NASHVILLE |FROM: DANA GORDON/ALEXANDRA GREENBERG/MITCH SCHNEIDER
STAGE TO RELEASE SELF-TITLED DEBUT ALBUM ON SEPTEMBER 24 ON MAVERICK RECORDS
NEW YORK AREA BAND’S FIRST SINGLE “THE WORLD HAS COME BETWEEN US” TO IMPACT RADIO ON JULY 16
“The World Has Come Between Us,” “Perfect” and “Jesus Was A Test Tube Baby” are some of the featured tracks on the debut album by the New York area band STAGE, in stores September 24 on Maverick Records. The self-titled album will be kicked-off with the first single “The World Has Come Between Us,” set to impact radio July 16. A U.S. tour is expected to start later this summer.
“When I listen to the whole record, it’s kind of searching for something,” muses RYAN STAHR (vocals, guitar, piano), whose lyrics reveal a profound, mystical fascination, thus perfectly complementing STAGE‘s sprawling soundscapes. “It’s traveling to different places, from the first song, ‘The World Has Come Between Us,’ to the last, ‘Jesus Was A Test Tube Baby.’ It’s trying to show that there’s worth in progress in general. Perfection isn’t always the key–it’s just creating something, and putting something out there. Whether it’s something good or bad, it’s something new, and that’s progress.” Songs like “Country Bleeding,” “Live Happy, Live With Anorexia” and “An Angel Screams From Outer Space” bristle with all the drama and angst that their titles imply, but despite STAGE‘s emotional bloodletting and early Seattle influences, their music is hardly a return to the self-hatred of the grunge era. Rather, this is the kind of sweeping triumphant rock ‘n’ roll destined to be heard pouring out of surround-sound speakers or from stadiums illuminated by thousands of flickering lighters, combining the heart-sleeved catharsis of Smashing Pumpkins, the stately grandeur of vintage U2 and the lovely melodicism of a more aggressive incarnation of Coldplay.
STAGE is RYAN STAHR, PETR ANSELMO (bass), JUSTIN PARKER (drums) and GREG MEYER (guitar), four friends who formed their pack while still in high school in the early ’90’s. Realizing that they’d stumbled onto something rare and special, RYAN, PETR, and GREG wasted no time in dedicating themselves 100 percent to their budding band, and by the time they were 15 years old, they were already landing gigs at CBGB’s. “Our parents would drive us home as soon as we were done playing, because we weren’t even old enough to be in the bar,” laughs GREG. A year later, they were blowing off studying for their SATs in order to record their self-released independent effort, Historical Underdosing, and opening for Bon Jovi at New York’s 15,000-seat Jones Beach Amphitheater, the result of winning a contest sponsored by the Tri-State radio station Z-100. Shortly after JUSTIN, a friend of RYAN‘s since nursery school and a longtime STAGEfan, signed on as their new drummer, they landed an opportunity to fill an even more unexpected opening slot, playing with none other than Kiss at a 20,000-capacity stadium in Prague.
STAGE was produced by Gregg Wattenberg (Five For Fighting) and engineer Brian Scheuble (Fiona Apple, U2, Aimee Mann) and mixed by Tim Palmer (chosen because his legendary work with Mother Love Bone and Pearl Jam appealed to the raised-on-grunge members of STAGE).
“We use the word ‘Stage’ in the verb form, meaning to progress to a higher level. We knew growing up that we’d always be able to believe in this name. It’s a timeless name, and that is what we aspire to be.” Add the members of STAGE.
For up to date STAGE information check out www.stage.net
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