{"id":17288,"date":"2017-10-02T12:00:18","date_gmt":"2017-10-02T16:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southeastofheaven.com\/?p=17288"},"modified":"2017-10-02T12:40:50","modified_gmt":"2017-10-02T16:40:50","slug":"interview-old-james-bassistsinger-brian-stephenson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/?p=17288","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Old James Bassist\/Singer Brian Stephenson: &#8220;Growing up I was just whiskey, speed, beer, Sepultura, and Motorhead but at the same time, we listened to Jim Croce and The Beatles.&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Every now and then a band gets brought to my attention that has flown so far <\/strong>below<strong> my radar that I didn\u2019t even see them.\u00a0 When my good friend\/contributor Taylor told me about Old James, her words were, \u201cThese guys are right up your alley.\u00a0 You\u2019ll dig this band.\u201d\u00a0 Well, she wasn\u2019t wrong and I didn\u2019t just dig them, I fucking LOVE them.\u00a0 Their straight up, in your face, <\/strong>no frills<strong> hard rock played with <\/strong>groove<strong>, soul, and passion just hit me like a freight train and the lyrics?\u00a0 Oh man\u2026 yeah.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>As with any other <\/strong>band<strong> I find myself obsessing over, I just had to interview someone from this band and that someone ended up being lead vocalist\/bassist Brian Stephenson.\u00a0 Brian was an absolute hoot to talk to. We talked about his love of music in general, what inspires him, the Fappening, and why he would love Michelle Pfeiffer to play him in a movie about himself.\u00a0 This was a really fun and hilarious interview and I hope you\u2019ll enjoy it.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Brian, thanks for taking the time to do this brother.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Don, it\u2019s great to talk to you brother.\u00a0 It\u2019s nice to be finally talking to you.\u00a0 This is fucking awesome.<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>I got turned on to you guys by my friend and contributor, Taylor.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Dude.\u00a0 That fucking girl is an angel on Earth.\u00a0 She and her dad are the coolest.\u00a0 They\u2019re great.\u00a0 If there\u2019s a band, they\u2019ve seen them.\u00a0 We were on the Uli Jon Roth tour and they told us that they flew all the way from Athens, GA and I\u2019m like, \u201cTo see Uli? That\u2019s cool\u201d and she says, \u201cNo.\u00a0 To see you.\u201d\u00a0 [laughs]\u00a0 They are really amazing.<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>They really are amazing, dude.\u00a0 So yeah, <\/strong>an 11am<strong> interview.\u00a0 How <\/strong>rock n\u2019 roll is<strong> that?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Oh man, I\u2019m up and I have the house to myself so it\u2019s a disaster [laughs].\u00a0 I\u2019m just cleaning up and making some lunch.<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>So are you a domestic god?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>[laughs] I wish.\u00a0 You know that Jack Black movie School of Rock.\u00a0 Well that\u2019s what I do for my day job.\u00a0 I\u2019m a professional band coach [laughs].\u00a0 It\u2019s my official title.<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>No shit?\u00a0 That\u2019s pretty sweet dude.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Man, I don\u2019t even know how to describe it.\u00a0 I fucking love it.\u00a0 This job is fantastic.\u00a0 I get to watch kids learn and get excited about music and just watch them keep leveling up.\u00a0 I\u2019m very fortunate to be able to hang out with these kids who are so fucking talented and hungry.\u00a0 I love my job, dude.\u00a0 This is also my first job that isn\u2019t manual labor [laughs].<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>I was a big fan of the EP that came out last year but the debut Speak Volumes has really blown my mind.\u00a0 What was the process like making this album?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Don, thanks so much brother.\u00a0 Yeah, it was a process [laughs].\u00a0 You hear these horror stories about bands getting caught up in bad management deals and what not.\u00a0 That kind of happened to us.\u00a0 The album just kept getting put on the backburner and then finally we said, \u201cFuck it.\u201d\u00a0 We left the management we had at the time and then the writing process for Speak Volumes started from scratch.\u00a0 We just started completely over.<\/p>\n<p><iframe width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Lud_yLePMGQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Why start completely over?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We sounded different, we were struggling to be a four-piece and that wasn\u2019t panning, and unfortunately, it took so long.<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>I wanted to touch on that.\u00a0 For a while, you were just the front man for Old James and now you\u2019re playing bass as well making you all a trio.\u00a0 I love this change in the band and the power trio sound really works awesomely for you guys.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I mean, if we could find a guy who could actually sing, that would be sweet [laughs].\u00a0 We could just hire Sebastian Bach and he just hangs out backstage singing while I mimic him onstage [laughs].