STEMM Interview - Exlusive to Stemm Life and Stemm or Bust!


This was all filled out kindly by Joe after Rich passed it on to him. I emailed them only a short while beforehand so it's great to see that they're committed to their fans!

1. Everyone's Age and Middle Names
This is interesting, I do not know everyone's middle name... mine (Joe) is Anthony as far as ages, we are all in the mid 20's. The oldest in the band just turned 28 but Im not telling who that was or he'd kill me! lol

2. Musical/Political/Social Influences
Our musical Influences are enormous! I would say to cut it down to what influences STEMM, bands like DEFTONES, SOULFLY, HATEBREED, KORN, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, WU TANG CLAN, TUPAC, TOOL...

We have never been involved as a band in politics, we just believe the best man should get the job......& we are ALL avid hockey fans. when we are not playing music, we are usually at someones house or bar watching a hockey game. Preferably the BUFFALO SABRES!!! lol

3. Previous bands you guys have been in
DESPAIR, HATEBREED, ZERO TOLERANCE, INFESTATION, GROTESQUE INFECTION, SHORT OF BREATH

4. Any plans for the future?

WORLD DOMINATION!!! Well, that's what I like to say... our real plans are to promote the band with the release of our new CD, "DEAD TO ME" coming in March, hit the road, & build a national fanbase.

5. How did you all meet each other?
Jimi, & Louis are brothers, but, Russ & myself have known Jimi & Louis since we were kids... We have always been in bands since our teen years but never played together in a band until STEMM. We met Rich through the local music scene, & when we decided we wanted to add a second guitarist to the band, he was the first person we called & he fit in perfectly. We get along just like a family... no ego personalities, just a bunch of good friends making music together.

6. Who's married, kids, got girlfriends
I'm married, my wife works for the band as our publicist & she designs a lot of our artwork for us, we have a 5 year old daughter together. Louis is married as well, Rich & Russ are spoken for as well but not yet married, Jimi is married to the band but very much single. (so there ya go ladies) lol

7. Who's the boss and who's the bitch
Jimi & I handle a lot of the business end of things with STEMM. but as far as what direction we want to take the band in, we are a democracy... Jimi & I just try to make it happen... we kicked the bitch out of the band & got Rich but that is another story. (EDs Note: Ooooooh... tension)

8. What do you guys like to do in your free time?
That we don't have much of anymore but we like to spend time with our families, watch & play hockey, check out other bands, Russ has the most killer LEGO STAR WARS collection & aquarium set up I have ever seen, but we usually stick together when we are not gigging... like I said, we are like a family.

9. Who's got criminal records?
Surprisingly, none of us!!! Some of us had run ins with the police when we were younger but hey... who didn't when you were a kid? lol

10. Play any other instruments?
Russ just started taking up keyboard, I play trumpet (junior/high school days) & I can keep a pretty solid beat on the drums, and Jimi can play bass.

11. What's in your CD player at the moment?
At this very moment I am listening to AT THE DRIVE IN. (EDs Note: Thats one dope live band, they've just played here)

12. What do you guys think of bands who dress up or wear face paint on stage (e.g., Slipknot, Mudvayne etc.)? Do you think they need that to be successful?
UH-OH... LOL you made a mistake asking me about SLIPKNOT & I know the rest of the guys are gonna pick on me about this but I don't care!!! lol - SLIPKNOT is one of my favorite bands, & I really like MUDVAYNE as well, it used to be that bands who were terrible had to where makeup or masks as their gimmick to overlook the music. But in the case of SLIPKNOT, I feel that the masks, coveralls, numbers, & bar codes are just to ENHANCE the music they are playing... I mean, if you are a true lover of heavy aggressive music, SLIPKNOT is it. They are very talented musicians & songwriters... they could have made it without the masks, but I love it, I always say that they have the ultimate gimmick going on right now with an all star group of musicians... I also feel the same about MUDVAYNE. Now that SLIPKNOT is so big, you are going to see a lot of bands doing what they do because of the success they generated from it & I think its great, but you have to do what SLIPKNOT did & that is to make the MUSIC the most important thing... not what you look like & I think that is a good format for ANY band to follow. We did a Halloween show & we all wore masks on stage - we all had the chance to feel what it is like to just completely let go & lose yourself in the music behind that mask... you can be anyone you want to be wearing that mask...

13. Which was the easiest song to write and which was the hardest?
We are very picky in the songwriting department but I would say the fastest songs we wrote were DOWN, CONTROL, & BURN
The hardest were SLIPPIN', PERFECT, & REALIZE
The reason for that is we would rather put an idea on the shelf instead of rushing it into a song... everyone in the band contributes their ideas & we always have ideas floating around... the hard part is putting the right ideas together into something we are all 100% happy with... when that happens, you get a new STEMM song.



Thanks totally to Joe for taking the time to fill this out, and to Rich who forwarded it to him. Thanks also to Mike from Stemm or Bust for help with the questions. If you see this site anywhere other than here or Stemm or Bust it has been STOLEN! Please report this to us. Thanks again.