The New-Age Classic Rock-inspired band, Stone Nobles, talks about challenges, new music, & so much more!
Images By: @ryliston
It’s not every day that you get to talk to an up-and-coming band that you look up to. I was so graciously given the opportunity to sit down with Stone Nobles: Lancer (co-vocalist/lead guitarist), Brody (drummer), Ross (co-vocalist/rhythm guitarist), and their newest member, Kaiser (bassist). When I sat down with the band, I got to give Kaiser a very warm welcome to Stone Nobles before his arrival was announced. One thing I can truly and wholeheartedly say about this band is that they are way more deserving of attention. Not only are they extremely talented, but each one of them has such amazing personalities. Throughout the hour we spoke, not only did we share a great conversation but also shared some laughs.
For fellow small-towners, being from a small town holds a special place in our hearts, but there are some pros and cons that are different for all of us. Stone Nobles were in agreement with that but shared some of the challenges they face as a band. "In short, yes. I never like to use it as an excuse for us not being where we think we should be or where we want to be. We are continuing to grow." Ross stated, "I never let the ‘small state’ paradox hinder us, but it is a little bit tougher coming from a place that doesn’t have a massive [music] scene. You don’t see a lot of bands coming out of Providence, or out of just Rhode Island in general." Lancer agreed and said, "It’s not LA, Detroit, or New York." They also stated that one of the reasons for the upcoming shows in Michigan is because Michigan is like a "hotbed" for musicians compared to Rhode Island.
We continued the conversation by talking about the fans and their supporters. I witnessed firsthand the genuine love and appreciation these men have for the fans, especially ‘The Rider Fan Club'. SN promotes their music, plays the shows, and loves edging their fans, but the fans and listeners are top-priority. "At the end of the day, it comes down to, ‘Do you have listeners that want you to be where you are trying to be?’ You guys are the people who see us that way." As individuals, the fan interactions are top-notch, whether it’s going live on the social media platform Tiktok, responding to DMs, or replying to comments on the band’s posts. Stone Nobles makes an effort to keep their fans happy and engaged. I even asked them what one message they had for their fans; they all had different answers and cracked some jokes, but overall, their message to the fans is: "Do it for me, do it for yourself, do it for your friends, do it for your family, and do it for Stone Nobles," which is Ross’s signature sign-off when he’s live on TikTok. It’s very refreshing to see a band be so active within their fandom and continuously promote music and shows. To climb the industry ladder, there are steps necessary to grow into a worldwide band like Metallica or Ghost, and they are taking those steps.
Lancer and Brody took the reins on this next question: "What strengths do y’all have that make you believe that you are great musicians?" Brody states that he can play all the instruments used in the band. He doesn’t necessarily play the parts, but he does understand each instrument. "I can hear their parts and know exactly where we are in a song or pick up on certain nuances that I should accent on with the drums and play off of what they are doing," Brody explains. It also really helps with his creative input. Lancer mentions that Brody is also somewhat of a tech guy as well as a member. He is the one who runs the computer and sets up all the mics. "I don’t really find it hard to balance at all. When we sit down to record, I’ll do a rough take of the song on all the instruments so we have an idea and can play around with tempo or if we want to add certain textures or effects to the guitar. I’ll throw some stuff on there and kind of experiment to see what works." While in the studio, they first lay down drums, then guitar, bass, and vocals. I finally got to ask Brody what his favorite drum solo was, and he instantly said Neil Peart’s solo in YYZ. If you want to see the full live performance, there is a live video of this specific drum solo on YouTube. It’s from 1988 in Birmingham, Alabama. We continued with what his top five favorite drummers are, and Brody’s main influence is John Bonham from the iconic Led Zeppelin. He also named Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Chad Smith, and Steven Adler. Each drummer he named is a phenomenal musician and brilliant.
Out of curiosity to see what all the guys' answers would be, they were asked, "If you could erase one song from the world and rewrite it to be your own, what song would it be?" Ross instantly answered with Master of Puppets by Metallica, which didn’t come as a surprise seeing as the band, especially Ross, is heavily influenced by Metallica’s work. After that answer, we all shared some laughs, but I decided to challenge them a bit more and rephrase the question: "If you could erase one country song from the world and rewrite it to be your own, what would it be?" After a brief moment to think, Kaiser spoke up, and his answer was: "I don’t know if this counts or not, but Johnny Cash did a cover of Hurt by Nine Inch Nails; that’s the song I would pick." He continued about how he would change the song and make it more of an SN song. I truly fell in love with the idea of this and jokingly told them they needed to write the idea down. In return, they told me that they have considered releasing an EP full of covers, similar to what Ghost does, but they are holding off on that project. Hearing Kaiser’s response to the previous question, I had to ask him about what genres he likes and which ones he doesn’t. "I’m kind of the odd man out in this band, in terms of genre," he admits. "I listen to all the stuff they do, but my main influence is all death-metal stuff." Kaiser expresses that he will also listen to the one and only Phoebe Bridgers. He began to talk about his least favorite music genre: new country or pop country. We discussed why he felt this way, and it was more of just there being too much of it and how repetitive it is.
"Music, basically, completely drives pop culture. It’s probably the most influential part of pop culture in America." Lancer states as we begin to discuss the importance of music in society. "When you consider where a culture is going, the music heavily influences that. If you go through decades and start to look at the fashion that was associated with those decades, you have the ‘grunge style’," and then you have that ‘80s hair. There are always clothes associated with that stuff." Ross agrees with Lancer. "Every genre of music, every world of music, has its own massively popular world of fashion." Ross continues to talk about the timing of the music and creative styles. "Right now is a weird time for music; no one is reinventing the wheel anymore. There’s a lot of genre-bending, kind of like mixtures of styles. I like to think that we implement that a little bit as far as mixing the golden rock ‘n’ roll that we all grew up with, kind of like some of the metal that we’re all at least to some extent influenced by. We even try to show that with our stage outfits, our presence, and our performances." Ross explains more about their shows and how they have started to choreograph moves on stage, such as head banging. For the audience, it adds some fun and makes the shows interactive. "People come to the show and they’re like, ‘Oh, I’m waiting for that part or that part!" It gives the fans more to look forward to in their sets. "It’s very natural. It doesn’t look forced." Speaking of their sets and performances, I had to know what some of their favorite songs were to perform. It pretty much came down to each member of the band having different favorites. Here are some honorable mentions: Pandemonic, Tempt Me, Zombie Lullaby, and the band's newest single, Come On, Sadie Kaiser’s first song that he ever performed with the band was Zombie Lullaby. He and Ross go on to talk about when Kaiser came to audition for SN and how impressed they were with him. Out of everyone that came out to audition for the band, Kaiser was the only one who did his research and sang the backing vocals for Zombie Lullaby. According to Lancer, we will have to keep an eye out for two new songs in the somewhat near future. Stone Nobles and Coyote Express are two currently unreleased songs that the band performs, but lucky for us, they will be recorded and released sometime soon. Sadly, no date was given, but it adds some anticipation for the OG Stone Nobles fans!
You can go see them perform on July 20, 2023, at Mulligan’s Pub in Grand Rapids, Michigan, or July 21, 2023, at The Token Lounge in Westland, Michigan. Their music is available on all major streaming platforms so go give ‘em a spin!
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