<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dude, trust me.\u00a0 I\u2019ve heard Sebastian Bach sing lately and you don\u2019t want that.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>[laughs] That\u2019s hilarious.\u00a0 Man, honestly, I was cool with just being a front man because I look at my dudes like Ronnie Van Zandt from Lynyrd Skynyrd or Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam but on that same level, people like James Hetfield, Lemme, Kurt Cobain, Waylon Jennings, Bob Marley; the list is endless.\u00a0 I think it just kind of happened.<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>So how did you end up as the bassist?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yeah, I played bass in Annihilator when I was 17 and that\u2019s where I started playing bass.\u00a0 Then I played bass in Aggressor and when we did our tour that\u2019s when we met our new manager Brian.\u00a0 I just dropped it for a while but Old James was having a hard time finding a bass player.\u00a0 We were going through bass players like nobody\u2019s business so we went down to Florida to meet our manager, Brian.\u00a0 We set up in his jam space and Brian just said, \u201cYou played bass.\u00a0 Why don\u2019t you play bass.\u201d\u00a0 I just told him that it wasn\u2019t really my thing but we tried it out and it just worked.\u00a0 I mean, the band\u2019s technically been a three-piece since 2014 when our original bass player left.\u00a0 It\u2019s always been Chris, Andy, and myself.\u00a0 That solid core has always been there.\u00a0 The guys in my band are ridiculous.\u00a0 They are the best musicians that I have ever heard or seen so I\u2019ve got to keep up with these motherfuckers [laughs].<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dude, you\u2019re no fucking slouch on the bass at all but I love the fact that you have this hunger and fire to just grow and be your best.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m just trying to really practice and get better.\u00a0 I just think that the bass guitar is the coolest instrument.\u00a0 I feel like I can really express myself with it.\u00a0 It\u2019s a journey.\u00a0 I just want to be a great bass player one day.<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>You guys all have roots deep in the NWOTHM scene.\u00a0 How did you guys end up as a roots rock power trio?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The way Old James actually came about actually was from Aggressor.\u00a0 Chris and I recorded a five-song demo over a summer after Beyond All Reckoning came out.\u00a0 We had just toured with Vindicator and did some shows with Havok.\u00a0 That last Aggressor album was pretty much the beginning of Old James.\u00a0 The other guys in the band weren\u2019t into it so we just said, \u201cFuck it\u201d and we started a new band [laughs].<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>So was this kind of music just something that was instilled in you and it just started to surface over time?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yeah.\u00a0 Honestly, it\u2019s just always been in our blood.\u00a0 Chris and I have always been playing in rock bands at home and just doing our own projects.\u00a0 We had our band Aggressor for like 10 years and it was just thrash; a million miles an hour all the time.\u00a0 Towards the end, we released our album Beyond All Reckoning and that one had a more rock and roll feel going on.\u00a0 It was looser and truer to what I loved.\u00a0 Growing up I was just whiskey, speed, beer, Sepultura, and Motorhead [laughs].\u00a0 That was me as a teenager so it was just go go go all the time but at the same time, we listened to Jim Croce and The Beatles from my dad.<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is an album that absolutely kills you every time you put it on?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Right now, I\u2019d have to say Yield by Pearl Jam.\u00a0 I also love Willie Nelson\u2019s Red Headed Stranger and any Bob Marley album.\u00a0 Those are just as deep and a part of me as Master of Puppets or the Black Album which I heard for the first time when I was 9.\u00a0 I believe that you just love what you love.<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>The fact that you have are open to having so many different kinds of music that you love totally helps you to be a better artist.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Exactly.\u00a0 Being a musician and creating my art, I\u2019m just so fucking thankful that I have so many colors to paint with.\u00a0 On Speak Volumes, there\u2019s a song called \u201cSo Real.\u201d\u00a0 That bridge part in there, I don\u2019t know if anyone will ever hear it but that\u2019s a direct ripoff of Immortal [laughs].\u00a0 It\u2019s just kind of my tribute to them.\u00a0 I wanted to write this big, heavy part that\u2019s essentially a Black Metal riff with no blast beats and a rock and roll tone [laughs].<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>I\u2019m sure you get asked this a lot but\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s my Grandpa [laughs].\u00a0 To be honest, it just kind of came about.\u00a0 Chris and I were on a bus ride one day and we all these stupid fucking names because this was just going to be another side project until we could start another band.\u00a0 This was back in like 2011 or 2012.\u00a0 We\u2019re big on naming things though and having a solid name on things so I think I just said as a joke, \u201cHow about Old James?