Unsigned Spotlight: Quiet Like a Thief

March 18, 2021 Jordan Mohler

Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.

Alex Kouvaris – Vocals, drums, guitars

Ryan Sweeney – Bass

Live members:

Nick Lopardo – Guitars

Mike Marziliano – Guitars

Dan Marchelewski – Drums

For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to Quiet Like A Thief? How long has the band been around?

Ryan - Alex and I grew up playing music and in bands most of our life, from our early teens and onward. A few years back, Alex and I played in a local Long Island band called Boundary Lines together which is how we met. Prior to this project, I was playing in the band Crash the Calm. We’ve been around since late 2019 and started more as a side project. In 2020, during the height of the quarantine, Alex and I decided to take this seriously and make it a priority.

He had suddenly lost his father due to COVID-19. Since his father was a musician, I reached out to Alex with my condolences and asked if he’d be interested in writing a song as a tribute to his father.

Alex - Since it was during the pandemic, my father didn’t receive a proper wake and funeral. I figured we’d do something special in his honor and was hoping Alex would be interested and find some comfort in it. Fortunately, Alex entertained the idea, we wrote “LAK” and shot a music video for it as soon as we were able to.

What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?

Ryan - Alex named the band. I joined when it was basically his solo project with a demo song floating around. It was based on a lyric by the band Can’t Swim. It comes from the song “Amnesia 666”, in which the lyrics say “Will you notice me? Silent like a thief.”

Alex - It’s funny, because I originally thought it said, “Quiet like a thief.” It had a nice ring to it and felt it was unique, so we decided to go through with that as a final band name and has remained the same since day one.

Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?

Alex and I are the main songwriters for our music, with the occasional help from friends and ideas from our producer Alan Day (Four Year Strong). Alex and I have a friendship that often turns into deep and meaningful conversations, which we ultimately write lyrics based upon, whether it be about things going on in our lives or what we notice in other people. In “Window Pain,” we tackle going against societal norms and living your life for yourself and your own happiness; not being jaded and comparing yourself to others around you and their successes.

I’ve always felt like I watched friends and family around me find love, wealth, and success while I wasn’t changing and felt like these things were stuck on the back burner for people like me. The point of the song is having patience and believing in yourself, and just because others find happiness in what they’re doing, you too will find this clarity at your own pace. I’m sure the topics of our lyrics will change over time and we’re trying to be more mature with our writing and constantly working on being our best.

What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?

The Story So Far, Knuckle Puck, Can’t Swim, Neck Deep, Movements.. the list goes on. We also listen to a lot of the bands that we grew up on to this day from the “Drive-Thru Records” days such as The Starting Line, The Movielife, New Found Glory and similar bands of that nature.

Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?

Ryan - When I was in third grade, I was in my friend Lauren’s basement while her brother was blasting “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by New Found Glory. At that time, I got completely hooked on pop punk and always knew that I wanted to start playing. I was too young to care about learning an instrument and then finally in 7th grade, I started my first band. For Christmas I asked for a guitar and my dad got me a bass instead. He told me that everyone will know a guitarist, but a bass player will be hard to find. That small thought in his head couldn’t have worked out better for me because he was right.

Alex- blink-182, Yellowcard and Sum 41 for sure. Growing up, I would always watch MTV, when it was actually a music channel, and all of the music videos like blink’s “First Date,” “All The Small Things” and “The Rock Show,” Sum 41’s “Fat Lip,” and Yellowcard’s “Ocean Avenue” always got me so hyped and wanted nothing more but to be in a band. I don’t ever remember a time in my life that I wasn’t listening to pop punk and it had always been a major influence in my drumming style, and now as a singer. I couldn’t see myself doing anything else but perform on stage, tour the world, and play major festivals.

What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, etc …

Having a few drinks with the band and making sure we watch all the local bands is important to us. A lot of bands don’t give opening acts a chance and it’s a real shame. We’ve found some great music this way and for us, it’s always rewarding to watch the younger kids in the scene grow up and mature in their music. Afterall… we were in their shoes once.

What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?

In our short career, we’ve been extremely fortunate to be working with the right people with a lot of highlights. Working with Alan Day (Four year strong) on our upcoming EP has been incredible. He’s such a talented and down to earth guy. He’s really pushing us musically to think out of the box and to mature ourselves. We’re also lucky to have our music video for “L.A.K” reach over 66k views and counting.

It’s rewarding to have had so many people relate with the song who have lost someone to COVID or lost someone they cared about in general. Music has always been there for us through the good times and bad times in life, so it’s nice to be able to write something relatable to others and pay it forward.

If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?

Ryan - Definitely blink-182 for me. Those guys know how to put on a show (still) and have a blast doing it. Music is a business, but people lose sight of it being fun. I feel like those guys always stayed true to their message and continue to put on killer shows to this day. It would also be crazy to tour with New Found Glory since they’re the reason I started. That would really be full circle for me.

Alex – I would also say blink-182. Hands down was my favorite band of all time growing up. As Ryan said, they have always, and still, put on a hell of a show and haven’t lost sight of having fun. Touring with them would be a real trip. I would also say Sum 41, and Yellowcard. Such monumental bands who I respect to this day.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

The band appreciates everyone taking the time to check us out and we’re thankful for all the solid feedback so far. Not to be cliche, but we have some exciting stuff coming this year and can’t wait to share it with you all. Hoping this year is better for everyone and that we can return to some sense of normalcy.

If anyone wants to talk and be friends, reach out to us on Instagram or Facebook. We love chatting with everyone, making new friends and connections. A big thanks to Kill The Music for the interview, and we hope to catch up with you all again soon!