Bragg Jam 2010 Blurb #1: 5 Questions with Stribling

After having been selected to be featured on the Macon Noise Compilation Volume 1 that is set to release this summer, Stribling continues to gain notoriety around Macon, GA, and the surrounding area. There’s a good reason for this. I’ve had the privilege to catch this band live a few times. Each night I leave one of their shows, I’m always blown away by how good they are for such young dudes. I don’t even know if they’re out of high school yet, but when they strap on their guitars and the drummer grabs his sticks, their age (or lack thereof) suddenly becomes irrelevant. They kill it every time. Their tunes can, at times, be considered silly, but their melodies are contagious. And their stage presence may be the best around Macon right now. Stribling is, without a doubt, a band to be on the look-out for in the future. You can actually experience what I’m talking about on July 31st when they make their debut at this year’s Bragg Jam 2010, Middle GA’s largest music festival. Brandon Bish, one of the booking agents for The Blue Indian, recently caught up with one of the band’s two lead singers, Steven Coley to allow readers of TBI to get to know the guys a little before you see them live.

Brandon Bish: How long have you guys been playing together as a band and how did you meet?
Steven Coley: We’ve been playing together as a band for about a year and some change. The group formed when myself and Jacob met up with Andy and Devon, who had been playing together in several projects.
B: Who do people compare you guys to musically?
S: A lot of people tend to compare us to The Killers or maybe Of Montreal, but the finished product doesn’t really sound like any band we’ve ever heard before.
B: Has The Killers or Of Montreal had any influence on Stribling’s songwriting?
S: There’s definitely a lot of different influences in our music, which we can never really pin down to any one band. It’s just a big mash-up of a lot of different sounds.
B: Tell me about the evolution of the band. Also, where did you all get the name, “Stribling”?
S: This form of Stribling has been playing together for the past year, but the year prior to that was spent with a different line up and a different sound completely. The origin of the name is the same, however, which is just a kind of obscure homage to our hometown. Young Stribling was a famous heavyweight boxer in the early 20th Century that lived in Macon, GA. He died in a motorcycle accident, so the name has a cool backstory to it.
B: Super cool. Do you guys have plans to tour anytime soon?
S: We have a short tour being planned right now for later this month, and we also have a few shows coming up at the 567 and of course, Bragg Jam 2010.