History
Almost every big city around the United States is home to local bands of enormous musical talent. St. Louis has long been a hotbed for talented musicians. Many local bands have been signed by major record labels. Stir, a band out of St. Charles, Missouri, was signed by Aware Records, an independent label started in Evanston, Illinois by Gregg Latterman in 1993. After appearing on the Aware compilation disk #3, Stir recorded a full length album for Aware.
Aware released Stir's major record label, self titled debut in 1996. Latterman didn't stop with the release of Stir's debut. He sent out recordings of the music to some friends in the record industry. A copy found it's way to the folks at Capitol Records. Capitol liked what they heard and signed the band. They decided to leave well enough alone and re-released Stir's self titled debut under the Capitol Records label as it was originally recorded for Aware Records. After touring in support of the release and re-release of their major label debut, STIR has just released some of their best material to date. The new album entitled "Holy Dogs" was released by Capitol Records on March 14th 2000. They immediately set out on the road in support of "Holy Dogs".
Although the release of the album "STIR" is their major record label debut, the members of Stir have previous recordings to their credit. Stir recorded an independent CD in 1995 entitled "Until Now". The songs on the disk were originally meant to be used only as demo tracks, but the members of the band agreed the tracks on "Until Now" were too good to keep from their fans. "Until Now" was recorded over a period of 2 years and comprised of songs recorded at 5 different recording locations on various different types of recording equipment. Some of the songs from "Until Now" did infact end up being re-recorded for the "Stir" album. But, on the "Until Now" album, songs like Stale, Until Now, We Belong, Star, Ten Dances, and Nothing's Wrong can be heard in their raw form, along with the songs Innocent You Are, Something Better, Home, Morning, 10,000 Cheerios, Tree, Hello, an acoustic version of Until Now, and my favorite, Pull .
Before the band came to be known as Stir; Andy, Kevin & Brad were 3/4 of a band named The Choice. As The Choice, they released a CD entitled "Fall" in January of 1993. During their days with The Choice, the band had a singer named Rick Smith. The band formed at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Some of the band members were fraternity brothers and began playing together for fun in the basement of the fraternity house. Andy and Brad had known each other since grade school and hooked up with Kevin and Rick at "Mizzou". They began playing at the Fraternity parties and started gathering a nice sized fan base. While playing around Columbia and surrounding areas they recorded some songs and passed them out at shows on cassette tape. They started traveling back to St. Louis to play at some of the popular music clubs. They frequently played at Kennedy's, a popular club on Laclede's Landing, the historical district on the St. Louis Riverfront. Songs off the cassette tape like "Let it Out" as well as songs like my favorite from the Fall CD "Waterfall" were mainstays at their shows.
Doug, a friend of mine since kindergarten worked in a pet store. He called one night saying, "I work with a guy named Kevin and he has a band that's playing tonight, you wanna go?" Since I was and still am, a fan of local music I told Doug that I'd go. We went to Kennedy's to see his co-worker's band "The Choice" play and the rest is history. I knew these guys had something special. All were very solid musicians. In most bands, one has a good guitarist, a good drummer, or good bassist, but one musician is better than the others in his or her respective band. Not these guys! it's as if they think with the same brain when the play. They play off of each other. Like I previously mentioned, they were fronted by a singer named Rick Smith, so it wasn't too often that Andy sang. He mainly concentrated on playing guitar . Andy would sing a song or two during the set, but usually never more than that. Some time after the release of Fall, the band announced they would be disbanding. One last performance was given at Kennedy's. Myself and the rest of the fans were saddened by the breakup of such musical talent. Their singer went his own direction pursuing other musical interests. The remaining members decided that they wanted to continue playing together. Andy took over on lead vocals and his true musical talent emerged. The guys took a break for a while to work on some new material. I missed going to watch them perform, but it was only a matter of time until Andy, Kevin, and Brad resurfaced, better than ever as....STIR.
