Interview taken from Jacob A.M. .
GEORGE: Welcome to BeRock Radio guys, the most melodic place! I am George,
please make yourself comfortable! We’re glad to have you here.
Tell us about the current line-up and some words on how you came up with your
band name, "StOp, sToP!"?
JACOB: Hi George! Jacob here, thanks so much for having us, it’s a real pleasure!
I started this band right in the streets, busking for a few coins, I really wanted to have
a new band and as I couldn’t find the right people to it, I couldn’t help it and wait for it
so I started gigging on my own in the streets, I took my bass and started playing out there…
almost every time I did it, police came to me and said: hey you StOp! and as I never care
about them they insisted, hey you “StOp,sToP! So sick and tired of being told that as well
as “you’re not allowed to do this or that”, always stupid laws and wankers telling you
“don’t”, “no”, “you can’t” I thought “StOp,sToP!”
is what I tell them! “stop wars, stop politicians, stop religion and stop motherfuckers,
you can’t stop rock and roll”.
After being around the world looking for the right members for my band one day destiny
got me to cross paths with Mr. Vega and Danny S. (guitar and drummer), the two biggest
motherfuckers I ever met that had the balls to join this band, get their asses into that
old van and give what a bloody rocker should give every single night.
GEORGE: Let's talk a bit about the line-up. You've managed to pull off something that is very
difficult nowadays, I'm talking about leaving out the keys and second guitars, and keeping
the band as a trio! Even without those two additions, you've managed to pull it off greatly!
Tell us how difficult it was to accomplish this, and if you plan to continue going on like this
in the future.
JACOB: Thanks so much! Actually people thinks that the more you put in the bigger is the sound
but let me tell you exactly the opposite. The more you put in the more difficult is to make it sound
big, less is more my friend so I found it very easy to do, the first thing we experienced being a three
piece band was that there was more space for the guitar, for the bass, drums and vocals,
the less instruments the easier to understand what each of us does and the more volume we all
can get…rock and roll should be simple and raw, I agree that if you add extra guitars or whatever,
you can get awesome results but if you’re keeping it simple and honest you get bigger sound
and way more natural and real stuff so yes, I will definitely keep going this direction, one guitar,
bass, drums and screaming vocals turned up to the 11, haha!
At the beginning we had some doubts when I first talked about doing it this way but after
a while we saw the results and we forgot about doubling guitars, adding extra guitars
or having a 2nd guitar player as almost every other band does, we found out it’s better
for us this way, every each character in the band sticks out easily and clearly…
I personally think that it’s better!
GEORGE: Let's move on to your newest piece of work, "Barceloningham", which is to be
released on October 7th, 2016, by Metalopolis Records. It's the end of August 2016, and this
album has the most "fresh" musical ideas that I've listened to so far.
Tell us a few words about the tracks.
What is your secret in writing such great and "refreshing" music?
JACOB: Awww dude, thanks so much buddy! There is no secrets or magic tricks,
I just tried to get the most honest rock and roll songs I could, that means being conscious
about your limitations and not to pretend anything, just take all your shameless off,
just get naked and let your heart do the rest of the job, that’s all.
These songs are the result of 5 years nonstop touring everywhere all the time.
With all that time on the road you get to learn what the people really wants so we just took
notes down on what wasn’t really working on the old songs and also what was working
so the guys and me just tried to improve the stuff and get the best of it.
Song writing is so exciting to me, you just gotta let yourself go with all what’s going
on around you and let it all influence you and inspire you.
At the end of the day you just think you know what people likes and you wanna
serve them with good entertainment just to try to make them all as happy as you
are with those songs.
GEORGE: Did you encounter any problems during the recording of the album?
If so, how did you overcome them?
JACOB: It was not an easy task to do to be honest.
I wrote the songs and show it to the boys, we didn’t really spend much time rehearsing
them as I wanted to keep it as spontaneous as it was possible and my intention was also
to leave some space for improvisation at the studio and it took a while to understand and
to learn how it all had to get in the right way to make those pieces of music fit in the puzzle together.
Also, I took the control of the production and that was a huge step for me to take,
you can write songs but you never know if that songs have all what they need to
get to the right point for you, for your band mates and hoping for everybody else
too so I had to fight a lot with those songs and with myself to try to convince everybody
that that was the right thing to do and the right way to play those songs but well at the end
of the day I think I didn’t ruin it all too much, hahaha, and the boys did a great job getting
all what I wanted them to do in the songs in the most awesome way I could ever wished
for and they added their personal flavor to it which always surprises me how good their
touch can be, I’m so proud we could really work it all out they way we did!
Let’s see what the people thinks about it and which is the result we get with this album,
the fans are the only ones who can judge.
GEORGE: What are your plans for the promotion of the album, but also generally speaking?
Should we wait for a video clip? If the answer is "yes" and that video clip is for
"Won't Hold Me Back", then you'll have made my day! (laughs!!)
JACOB: Haha, there will be video clips, as many as our budget can get but best way to defend
and promote a new album is to play it as much as you can in live, that’s the real thing to me…yes,
“Won’t Hold Me back” will be one of the videos, maybe not the kind of video you’re waiting for,
haha, but well, at least something funny to watch to, it will be released on the 26th of August…
There will be some more videos as I said before, we’re working on it at the moment
so stay tuned, soon there will be more surprises motherfuckers! Haha!
