PRINTSet the story straight
Story of the Year rocks Columbia
Photo: Courtesy of Epitaph
April 17, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Under normal circumstances, band members initially connect through the music. For alt-metal rockers Story of the Year, however, that is not the case. Long before this St. Louis-bred band was creating head-banging ballads, they came together for an entirely different purpose: to skateboard.
“Before (lead singer Dan Marsala) and I even thought about playing music together,” guitarist Ryan Phillips recalls, “we used to skateboard together. Same thing with (drummer Josh Wills). Before Josh even played the drums, he was in my group of friends that all skateboarded and hung out together.”
What: Story of the Year
When: Wed. April 23,
6:30 p.m.
Where: The Blue Note
Cost: $20 - 22
Call: 874-1944
The band is touring to support its third studio album, The Black Swan, which drops April 22. But before playing The Blue Note on Wednesday, the band members will dust off their boards. “We love coming to Columbia because there is a skate park that is a couple miles from the venue,” Phillips says. “We try to get up early and go to the skate park during the day before we have to play.”
Story of the Year’s sound hits harder than a typical punk-pop group. It’s a compromise between Good Charlotte and Pantera — not quite as innocent as the MTV golden boys, yet not as disturbing as the head-banging metal deviants. It’s music that sounds better with the volume up; the bass chords vibrate down the spines of those in the mosh pit.
Although they might still reminisce about skating as youngsters, the quintet is all grown-up as the new record shows. “We’ve been doing this for so many years that over the last couple of years we’ve really improved as technicians on our instruments,” says Phillips. “And most importantly, we have evolved as songwriters.”
Evolving indeed. The Black Swan reveals a Story of the Year with a lot on its mind. Its lyrics, Phillips says, are hard-hitting and tackle raw, politically charged issues that the band has never confronted before. “The war, the election — there’s just so much going on, and a lot of that came out in this record,” he says.
To create the majority of the album, the band sought refuge in a secluded beach house in Virginia. “We’d record music all day long, and then at night we’d just drink beer,” Phillips says. “It was like being in summer camp. It was great.”
Now, Phillips has something else on his mind as his band gets ready to hit the road: Skate with caution to stay off the tour’s disabled list. “There’s been so many times I’ve been skating and almost gotten hurt,” he says, “and its like, that could be the end of the tour for me.”
An ollie gone oops or a break of a bone could severely harm his guitar-playing ability. “Its kind of like my job to play music now,” Phillips pauses, “so I’ve got to be careful.”
— Bridget Mullen