Capitol Records Biography
At the beginning of its sophomore album, the St. Louis-based trio Stir declares, "Once you come on board, you can never go back to your place in line." And on Holy Dogs, Stir indeed strides from its place in the rock 'n' roll line -- already established thanks to radio exposure through "Looking For," "Stale'" and "One Angel" from its eponymous debut album -- with a second effort that showcases not just considerable creative growth but also a more fully realized vision of the group's artistic ambitions. "I think we captured more of the band on this record," says Andy Schmidt, Stir's singer, guitarist and chief songwriter. "The idea was to make a record, from start to finish, not just an album with some good songs. This time we put pressure on ourselves to make a record that you could put on without fast-forwarding or skipping through songs. I think we accomplished that."
Drummer/background vocalist Brad Booker adds that 21 months of touring in support of the rootsier Stir album definitely helped the group expand its reach on Holy Dogs. "We played with so many different bands," Booker says. "I think that may have had a lot to do with it. The first record was a reflection of what was going on in St. Louis at that time. That's all we knew. After that, we got exposure to the rest of the nation and a wide variety of bands. It had an influence on us."
Mostly, notes bassist/background singer Kevin Gagnepain, Holy Dogs is an album that reflects "the power of a live Stir show," though the expansive, dynamic arrangements of the album's 12 songs show that Stir and producer Howard Benson (Zebrahead, P.O.D.) set their sights even higher than that during recording sessions in Southern California. From the irresistibly hooky first single, "New Beginning" to the pin-your-ears-back rock of "Superstation" and the title track, "Holy Dogs," the anthemic whomp of "Only a Dream," the appropriately cosmic ambience of "Spaceman," the earnest drive of "Grounded" and "Clear," and the feral soundscape of "Velvet Elvis" -- in which tribal tom-toms meet heartland power rock and African back-up vocals - Holy Dogs is a broad-reaching accomplishment with a tightly crafted, three-dimensional sonic impact. Not that Stir's master plan was that intricate. "I think that we just wanted to be better songwriters," Gagnepain notes.
Even that is a continuation of the musical evolution the three musicians began a few years ago, when they began playing together after all transferring to the University of Missouri-Columbia from satellite campuses. Schmidt and Booker had been friends since childhood; Booker met Gagnepain through mutual friends and brought him into the fold.
Starting as a five-piece and trimming down to a trio, Stir built a local following and made its first mark at the 1995 South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, playing a sizzling showcase gig that resulted in the group being signed to Chicago-based Aware Records and recording Stir in Nashville. It was a low-budget affair ($20,000), but the goods were there as evidenced by the radio play its songs received, and before long Capitol Records snatched the album up for broader distribution and greater promotion.
But throughout that time, the idea lingered with the group members that they were capable of something even better. "Hanging over our heads," explains Booker, "was the fact that people knew some of the songs, but couldn't put a finger on who the band was. The challenge was to identify who we were."
All three members agree that producer Benson, who had approached the band after a Nashville performance, played an important role in helping the group hone in on its musical identity for Holy Dogs. "Howard said, `You've got to hit people over the head with a two-by-four. Just listen to songs that are hits, and you'll understand,' Schmidt says. "That changed my whole perspective on things. It's about simplicity, getting right to the point. When he said that, I got it, immediately."
Schmidt also drew on a rich array of life experiences for Holy Dogs' songs. The memory of a picture in the bathroom of a babysitter's house spurred "Velvet Elvis." "Clear" was inspired by the birth of a friend's son, "Grounded" reflects on the shut-in feelings of life on the road through the metaphor of a child confined to his room as a punishment. The title track spoofs a variety of millennial fears.
"What I was trying to do was write stories that can be personal to other people," Schmidt explains. "There's nothing so definitive that you know exactly what I'm talking about. I never wanted to be a writer like that. I want people to be able to plug in their own scenarios and find their own stories in the songs."
Tightened performances, matured songwriting, a focused sense of purpose - all of that is what Stir set out to, and did, achieve on Holy Dogs. "We looked at it like a first record," Schmidt says. "This was the first time we were stepping up, into the game. It's our time to say `This is why we got a record deal' and make the most of what we've learned and the support we have."