The Stance

Having enjoyed support from BBC Introducing’s Jericho Keys & Capital Radio for their previous singles, Hull-based indie-rock outfit The Stance are back with the EP The Best Is Yet To Come. 

 

Who is in The Stance, how did you meet and what do you play?

The Stance is made up of 4 members – 4 best friends. Jaz is the lead singer and rhythm guitarist, Calum is the Lead guitarist, Zack is the bass player and Tommy is our drummer! Jaz and Calum went to primary school together and bonded over their love of music, starting their first band together at the age of 9. After being in various bands, they then stumbled across Tommy online during lockdown and then Zack about a year later to complete the lineup. We just knew when we all first got in a room together that it was going to happen. Having played for a couple of years under a different name as a cover band, we then decided to go all in on originals and changed our name to The Stance.

 

What is your earliest musical memory?

As individuals, Jaz and Calum’s earliest musical memory would be winning the ‘Best Youth Band’ in the East Riding of Yorkshire ‘Battle of the Bands’ competition when they were 12 years old –a very proud moment for them for multiple reasons but mainly as it was their original songs that won them the competition. As a band under the name HATS OFF (our band name before The Stance) we also won the ‘Youth Battle of the Bands’ at the Yorkshire Wolds. Another proud moment for us was our first official gig in Hull, headlining the ‘Youth Stage’ at ‘Humber Street Sesh’.

 

When did you begin songwriting?

Jaz is our main songwriter and she started writing songs back in primary school about anything and everything with titles like Winter Days, Glasses and Food. Some of our most popular songs today are the ones Jaz wrote when she was very young, such as Stronger, Braver Than You Think and Need You Now. The way it works, Jaz brings her song on an acoustic guitar, normally very country like, and then we would all come together and contribute writing & developing the various parts. However, more recently Calum and Tommy have started to write songs too but no matter who brings what, it always has The Stance’s signature twist!

 

Your debut EP ‘The Best Is Yet To Come’ is being released. How did you want to approach the making of the EP?

The making of, and the end result of the EP is very special to us. It’s the first body of work that we feel truly encapsulates our sound and is a lot closer to to how we wanted the production compared to previous releases of ours – mainly down to the fact that we had a lot more time in the studio than we have previously, which we are so grateful for. The studio experience was great, cutting 3 tracks in 3 days, which was just the perfect amount of time to get every part down to a point where we happy. We felt very comfortable and at home in the studio to the point where Tommy (who’s known for taking many takes to perfect his drumming) did every song on the EP within one to two takes :).

 

Where did you record the EP and who produced it?

We recorded the EP in the Warren Records studio in our hometown of Hull and it was produced by Adam Pattrick and the band :).

 

Do you have any interesting, funny or memorable stories from the recording sessions?

In previous recording sessions it has taken Tommy over 10 attempts to get one track down. However, for this EP, he did one track in just one take – no one could believe it.

Calum played an amazing solo and then when he came into the control room (after 15 takes), Jaz said “oh I didn’t really picture it sounding like that, can it be more sweepy”? Calum’s reply was “what the hell does sweepy mean?!”

We also found out Zack and Jaz can eat 24 Subway cookies in one day!

 

Did you use any particular instruments, microphones, recording equipment to help you get a particular sound/tone for the record?

During these sessions, we used them as an opportunity to test out a new toy in Calum’s guitar arsenal (Guitarsenal!), which was a Neral DSP Nano Cortex (the baby brother to the renowned Quad Cortex) guitar amp simulator. It’s a tiny guitar pedal that essentially replaces an entire amp and sounds just as good (if not better!). As soon as we plugged it in, we just knew it had to be used – in fact every electric guitar track on the EP uses it!

 

Which of your new EP tracks show you at your a) happiest, b) angriest and c) most reflective?

The title track to the EP, The Best Is Yet To Come – is certainly us at our most reflective (to date) as it covers a very close topic to our hearts, young people’s mental health. Not only is it a journey into one of Jaz’s personal experiences but also a statement on how difficult it is being a young person at the moment, while sharing some advice given from an older, wiser peer. We are very proud of that song & when Jaz brought the chords and lyrics, we instantly knew it would be one of our favourites :).

 

Was it a difficult EP to write?

