PropertyOfZack recently had the chance to interview Steve from the band Stay. Stay have been gaining a lot of deserved popularity as of late and the band has a fantastic new record all finished up that will be released in the next few months. Steve and I discussed the writing process for the band’s new album, studio time, future touring, and more. Enjoy it!

For the record, could you state your name and role in Stay?
My name is Steve and I play guitar in the band Stay.
 
The band finished up recording their debut full-length, American Cherry Bomb, just a few weeks ago with John Naclerio who has worked with Brand New, My Chemical Romance, and Senses Fail among others. How did you guys get the chance to record with him?
We actually worked with John Naclerio on our Games With Girls EP so we were familiar with him from those sessions and figured it would be a good fit for the recording of the new album.
 
Was it a huge eye-opener in terms of studio time with him? How did the band enjoy being in the studio?
Since we had worked with John in the past and remained friendly with him, it was definitely an enjoyable experience working with him on this new album. Obviously, with any extended recording of 10-12 songs, things can get stressful at times, but that aside, it was a great experience. John is very good at grasping a feel/vibe for the bands he works with and making sure that that personality is heard within the recordings.
 
There are eleven songs on the record. How was the writing process for them, and when were most of them written?
All of the songs were written during October and November, with the main influence coming from our singer Anthony Rainville and our guitarist/keys player Andrew Elliott. They are the core writing group of the band; we all definitely offer input and work on the songs together but they are the brains behind the tunes. The goal was to elaborate on our past releases including the Games With Girls EP as well as the Summer Sampler that we had released in July 2010. We wanted to draw influence from the past songs and move forward but not totally abandon the sound that we had built previously.

How has the band evolved in terms of writing together over the years?
I think we’ve really grown in terms of utilizing our talents to the best of our abilities. For example, we’ve been able to understand the group as a whole in a better fashion and utilize talents to the utmost ability when the songs are being constructed. For some songs, certain parts and melodies were written by one person while in others, it’s the complete opposite. I think it’s important to understand what sort of vibe each writer performs best within and executing from there.
 
How would you compare the sound and production of the record to Games With Girls?
We’re really happy with the production and sound of the album. We had a bit more time available to us during the mixing process of this album compared to that of Games With Girls so the album sounds pretty much how we had envisioned it. I think the sound is reminiscent of Games With Girls but it’s different enough to get more people interested.
 
Can you discuss a few a songs for fans?
A few of the new tracks draw major influence from the struggles of an unsigned band. The songs are more thought out and meaningful, at least to us. Over the past year, we feel that the band has improved from a writing and performing aspect but we’ve also learned a lot more about ourselves and life in general. One of the new songs, “Machine Gun Summer”, is based around the idea of sort of thinking something is so great at face value but then later realizing it’s not exactly what it’s talked up to be.
 
Stay is currently shopping the LP to both indie and major labels at this point. Are there any nerves on the band’s behalf regarding signing to a label? And though you can’t reveal if you have signed with anyone, would you say that the record will most likely be released on a label?
We’re definitely excited about working with a record label. It’s still up in the air whether or not this record will be released on a label.
 
When is the latest that you’d like to have American Cherry Bomb out by?
We’re hoping to have it released by April or May so that we have the entire summer to tour and promote the new album.
 
The band is hoping to premiere a song off of the record in early February, but might we hear some more tracks before the official release date is set as well?
Definitely. We’ll be doing some exclusive song streams on various websites leading up to the release date.
 
Could we see on you on the road at all before it comes out, or is the game plan to just gear up for the release?
We’ll be touring starting on March 4th. This tour will include Northeast and Midwest cities as well as the Never Say Never Festival in Mission, TX alongside Travie McCoy, Neon Trees, All Time Low, The Ready Set, and many more. Should be fun!
 
Should fans expect to see Stay on the road for most of the summer supporting the record?
That’s the plan! We should be announcing more and more tour dates within the next few weeks.
 
How has the live show developed over the past year or so of playing together as a band?
The live show has really improved over the past year and we’re currently working on making it even better! We’re really excited to get out there on the road with a brand new live set full of new material.
 
Stay was recently featured in Seventeen Magazine, how did that come together and have you seen any positive or negative feedback from it?
Seventeen Magazine heard our music and seemed pretty excited to feature the band. We were definitely stoked at the opportunity because it’s a pretty well known magazine. There was a lot of positive feedback and there was some negative feedback but ultimately it’s only helping us at the end of the day so we couldn’t be happier.
 
Thanks so much for your time, is there anything else you’d like to add or that we should be on the lookout for?
Keep an eye out for new music and tour dates! We can’t wait to show everyone what we’ve been working on. Thanks to PropertyOfZack and everyone involved with this website for this interview! It’s greatly appreciated. A huge thank you to anyone and everyone that has supported us!