\u201d and Chris was like, \u201cHell yeah.\u201d [laughs]<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Did your Grandpa dig that at all?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>He was totally offended by it [laughs].\u00a0 He was like, \u201cI\u2019m not old!\u201d [laughs]\u00a0 He\u2019s cool with it now though.<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Well he\u2019s got his fucking name on t-shirts and CDs so he should be cool with it at this point.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>[Laughs] No shit, right?\u00a0 Exactly.\u00a0 He\u2019s a money making machine and if he ever forgets who he is, he can just look down at his shirt [laughs].<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>What are some other types of music you really dig that we may not hear as influences in the sound of Old James?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When I\u2019m at work, I\u2019m cranking Superjoint Ritual, Black Flag, Cromags, Fugazi.\u00a0 I\u2019m very much into 80\u2019s hardcore punk.\u00a0 Henry Rollins is a massive, massive influence on me.\u00a0 If there was a Rollins religion, I\u2019d probably be the fucking head priest [laughs].\u00a0 He\u2019s the coolest.<\/p>\n<p><iframe width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pVFtCU5bX_k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Mental illness has been a huge thing lately especially after the deaths of Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington.\u00a0 Do you think that more people should be more transparent about sharing their struggles with their fans?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To be completely honest, I say yes and no.\u00a0 I kind of go back to when I was 14 and I was obsessed with Zakk Wylde and Black Label Society.\u00a0 I remember reading a guitar player magazine with him on the cover and he said, \u201cSuicide is not an option.\u201d\u00a0 That struck me like harder than anything that any other musician has ever said.\u00a0 That resonated with me fully.\u00a0 Don, you and I both, we suffer from anxiety and depression but knowing that there\u2019s a way out that\u2019s not negative I think is something that everyone should know.\u00a0 Personally, if anyone loves my band or hates my band, you\u2019re my brother, you\u2019re my sister and if you ever need to talk, I will share my experiences with you.\u00a0 No problem.\u00a0 It\u2019s always easier to have somebody to talk to.<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Especially if that someone is some who truly understands what you\u2019re going through because they go through it themselves.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Exactly.\u00a0 I have people who are supportive that don\u2019t have or really understand anxiety or depression but when you have a friend or know somebody that does, it makes all the difference in the world so yeah, I think people should be open about it.\u00a0 Not necessarily to their fans if they don\u2019t want to but then again, I don\u2019t believe in fans; I believe in family.\u00a0 One blood, one Earth, one people.\u00a0 We\u2019re all in this together.\u00a0 I do think that it\u2019s something that should be shared and talked about.\u00a0 Chris Cornell, Chester Bennington, Layne Staley.\u00a0 Who knows what was going on with them.\u00a0 Some people treat their illnesses with drugs and alcohol.\u00a0 I did that myself too.\u00a0 I\u2019m a recovering alcoholic.\u00a0 I covered my shit with booze and drugs and just treated myself with shit.<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ok, let\u2019s loosen shit up here a bit, dawg.\u00a0 If you could sing\/play in any band for just one night who would it be and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Old James [laughs].\u00a0 My serious answer man.\u00a0 I mean, if I could go back into the 70\u2019s and sing a song with Ronnie Van Zandt or sing a song with Willie Nelson or play some bass with Cliff Burton, hell yeah I would but honestly, I\u2019m fortunate and I feel like the luckiest dude in the world to play in this band with Andy and Chris.\u00a0 They\u2019re my best friends and I wouldn\u2019t change that for anything.<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>If you had to describe Old James in three words what would they be?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Pork and Beans [laughs].<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>That\u2019s fucking amazing.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>[laughs] My uncle actually pointed that out to me.\u00a0 He\u2019s been calling our band Pork and Beans for the last two years and I finally asked him why and he says, \u201cWell, you\u2019ve got you two veganators and Andy eating the meat, you\u2019ve got two beans and the fucking pork.\u201d [laughs]\u00a0 So yeah, I\u2019ll have to go with Pork and Beans.<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>If Hollywood made a movie, who would play you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Michelle Pfeiffer; and then I would go finger blast myself in the mirror [laughs].<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>That is amazing.\u00a0 Michelle Pfeiffer in head to toe leather dude\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Oh yeah.\u00a0 That\u2019s a prime investment in the spank bank [laughs].\u00a0 Did you ever see that thing called The Fappening?<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Oh my god dude.