I wouldn’t say it was difficult to write the EP. We loved every second and we have so many original songs banked up tbh. The hardest part for us was narrowing it down to just three tunes. We also spent a ridiculous amount of time thinking about the order, but we got there in the end. I don’t think as a band we have particularly found songwriting difficult because we have so many different ideas due to each of us coming from different backgrounds and genres of music. If we do have a bit of a brain fog moment, we just leave the song and come back to it another day, as the best songs for us have always pieced together easily.

 

Who designed the EP artwork?

We actually made the EP artwork ourselves, and same for our previous single too! We love nice simple art prints with an image inside and think they make great covers without giving too much away about the music. The photos used are pictures we randomly snapped over the years when at gigs and whatnot. The cover for the track She’s Not the One (They Were Right) off the EP is a picture of sunset from the Humber Bridge, taken when we were on the way to our first ever out-of-town gig down in Gainsborough. Meanwhile, the EP cover image is somewhere along the coast near where each of us lives – we really like the image and it’s a nice visual to go along with our music.

 

One of the tracks is ‘One Step Forward’. What was the inspiration/story behind the track?

One Step Forward is written from the perspective of someone very close to Jaz. Throughout the song it identifies parts of the experiences which she and her family found hard to deal with – but we feel writing songs has always been the way to communicate those things. It’s a song about uncertainty, not really knowing what might happen, always putting on a brave face and pretending things weren’t bothering them. The key line “one step forward, two steps back” relates to exactly what it infers – this idea that as soon as you feel you’re getting somewhere, you feel your back at square one! It’s a particularly special song for all members of Jaz’s family.

 

Do you have any visualisers to accompany the EP?

We have a music video and a couple of live tracks! All of these were recorded in Hull and were great opportunities for us to capture the moment.

 

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?

Our hometown is Hull in East Yorkshire but originally we are from the coast. If we were to describe Hull, we would say: Historic, Unique, Small, Coastal, Chip Spice!

 

How do you look after your voices?

We don’t have a particular routine, however Jaz loves a ‘honey and hot water’ before she sings.

 

Do you have any live dates planned in the UK/Europe in 2026/2027?

We actually don’t have a lot left planned for the year but don’t get me wrong, it’s been a very busy year for us with lots happening in all areas. We plan to take some time off for playing gigs to write some new material and after that we’ll be planning some new gigs for 2027.

 

What two things do you hope to have achieved once you have left the stage?

When we play live, we like to give it our absolute all. We always try to give our best individual, and team performances, no matter what the show is. We also try our best to make sure we do justice to everyone who’s come out and paid to see us play – hopefully that means the audience’s money and their time was well spent!

 

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals, microphones etc?

We absolutely do! You’ll rarely see Calum without his Black Les Paul Custom, Zack without his Cort Bass, Jaz without her Tanglewood mini acoustic and Tommy with his Black Panther snare and Sabian cymbals.

 

You are given the opportunity to write the score for a film adaptation of a novel that you enjoy. Which novel is it and why

(Erm!) – I’m not too sure on this one.

 

Who are some of your musical influences? Do you have any recommendations?

Our musical taste varies so much as a band! Jaz loves country and pop, Calum loves rock and metal, Zack loves funk and Tommy loves ska and prog! There’s a lot of crossover on things we all like and I suppose that’s where our musical blend comes in.

Jaz and Tommy’s favourite artists are Frank Turner and Vistas – we couldn’t recommend them more and are big sources of inspiration for what we do 🙂

 

What makes The Stance happy and what makes you unhappy?

Lots of things make us happy as a band – we very much enjoy each other’s company whether it’s going out for a pint, playing a huge gig, or even just playing to our family and friends round a campfire… we always manage to have the best time. When it comes to gigging, what makes us really happy is to see the crowd enjoying our original music and it always means the absolute world to us when people come and chat to us at the end, letting us know their thoughts – we are always super keen for any opportunities that arise.

One thing that makes us unhappy is unkindness. Kindness is a huge element in our band, in fact we’ve written a song around being kind, as we know the world needs more people to be kind. As a band, we just think kindness is key to anything and everything.

Feature Image Photo Credit: Sergej Komkov

The Stance’s new EP’ ‘The Best Is Yet To Come’ is out now on Warren Records. 

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