I wrote the chorus based on knowing how it feels to be stuck in a situation that you do not understand, and simply longing for things to be the way they used to. We hyped up the single using our Facebook, Myspace and PureVolume.com pages, but none of us were expecting the response we got. When we found out we were at the top of the unsigned alternative artist play charts, we were ecstatic. We had only been a band at this point for a little under two months. It was truly a humbling experience. We do not play “Caught Inside” very often anymore out of respect for Kyle. Who knows? Maybe you’ll see a re-release of “Caught Inside” in the future. It’s too powerful to hide from everyone.
JE: The band has performed with numerous acts including Hawthorne Heights, Hey Monday and Yellowcard. What were some of the lessons that you guys remember learning from them?
BS: We have been incredibly lucky to open for all of the artists you just mentioned and we’ve learned something special from each of them.
However, I feel like we learned the most from Hawthorne Heights. We opened for them at a show at The Bottleneck in April of 2011. The tour they were on was a fairly small tour, and only had a turnout of about 100 kids at the venue. For a band that used to receive constant radio play and a huge following, this was shocking to us. Hawthorne Heights took the stage, line-checked themselves, and the vocalist said to the crowd, “We’re going to have fun tonight, we hope you do too”, and immediately started performing “Ohio is for Lovers”.
For us, it was a lesson that we took to heart. No matter if you’re playing for 5,000 people or five people, you put on the same show, because you might be some kid’s favorite band. It’s not about you, or your pride, or what you think you deserve. It’s about that kid in the front row that knows all of your songs, word for word, and has been influenced by your music.
JE: Recently, the Strive opened the 2012 Mix 93.3’s Red, White and Boom at Starlight. Could you describe what was that experience like?
BS: The whole experience of Red, White, and Boom, and the shows leading up to it, proved to us that we have the best fans a band could ask for. When we arrived at Red, White, and Boom, we were treated like just another band that was performing. Just because we were local, or the fact that we’re not signed did not even seem relevant. The people at Starlight, as well as the musicians that performed, (especially Karmin and Gavin DeGraw) were incredibly kind to us, and made sure that we got to have the total experience.
Looking out in to the crowd and seeing that many people was nerve-wracking at first, but it proved to us that we CAN do this. We CAN play shows at a venue that big. We CAN entertain a thousand people at one time. It was an incredibly positive feeling, and brought the five of us closer together. It was also a great opportunity to promote and network. We had hundreds of kids come follow us on Twitter as well as Facebook after the set.
JE: If you had the chance to meet with aspiring musicians who want to form a band. What would you tell them?
BS: If there’s one thing I think we’ve learned as a band, and that we’d like to share with musicians that are where we were two years ago, it’s to “be your own label”.
This industry is changing so rapidly, and there are less and less artists being “swept off their feet” by massive record labels that take care of every expense. A ton of bands that I used to listen to have dropped their labels completely and have done it on their own. Our advice would be to never think that one day you’re going to wake up with a hit single and a ton of money to go on tour with. You have to get out there and do everything yourself. Every person that you get to “like” your Facebook page counts. Every record that you sell counts. Every performance, everything you say to your fans matters.
Our last piece of advice would just be to be kind to everyone you meet: your fans, your family, even the people who hate on your music. Something that I think sets us apart from other bands is the fact that we actually respond to the kids who post on our Facebook wall, or send us tweets. I remember what it felt like for me last year when Cartel wrote on my wall after I wrote something on theirs. It was incredible to me that these musicians that I look up to took the time to write back to me. We want to be the band that people talk about and say, “they write good music, they put on an awesome live show, but they’re humble, nice people to hang out with”. In the end, we still have a long, long road ahead of us, and we take nothing for granted.
Thank you so much for this interview Mr. Elyachar, and a big thank you to everyone who took the time to read this. We love you guys so, so much, and are constantly reminded that we have the best fans in the world. With so much love- Brendan Stevens from The Strive
For more information about the Strive, visit their Website: http://www.wearethestrive.com/#!home/mainPage
