As a dynamic group that will either lull you with soft and delicate melodies, or hit you hard with a wall of sound when you least expect it, CT indie progressive band Standby is an experience that leaves you craving creative expression. After playing together for nearly 10 years, the group has found its sound taking roots in classic progressive rock while implementing a modern indie style. The result is a sound that twists and turns into exploding anthems, crooning trumpet melodies, adventurous prog riffs, and intricate textures, constantly filled with surprises.

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

Brandon George-Vocals

Garrett Rose-Acoustic Guitar

Jeff Gursky-Electric Guitar

John Rumph-Drums

Phil Grabover-Bass

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

Brandon: I was in an acoustic emo trio called "Dramatic Effect" with Vicky Rojas and Jack Gannon back in high school. We played, I think, two shows, all cover songs. It was great.

Phil: I think all of us have been in different projects here and there before joining Standby, mostly with other friends and musicians we went to school with. I know I was in a few all throughout middle and high school. Just before the formation of Standby as we know it our friend and former guitarist Mike and I were in a rock/metal band together along with another friend of the band, Devin. We only wrote about two songs before that project sort of just ended in favor of us putting more focus into this group. Since then, the band has been playing and releasing music consistently for a good 8 years now.

John: And Jeff still plays guitar in Hovel.

Brandon: Baby boy Jeff! He's new. We love him.

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

Phil: We’ve talked a bunch of times the possibility of changing the band name. The time we came the closest to actually doing it was just before we named this most recent record.

John: ‘We Need More Mountains’ was originally going to be our new band name.

Phil: Yeah, but ultimately we decided that rebranding is hard and that we should stick with our name. As far as the origin of the name Standby, I’m not entirely sure. I know Garrett favored it in the very early days because it was a fairly neutral-sounding name that didn’t put too many ideas in your head about what we were going to sound like. He even used it when Standby was something of his solo project. Ever since the earliest incarnation of the band back in middle school he had pushed for using the name. It was definitely the right move back then, the one I wanted at the time was ‘Batteries Not Included’ which I don’t would fit us at all today.

Brandon: When are we changing it to “Rise of the Manticore?”

John: That’s after “We Need More Mountains II.”

Brandon: Got it.

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?

Garrett: Brandon?

Brandon: Haha, yeah, well, compositionally I don’t really do anything.  In fact the few songs I’ve written, I write everything by ear because I know so much less than them, and I’ve just sent it to them like I’m handing a broken toy to my parents.  I don’t really know what to do with it, but I know they’ll fix it.

Garrett: Right, we write the music together a lot of the time.  One of us, usually me, will write the form, and then we’ll all come together to write all of the different parts, but lyrically, that’s Brandon.

Brandon: Thematically, I focus on stories or emotions that are interesting or important to me.  Stories that I don’t think are being told as often as they should be, or that I think I can tell in an interesting way.  The two halves of We Need More Mountains are about loss, and the different ways that people cope with it. Our next project will probably focus on different things, likely more explicitly political topics as I grow older and see an increasing need for people using their voices to direct attention to these things.  But I don’t set out to write about specific things, I always write what’s emotionally present at the time of writing. Something strikes me, I write about it.

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

John: A lot of bands.

Garrett: A LOT of bands.

Brandon: Yeah, we all, like, REALLY like music.

Phil: For me it’s a lot of classic prog, like Yes, King Crimson, and Dreamtheater.

Brandon: I listen to a lot of indie and alt stuff, and a lot of Math Rock.  Frightened Rabbit, Mitski Covet. We’re big fans of Hey Rosetta.

Garrett: A lot of musicians we’ve met, too, like, the people we play with are regularly on rotation on our tour playlists.

John: Yeah, every time Baby Alligator by Ovlov comes on I get EXCITED.

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

Brandon: Rise Against, hahaha.

John: Oh, wow.

Brandon: Yeah, I wanted to scream angrily about stuff.  Didn’t know what stuff, at that age, but stuff.

Phil: For me it was a combination of all the pop punk I listened to in elementary school like the Yellowcard and Green Day that made me pick up an instrument in the first place, and all the metal I listened to in middle school like Iron Maiden and Metallica that made me want to pursue playing with other people. Then in high school it became more about the bands we would list as our early influences as a group like Oceansizes, Porcupine Tree.

Garrett: Yeah, we all ended up kind of being the sum of all of our parts, and that worked out really well for us.

What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, ect.

John: Usually to prepare for a show I just try and manage my nerves. I try to remind myself of any tricky parts I may have that night and just try to generally relax.If i have the time i also like to warm up with a practice pad to get my hands ready for the show.

Garrett: I know Brandon does lunges sometimes, hahaha.

Brandon: Hey, I’m not about to pull a muscle onstage!

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

John: The biggest highlight of the band's career so far would have to be our first real tour we went on last summer ( summer 2018). It was a big step up for us as our previous "tours" were short trips up to Maine and maybe as far south as New Jersey. That summer tour brought us all the way to Chicago and it was also the first time we went to Canada. The tour was important to us because  we proved to ourselves that we could do something of that magnitude and we've seen a big spike in our popularity since we've started touring

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

Garrett: We used to talk about this a lot.

Phil: Yeah, we would put together, like, our ideal concert, or our ideal tour.

Brandon: I know when we were first playing together six years ago, it was something along the lines of: Oceansize, TTNG, Coheed & Cambria, Andrew Bird, and Dave Matthews Band.

Garrett: Hahaha, yeah that’s very on-point for early Standby.

Anything else you would like to add?

Garrett: We’ve got a lot coming up that we’re excited about. Our album is now out and that feels good and important, we’re headed out on tour, then going back on tour in October, and then probably again later. These songs really mean a lot to us, so we want to do all we can with them while they’re fresh. Also, if ya noticed the little “I” at the end of the album title, it’s because we’ve got part two coming out some time next year, which is equally as cool and exciting and important.

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