Exclusive Interview with 'BLACK STONE BREWERS'

From Perth, Western Australia, comes the alternative rock group Black Stone Brewers. This iteration of the band, which was founded in June 2020 with the addition of Simon on bass and Luke later joining on lead guitar, began with founding members Blair, Jonathan, and Rob from an earlier iteration of the group.
The sound of The Brewers can’t simply be attributed to one genre or influence. It is built around a rhythm section that is rock solid and groove-heavy and features well-crafted melodies, savage riffs, atmospheric leads, and heavy breakdowns. The band compared the process of writing songs and arranging them to dressing up “pop songs with prog rock/metal arrangements.” This combines with the frenzied and contagious stage energy to produce a memorable sensory experience.
Their heaviest song to date, “CUT THE CORD,” is also the first single from a new EP that will be released in the first half of 2023. Check out the song and the exclusive interview below:

1. Can you tell us a bit about where you all come from and how it all got started?

BLACK STONE BREWERS: There’s a bit of a complex story here. But in a nutshell, this is the second iteration of the band which we quietly refer to as BSB2.0. Version 1 of the band kicked off in 2015, with myself, Rob (rhythm guitar, vocals) and Blair (drums). The three of us all worked at the same restaurant, Rob and I went to school together as well, though we were a few years apart. That version of the group kind of fizzled out come 2017. Version 2.0 kicked off in 2019 after Rob asked me to work on some new songs. Blair came back into the fold, then we got Simon on bass and Luke joined at the beginning of this year on lead guitar. We all know each other from different avenues, and known each other for years so it’s all gelling together quite nicely!

2. Did you guys have any formal training or are you self-taught?

BLACK STONE BREWERS: We’ve all had formal training of some kind over the years. Blair and myself both went to WAAPA (Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts) to study music, but each of us have had lessons on our respective instruments since we were young kids. For myself, I’ve been playing piano for over 20 years, and I’m self-taught on guitar.

3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘BLACK STONE BREWERS’?

BLACK STONE BREWERS: Our musical influences are all over the shop. At our core though, we take big inspiration from bands such as Manchester Orchestra, A Perfect Circle, Karnivool, Voyager, Oceansize and Porcupine Tree. Believe it or not, but we all are suckers for super poppy artists as well. I’m super big on Coldplay, Rob grew up loving the Chilli Peppers, Blair loves Phil Collins and Huey Lewis. All of those artists we grew up listening too individually really informed our individual styles of songwriting and performance. So we wouldn’t be here without all of those kinds of artists as well.

Regarding the band name, it was honestly the first name that didn’t completely suck. Black Stone sounded awesome, and Rob makes his own beers from time to time, hence the Brewers. Put it all together and we got a name we all quite liked and were happy releasing music under.

4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?

BLACK STONE BREWERS: I think the fact that we are writing about real things. Lyrically we try to not ‘over-explain’ what our songs are about because to each of us in the band they mean different things, and we want our listeners to have the same experience and connection with our songs. Musically we try to make our stuff approachable to the common listener but have enough ‘ear candy’ in there for people who actively listen for those kinds of things. We love a good hook as much as the next person does so we try to incorporate lots of those poppier elements into our songs as we can, making our melodies super catchy. The easiest way I think we’ve found to describe our sound is that we write pop songs dressed up with prog-rock/metal arrangements.

5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as prog-rock?
**BLACK STONE BREWERS:**
This is a very good question. It’s a really difficult question to answer sometimes because in a way, all music ever has taken inspiration from someone or something else. I guess at the end of the day we just write and arrange what we think sounds good. We go through phases collectively and individually where we’re listening to different music and that’s generally a catalyst for vibes and feelings that we want to emulate I guess based off the music we’re listening to. We’ve grown as a band over the past 3 years working and writing together that we’ve found a groove in which we have an identity as a band sonically, so we’re finding it really easy these days to give new ideas personality in a song that feels familiar but also fresh compared to songs we’ve already written.

6. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative and entertainment?

BLACK STONE BREWERS:

We don’t really want to get involved with our music being a vessel for political or cultural commentary, particularly in this day and age. For us music is just an expression of the 5 of us as people, our stories and experiences, and just making music that we like and hopefully other people will as well. I definitely think that there is a place for political commentary in music, look at Rage Against the Machine, they’ve done it well, but then there’s other bands which really irk me with how blatantly obvious it is what their opinion on a topic is through their music. I want to listen to music to escape the realities of the world, so I find it frustrating having someone else’s mind set forced into my ears when I listen to their music. So that’s the road we try to take, make music that people can vibe along to and hope that is resonates with them and their own lives and stories.

7. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfilment as the amount of work you are putting into it, or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?

BLACK STONE BREWERS:

This is a hard one to say at the moment because there is so much work which goes into making music. The EP we’ve been working on this year has taken so much effort to get it done, and now we’re into the promotional side of things, a side that a few of us didn’t quite really think about until now. So it’s a lot of work to get something which is also a passion project in front of new listeners. Is it still fun? Heck yes. Do we still want to do it? Also heck yes! This process behind making this EP has just made us realise there’s so much other stuff we have to think about when it comes to making music that we didn’t quite know before.

8. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?

BLACK STONE BREWERS:

It’s a mixed bag. Each song is written completely differently. One thing though is that everyone has to contribute. Be it parts, lyrics, melodies, song structure, everyone is involved. It’s very rare for one of us to bring in a whole completed song, because each song is a labour of love for the whole group and everyone takes part in making the song what it ends up being. Some songs come together easier and quicker than others, while some songs take months of hard work to polish off and finish. Our next single for example is called ‘Every Last Day’ which Rob wrote 7 years ago, and through every iteration of the band there were different parts and forms for the song, but it really only found its identity 2 years ago. Whereas on the other hand, our last single ‘Cut the Cord’ was written out of the idea to have a song which went for 4 minutes and got the crowd moving. That song started with a riff from Rob, then everyone wrote their own parts and we pieced it all together as a band until we got the final version we released.

We’ve been working with producer Matthew Templeman (Voyager, Birds of Tokyo) for the past year and he’s really opened our eyes to how to approach songs going forward. We’ve built a really good trust with him and he gives some really honest feedback to the songs we’ve been working on. He’s a true legend to us as a band!

9. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?

BLACK STONE BREWERS: As a collective band we haven’t really gone through enough experiences yet to have something that has really challenged and pushed us to that level of extreme. We’ve had a few road bumps along the way thus far, but I guess at the moment the real challenge for us is trying to find that break to get us to that next level, getting in front of those new audiences and listeners, but we just channel that into making better music, and being constantly alive on our social media pages. It’s a slog sometimes, but we wouldn’t do it if we didn’t believe in what we are creating. Individually we are all constantly going through things which we try to be open and honest about as a group, so artistically we use those hardships and channel them into our music, be that lyrics or song energy.

10. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?

BLACK STONE BREWERS: I think last year when we won our local Battle of the Bands competition in front of a 400 strong crowd, that was pretty special. And now that we’re releasing some music, it’s a really special feeling seeing people sing along to our songs at live shows. That’s a pretty awesome feeling seeing a random person sing along to songs you’ve had crafted for ages. I think as an artist that’s the goal at the end of the day, to connect with people in that way, it’s amazing!