GEORGE: As I said before, your music is beautifully "fresh". It's not just that, though.
You guys are a young band with rock in your blood, and you bring this out with a good
craziness that the people love. So guys, tell us, why is it so difficult for new bands to
come out and truly rock us?
Because nowadays, instead of that, nearly everyone follows the same boring path.
JACOB: Haha, thanks so much buddy!
Well, we’re not that young but did the deal with the Devil, hahaha! It is not difficult for us,
look, you’re here making this interview for us and not for Iron Maiden, so that’s a good start, haha!
I know what you mean but we think have the right formula to get through.
We started playing for 5-6 in the crowd, now we’re playing for 500-5000 some nights,
with no money at all and no marketing campaign behind us, just ourselves playing gigs no matter
if there is stage or not, if the venue is cool or not, just doing what we love to do and never giving
a shit about the rest, that’s it…one day people sees that, people starts spreading the word
of us and supporting us the most amazing way a band could ever wish for and that’s because
of being honest and never acting like a “rockstar-drama queen-cocksucker”,
just being yourself and giving it all you have to give to entertain a few locals in that little
town pub where nobody wants to go, which to me, is where you find rock and roll…
…after leaving it all behind in our home town and moved to the U.K. everything started working
for us, we started living in the van, we didn’t know anybody and nobody knew us so we had to
start right from the beginning and playing gigs was the only promotion we had back 5 years ago,
when we didn’t even have something to eat, no place to stay or no shower for months …but…
if you work hard you can get your pay off and now reality is that we can make a living of our band
and that’s a dream come true for us, how many bands do you know these days that can make
a living with their own music?
Not many but we got it just believing in how beautiful our dreams were and still are no matter
what you have to do, if the other new bands did the same, there would be more new bands
working, the problem is that they don’t understand the music industry these days and think
it all works as it used to be in the 80’s, they recorded an album and their record company
invested millions to make the new big thing out of them, -well guys, get your lazy asses out
there and eat some dust, then sure thing you’ll get some rock and roll going on for you!-
Reality to me nowadays is that the new bands have to fight harder to offer something
good enough and fresh to the crowds, good reasons to be heard…we’re on our way trying it
and it’s going very good for us by now, let’s see where we get but one thing I know for sure,
we’re enjoying it so much, it is not all about getting to the top of the mountain,
it’s about to enjoy the landscape while you’re climbing it.
GEORGE: Even though you're a relatively new band, you've already played in fests such as
Rocklahoma (USA), Glastonbury (UK). Hard Rock Hell (UK), Ice Rock (CH) and the
H.E.A.T FESTIVAL in Germany.
And by the end of 2016, you'll be playing in many more gigs in the U.K., Switzerland, Germany
and Italy. Would you guys say you love being "on the road"?
How difficult is it to keep up with such a schedule?
JACOB: Yes, absolutely. We love to play gigs, it feels very weird when we’re not gigging,
we’re road gypsies, haha, we fucking love it, to us it’s not a difficult task to do, to us it’s like
living on a permanent vacation.
The people that has to wake up at 6am to load and unload tracks for 8-10 hours a day
(As I used to do in my old job), that really is a difficult schedule, hehe!
We did over 200 gigs in 2015 and not that many in 2016 as the recording process of the
new album has taken some time but we’re on the way of another never ending tour for
the rest of 2016 and 2017 and we can’t wait to see all those smiling faces in the crowd
and sweat our lives out on stage along with the new songs, hehe!
GEORGE: In recent years, the music industry has changed.
We see that a lot of people prefer digital purchases, which are more convenient,
faster and more accessible.
What are your thoughts on the future of physical copies, such as CDs?
JACOB: I think it’s rubbish, what about the excitement to have a cd or a vinyl?
The excitement to have a piece of art from your preferred artists? Is now all a bloody “matrix”
where you get to watch but never touch? Fuck off!…when I like an artist I buy the cd or the
vinyl because it is awesome to check the pics, the lyrics, the comments, the credits, the cover
and have it all along while I’m listening to the album, it’s a pleasure and a way to respect and
support music…
I don’t know about the future of the physical copies but I think the industry should create
a physical format that could be able to fit in the new generations lives, create the need of it,
improving what cds offer and make it easy and affordable for all…
or the other option is to get back to the vinyls as the way you enjoy and listen to a vinyl
is irreplaceable and it’s getting more and more popular, if people appreciates that,
it would be awesome.
GEORGE: It’s not just the music industry that has changed over the years.
Nowadays, we see social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc...)
have become hugely widespread.
How much support do these sites offer to a band and in what way?
JACOB: Well…sometimes you have thousands of likes and you think you touch the sky but
reality is that you haven’t sold one bloody cd, it is a bit of a bullshit but at the same time it’s a
huge exposure for the band and a chance to be heard in the other side of the world but in the
other hand, all those sites are saturated...
To me live gigs and sweaty hugs after the show with the fans are the future for a band and if
you want support, go out and beg for it, face to face with the people as we do,
at least it’s working for us.
GEORGE: Thank you for your time, I wish you all the best for the future!
The last words are yours for this interview.
Feel free to say whatever you want to all BeRock's Radio minizine readers!
JACOB: Thank you so much George and BeRock’s Radio readers, you guys are fucking
rock and roll to me! Keep it mental! …Anarchy, peace and rock and roll for all!
Now… fuck off! ;)
