Stavesacre - Speakeasy
by Daniel Johnston
Some people say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. That depends on the dog. These days there is a surprising amount of newness to Stavesacre, a band that by so many counts is old. "We've changed quite a bit," starts Mark Salomon. It's not that they are out of date; these guys have just been around a while. Although the collective age of the 5 members is pushing a century and a half, and individually the members have long histories and large discographies behind them, Stavesacre is just hitting its prime. And with a new guitarist, a new album and a new sound, Stavesacre is adapting and growing as they mature.
The band has been on six tours since Absolutes came out, so the live sound is important to the band. Playing live, a lot of the songs didn't achieve the intended effect, "they have power, but not what they really could have if there were two guitars," explains Mark. Playing the songs at a reduced level wasn't satisfying for the band in terms of musical quality, and also "on a business level we just couldn't duplicate what we were putting on the records." Which made it pretty clear something had to be done to remedy the situation, and there was little debate over how to do that. The addition of a second guitarist in Ryan Denny was a long time coming. "Ryan is a long time friend of Dirk," Mark explains. "We've all kind of known him for a while and have toyed around with the idea of having him in our band for quite a long time. He's always kind of wanted to play with us just because we all fit musically; even up to the point where Dirk and Ryan had a little side band going for a little while called Swingline.... Because Dirk and Ryan like playing together so much and Ryan's style of playing was so similar to ours, I guess to me it was like ‘why don't you just do this? Why don't you just join? Come play with us.' And everybody wanted him to play. Dirk had started suggesting it a while back, and Jeff started talking about it... and the next thing you know me and Sam are like ‘what do you think?'"
Stavesacre isn't the kind of outfit you can jump into just because you have a guitar though; "you gotta know how to play music to be able to do the stuff we're playing. And Ryan's done a pretty good job," commends Mark. Ryan has strengthened the band in more ways than just providing a bigger guitar sound. He adds a valuable element to the band's chemistry through his friendship with the guys in the band, "I don't think we would have gotten through our summer tours last year if he wouldn't have been with us, because it was too difficult, and too frustrating, and it was too disheartening. . . It was fun to have him lighten the mood. It was great to have him just tell us to quit being a such bunch of whiners."
Frustration seems to be one of the new things Stavesacre is doing these days. The band went into the studio at the end of February to start recording their third album, and for the first month was not able to do much. "There's nothing we can do about it. I don't know if we should be used to it or what. But it's just really frustrating" sighs Mark, as he approaches the issue carefully. Producer Bryan Carlstrom is battling fibromyalgia syndrome, a condition which causes widespread pain and profound fatigue, along with many other symptoms. Mark explains Bryan's condition as "everyday while we're in the studio he's just trying to get through each day.... He has described it as you get up to go to the refrigerator and you feel like you ran a marathon, your body is just aching for air." The cause of the disease is unknown, but experts have linked it to overwork and extreme stress. Agreeing with the doctors, Mark sympathizes, "a couple bands you'll never hear of just took it out of the guy, so I hope that we can be an encouragement to him. I'm just glad he has a loving wife that can be an encouragement to him." With their producer and friend limited and in so much pain, the band is in an awkward position "because Bryan also has a really gnarly work ethic and he tries to do too much. And we have the frustration of not quite finishing it yet. How do you try to get it done without pushing him too hard?" On top of all that, "a person that Bryan has worked for, and that the studio has employed, has just kind of gummed up the works for everybody else. "The recording process has been very slow, laments Mark, but "the thing that's even more frustrating is that it sounds better than it's ever sounded before."
Despite its frustration, the situation typifies the band's style. Mark explains, "I believe Christians are ministers on an individual basis. God calls each of us individually, and in each of our lives individually he provides us opportunities to serve him by loving other people..." And of course, getting involved personally isn't always pleasant; "with that sometimes comes some heartaches, man. Some pretty horrible things have happened in this last year, or last two years." Pain is a part of life, and when we follow God's call to minister to people, sometimes we end up getting hurt. It may not be pleasant, but sometimes it is necessary.
One thing that has caused Mark some pain has been the judgement of people who expect the band should be a ministry, not the individuals. "I am going through a hard time in my life right now and quite frankly, I have no business being a leader over kids that I have never met. Because in my own life, I am not right with the Lord in certain areas that need to be right, in order for me to be a capable leader to the people God has given me. . . I just don't want that to ever be misunderstood. This is not a ministry; Stavesacre is a rock and roll band." But it is a rock and roll band made up of Christians who have been called individually to love people. "It's been cool to be around Bryan because he's not around Christians that much," Mark explicates. "I just hope that our own individual inconsistencies and failures and faults and defects and whatever aren't going to hurt him. I hope that we could be a blessing to him and an encouragement to him. There are definitely people that we've spent time with that have blessed us and encouraged us, and I would sure hope that we would be like that."
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