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The Stalking Distance: Solid As A Rock - By Colin de Leon-Horton for FRINGS MAGAZINE ISSUE 19/SEPT 08
There’s a very solid and necessary place in this world for weepy introspective rock, but The Stalking Distance doesn’t acknowledge it when they play live. “We don’t play slow songs,” Jose, singer for the quartet said to me as I talked to them in their practice space. “We like to keep the energy level going.”
I’ve never played onstage, so I can’t attest to how easy or difficult that is. But I can say that I’ve seen my fair share of loud shows where the audience stands rock-still like an Egyptian statue, moving only in the direction of the bar. Loud is not synonymous with interesting.
On the other hand, it sure helps the adrenaline rush if the music ravishes the ear drums.
I got to see both sides when I walked into the Fire Escape last month while a skinny kid gargled lyrics about William Sherman’s march to Atlanta into his mike. Around him, his curtain haired band-mates cheerfully bashed their instruments in imitation of whatever death metal bands their little hearts adored at the moment causing echoes in the woefully empty venue. In front of the stage were their sole two fans, arms self-consciously crossed between half-hearted fist pumping. Hell can be a very close equivalent to seeing an opening act. Abandon all hope ye who must sit through a band you didn’t come to see.
These poor saps, whoever they are, didn’t hold a candle to The Stalking Distance, with their potent hard rock fusion of punk and metal, but they shouldn’t feel too bad. The band, not even a year old, has achieved distinction beyond most. Within the last month, they’ve achieved radio play on both KWOD and 98 Rock, and gathered a strong base of fans through intense regular shows. The Sunday I saw them was their second show for that weekend, after an intense performance at the Battle of the Bands on Friday at the Kennel Club.
When I sat down with them in their practice space, they were prepping for a tour of California and Nevada with frayed nerves; Jose’s equipment had just gone out the night before they were due to leave. But they were eager to get beyond Sacramento. “Hopefully LA will eat us up,” guitarist Marc told me. “With what I hear, we’re right up their alley.”
Nerves aside, there’s a damn good chance that everything will be just fine. The music they play is accessible, but unique, effortlessly transitioning between punk riffs and metal-influenced guitar solos played by Marc. Onstage he props the crux of his Flying V guitar on his knee as he plays, and finished with a quick grin, like a 10-year-old who knows he’s done something completely right. The audience grins, too.
“We’re trying to take it back to the rock roots, but still keep it interesting, and that’s what a lot of bands have forgotten how to do,” bassist Darryl told me. “They’re technically good…but they have no heart.”
Having heart, in this case, can mean a lot of things, but mainly it means the ability to escape from the homogeny that bands these days seem partial to; to not be a copy cat, to not go the easy route and still manage to rock. And it especially means to avoid pretensions that wouldn’t fit well on these guys anyway. Talking to them is like hanging with bar friends you trade rounds with. My interview with them was peppered with jokes and easy laughter. Even as they are getting popular, they know not to put their noses in the air because standing right behind the euphoria of success is reality.
“The first time I heard [Cult Classic Design] on the radio I got a big ol’ s–t-eating grin on my face,” Jose said. “It was cool, man…but I still have to get up and go to work every day.”
Still, to achieve what they have in such a short period of time is remarkable and it doesn’t look too bad in the future, either. They pulled in 160 people at the Boardwalk when they opened for Wednesday 13, all due to constant hard work and a clear view of what they want. “You need to come see us if you want to see a good old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll show, we’re in your face and we have fun. We like to drink, we like to rock and that’s what we’re all about,” Jose says.
With their aggressive guitars, fast drums and bass and incendiary solos, they certainly are.