\u00a0 That was just too much awesome.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Man, I kind of feel bad for the invasion of privacy and I probably shouldn\u2019t be jacking off to these pictures but man, it was awesome [laughs].\u00a0 Honestly, my perfect movie would if I got to play myself in a bio pic that\u2019s just whatever I want my life to actually be.\u00a0 Like, I\u2019d have all these hot Asian porn star chicks as my wives.\u00a0 I\u2019d be cruising around in a shitty old Honda Civic that\u2019s been all souped up picking up Asa Akira and Charmane Star and they\u2019re just all like, \u201cLet\u2019s go fuck\u201d and I\u2019m like, \u201cOk, I guess we\u2019ll do it again\u201d and then we\u2019ll go back to my beach house and bang it out.\u00a0 Then I\u2019d kiss them both on the lips and get them each a dry towel [laughs].<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Awe, that\u2019s sweet.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You gotta be a gentleman.\u00a0 My mom raised me well [laughs].<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>If you could see Old James hit the road with any band, who would it be?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Oh man.\u00a0 Pearl Jam, Metallica, Queens of the Stone Age, Mastodon, man, there\u2019s an endless list.\u00a0 If we could do a stripped down thing, I would love to play Neil Young\u2019s Bridge School Benefit or even Farm Aid.<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>What was a truly life changing moment for you when it comes to music?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When I turned 21 or 22 and I first heard Black Flag\u2026 Henry Rollins\u2026 that motherfucker changed my world.\u00a0 This guy is a badass motherfucker.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t drink, he doesn\u2019t do drugs, he lifts weights and that\u2019s been my model ever since.\u00a0 He opened up a whole new world and I had no idea life could be like that.\u00a0 Now you see Zakk Wylde\u2019s quit drinking, James Hetfield quit drinking and I was like, \u201cFuck.\u00a0 What do I do? [laughs]<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>And as we get older and you\u2019re trying to live the life of a musician, that shit can take its toll on you.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I did this a tour in Europe last fall filling in for a guy and watching these guys get fucked up every single night was brutal.\u00a0 I learned this on the Annihilator tour and if I have to thank Jeff Waters for one fucking thing in my life, it was learning that you\u2019ve got to be able to play at a million percent every fucking night.\u00a0 These guys were getting fucked up, having bad shows, some nights where their voices were on and others where they were off.\u00a0 I kind of feel for the people who are paying to see this.\u00a0 I have paid to see so many shows where the guys are fucked up or had been drunk the night before.\u00a0 These people love your music and they support you whether you put on a good show or not.\u00a0 In my eyes and my heart, you owe them all you\u2019ve got.\u00a0 They\u2019re here for you and you\u2019ve got to do it for them.<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>So what\u2019s the plan dude?\u00a0 Old James touring or what?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yeah, we\u2019re going to be doing the East Coast of the US this November and then after that, we\u2019ll be chilling out until January.\u00a0 Then we\u2019re going to South America and then back to the States again.\u00a0 After that, we\u2019ll hit Europe and see where we go from there.<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Well, I hope you make it to Atlanta so we can sit in a corner and socially awkward together.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>[laughs]\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 Maybe we can hold hands and take upper deckers in the bathroom together.<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>We can film it for your DVD!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019s Upper Decker Party Live [laughs]!<\/p>\n<p>=================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Brian, this interview was a fucking hoot man.\u00a0 Thank you so much for doing this.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Don, I appreciate you calling and being interested in us.\u00a0 It really means a lot, man.\u00a0 Thank you so much, brother.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>For more on Old James, head over to<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OldJamesband\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OldJamesband<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every now and then a band gets brought to my attention that has flown so far below my radar that I didn\u2019t even see them.\u00a0 When my good friend\/contributor Taylor told me about Old James, her words were, \u201cThese guys are right up your alley.\u00a0 You\u2019ll dig this band.\u201d\u00a0 Well, she wasn\u2019t wrong and I didn\u2019t just dig them, I fucking LOVE them.\u00a0 Their straight up, in your face, no frills hard rock played with groove, soul, and passion just [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[194],"tags":[1711],"class_list":["post-17288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews","tag-old-james"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17288\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}