Straight Line Stitch returns with "Transparency"
Straight Line Stitch, a band from Knoxville, Tennessee, is on the rise again. Alexis Brown and Jason White have seen it all over the last few years, but have risen above and will be releasing a brand new EP entitled “Transparency” on June 30th. The last time we heard new music from Straight Line Stitch was over four years ago. Why such a long wait you ask? I got the chance to sit down with Alexis to talk about it, along with everything else going on with Straight Line Stitch.
So why did we have to wait four years for new music? Alexis answered, “We were living in a living hell. So much stuff happened during those four years we didn’t release music. We were definitely still working, still touring, but we suffered some lineup changes, we lost management, we lost our label. Basically we had this massive fall from grace. This album is something we decided that would be something that would pick us back up.”
That’s completely understandable because if you have been following the band you’d know about all these recent struggles. Still, why not didn’t they record a full length? She explained, “In all that time we were still touring and we were still playing music off the old albums. We thought it was about time to test the waters and see where our fans heads were at, see if they even wanted new music. It sucks to record a full length record and see that nobody cares. So we thought we’d just test the waters with an EP and see what the response would be like.” That makes sense to me.
As she mentioned before, there have been some lineup changes. I asked her how it was working with the new members in the studio. She replied, “It’s always refreshing when you are recording with new people because everyone brings something different to the table. So it was a breath of fresh air recording. It was very intense because it was kind of our first time recording from the road and we were writing and we were making time to go in the studio, get out of the studio and get back on the road. All this time was nonstop. It was also intense because our members, once we were recording and we were working, some of our members had family members die. This was right at the time when the album was getting finished, and getting ready to get mixed and mastered. It was really, really tough and intense time. But, we got through it. The experience was definitely a learning experience. I think it made us a strong band.”
Wow. Seriously, wow. It is incredible that this band is still standing. Between lineup changes, family tragedies, and losing a label, how did Alexis survive? She offered, “I give a lot of credit to my savior. I am definitely religious; I give a lot of credit to God. I pray a lot. I have been through way too much stuff not to. I definitely pray a whole lot. Keeps me sane, keeps me grounded, and keeps me safe.“
Through it all, there was light at the end of the tunnel. Straight Line Stitch signed a deal with Pavement Entertainment, a company that has been signing a lot of great talent lately. I asked her how their experience has been so far. She exclaimed, “It has been awesome. It’s great when you working with people who actually believe in you because of who you are, not because of who they want you to be or who they want you to turn into. The synergy with Pavement Entertainment is awesome. They just get it. Tim, he’s in a band, he plays for Soil and he’s been in it for years. So he understands if we need something or we have a problem or issue or anything we can go to him and he just gets it right off the bat, he just understands. It’s not something we have to explain, we need this, we have to have it, he knows already, so it’s really good. The Pavement team, they go really, really hard for what they believe in and they stand behind what they believe. So they went really, really hard for us. They are amazing.”
Rock fans like myself have been noticing the music hasn’t been what it should be lately. I asked Alexis what she thought about the music scene right now. She said, “I feel like the rock scene could use, well, bands being a little friendlier. The scene just seems so damn cliquey. Everyone is always out with the same bands, nobody mixes it up. If you’re a hardcore band, you go out with the hardcore bands. Nobody is trying to network and win over different fans. They want to stay in the same freaking pigeon hole and it actually kind of sucks. It’s like if you’re a band and want to get your music out, why would you just want to get it out to just one group of people. You want to bridge that factor and try to get your music out to the world. I feel like more bands should bridge that gap and tour together and there should be more camaraderie. I think we need more of that in scene. I think everyone is for themselves. That’s just my opinion.” That’s an opinion I completely agree with.
What’s next for Straight Line Stitch? Alexis stated, “We are going to continue to tour. Our motto is if you’re not recording, or not writing, not in the studio, what are you doing. We definitely plan on being on the road a lot to promote the album. Hopefully we will jump onto another good tour. We really want to go overseas. We really want to go back to the UK, Europe and stuff. We will probably be writing as well. We are playing it by ear at the moment. We are definitely writing and putting stuff together, but are unsure if we are going release another EP and just package them together or are we just going to do a full length. I imagine we will find that out later down the line.”
Straight Line Stitch is currently on “The Civil Unrest Tour” with Ill Nino, along with many other rotating bands. If it comes to our area check it out! If not, I am sure they will be heading towards you very soon. Straight Line Stitch is very open with their fans, so free feel to contact them for anything and everything. For more information and to contact them, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/straightlinestitch or on Twitter at https://twitter.com/slsband1
