Local Talent
By Stephanie McPherson
Collegian Staff
Remember the good old days when you could turn on the radio and hear the upbeat chords of power pop on almost every station? The days when Third Eye Blind and Counting Crows were pervading the air waves? The 1990s had its own style of music, but it seems to be fading – giving way to emo or screamo or hardcore-heavy-death-metal. Who wants to be accosted or depressed when tuning into radio?
Thankfully, there’s an up-and-coming band that is sure to quell the ’90s nostalgia. Stronghold in Siam, the Massachusetts-based band, is bringing music back to the days of fun, sing-able tunes with their first official album release, “Anticipation Heightens the Pleasure.”
Named from the four friends’ realization that the only way to win the popular board game Risk is to have a stronghold in Siam, the band consists of University of Massachusetts sophomore Nick Mathews (percussion and band manager), Andrew Gregory of Boston University (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Peter Hunt of Cornell (lead guitar and harmony vocals), and Adam Fisher (bass guitar), also of UMass.
Since grade six, Mathews and Hunt have been playing music together. “We’ve been jamming for a long time,” said Mathews. In eighth grade, jam sessions turned to band practice with the birth of Pointless, their first band, which lasted about a year and a half. The 20 shows they played as Pointless, including a Battle of the Bands at the Worcester, Mass., Palladium, “just got us really familiar with each other,” Mathews said.
In the 10th grade, Mathews and Hunt opened auditions up to the surrounding area in an attempt to form a new band. This brought them Fisher and bassist Barry Grove – the original Stronghold in Siam lineup. The fall 2007 semester shook up the band when Grove left, but was replaced with longtime friend Gregory, moving Fisher to the bass guitar.
According to Mathews, the members of Stronghold “didn’t even know [Gregory] could sing.” After overhearing him singing a Dave Matthews Band song, they “forced” him to join.
Despite the distance between them, modern technology has helped Stronghold produce new material. Writing new songs can be done via the Internet; Mathews will “send a little riff to Pete … he adds some and sends it back … [it’s] constantly bouncing back and forth,” he said. When they finally meet in person at a rehearsal, they have a new song ready to play. All the songs on “Anticipation Heightens the Pleasure” are originals, music and lyrics by Mathews, Hunt and Gregory. While they consider themselves power-pop, and are, as a band, heavily influenced by Third Eye Blind, they draw from a multitude of musical genres and artists.
Gregory, according to Mathews, “wouldn’t be playing music if it wasn’t for Dave Matthews.” Hunt cites classics like Pink Floyd, Steely Dan and Eric Clapton as inspiration. Fisher draws from 1990s pop/punk and the likes of Green Day, and Mathews is influenced by Keith Moon, the drummer from The Who.
These different influences are evident on their release. Each song has a different feel and a different story with very quotable lyrics, like “Right about now the rain sounds better than your overrated sex appeal,” from “Three Days Drunk.” “We try to diversify while still falling under line of ‘power-pop,’” said Mathews. The song “Sweet and Beautiful” immediately draws listeners in with an incredibly catchy guitar riff. “Three Days Drunk” and “On the Rebound (Round Round)” are both a little louder and harder than the other tracks on the CD. “Little Black Dress” has a more pop/punk feel.
“Florida Keys” sounds like a song that would have been on the Kiss 108 Top 30 countdown circa 1997. With well-crafted background instrumentals and story-like lyrics (“The rum flows like money, the sky’s always sunny/And the locals shoot the breeze by the shore”), this song has another surprise at the end – an accidental shout out to Disney’s “The Lion King.”
According to Mathews, Gregory was just tying to “diva it up” when he sang Simba’s very recognizable wail from the end of “Hakuna Matata.” It was unintentional, but “we’re so proud of that.” said Mathews.
Stronghold is currently unsigned, but that’s “not to say there haven’t been offers.” said Mathews. They are currently working with artist development firms to tidy up songwriting skills and make them a more marketable, professional band. Getting signed seems inevitable, but Stronghold is holding out until they can find a label that will let them keep their freedom.
“We don’t want to sell our songs – we want to maintain song rights … we don’t want to turn into a band where I don’t get to play drums,” said Mathews.
So far, Stronghold in Siam boasts an impressive list of venues played. In December of 2007, they opened for Bowling for Soup at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. In Boston, they’ve covered the Middle East Upstairs, the Middle East Downstairs, the Avalon and TT and the Bear’s, to name a few. They are also staples of the Cornell music scene and the Nines.
“Anticipation Heightens the Pleasure” is available on iTunes, a big step for any band. It signifies that they are “evolving from a bunch of kids who play music to a real band,” Mathews said.
They have a Web site, strongholdinsiam.com, and a MySpace page, where select tracks from “Anticipation” can be heard. They are worth a listen. That way, you can say you were Stronghold in Siam fans before they hit it big.
“None of us thought we’d ever get as far as we have,” said Mathews. But now that they are right on the brink, “we’re going to go for it,” he said.
Stephanie McPherson can be reached at smcphers@student.umass.edu.