Stone Broken: Leaving No Stone Unturned

The 2020s have presented a lot of revivals of different genres. From pop punk, to nu-metal. Even classic rock has seen a resurgence in recent years. Whilst nothing new, the bands that come out of the woodwork are always looking to make their mark within that sound. Walsall quartet STONE BROKEN are one such band, elevating it with each release they’ve previously made. Now on the cusp of releasing their third record, Revelation, the band are once again looking to level up their sound, adding synthesisers within the background of rock. As the release date gets ever closer, vocalist and rhythm guitarist Rich Moss discusses the creation of the album, as well as a certain band that they have drawn comparisons to.

“We’ve had it a lot over the past seven years, which is fine,” Rich explains when asked about the comparison to NICKELBACK. “You know, it doesn’t bother me too much. I think any band where the singer has got kind of a rough voice tied in with riffing guitars and catchy choruses, you’re going to get that angle. I would have preferred if we were just, you know, STONE BROKEN, that British band, rather than STONE BROKEN, that band that kind of sounds like NICKELBACK. It wasn’t what we were going for, you know, we didn’t start the band thing to try and be a British NICKELBACK. I think it’s a natural thing for people to do when they hear something new.”

“They want to associate it with something that they know,” he continues “We’ve been compared to so many bands in the past and when you talk to people at the merch stand, they say ‘aw you guys sound like DAUIGHTRY‘ or ‘you guys sound like THEORY OF A DEADMAN‘ or something. But everyone kind of latched on to NICKELBACK because they’re the band that everyone loves to hate, you know? But it’s fine. This isn’t a British NICKELBACK. This is who we are.”

STONE BROKEN started back in 2013 between Rich and drummer Robyn Haycock. Since then, they released one EP, The Crow Flies, and two albums, All In Time in 2016 and Ain’t Always Easy in 2018. “It was kind of born out of frustration, if I’m honest,” Rich describes. “Robin had been in bands before, and they never really got off the ground. I remember when I was in full time work, I used to work in an office and Robin used to work literally down the road from where I was. So at lunchtime, we used to meet up and have something to eat and stuff. I needed a creative outlet, I needed to do something musical. So we looked for a rehearsal space somewhere that we could literally go and crank the amps, and it didn’t matter what time it was, we could just go there and play. So me and Robin ended up getting a lock up just the two of us.”

Even though the band started recording the record in 2019, the pandemic meant that it had to be postponed until April of this year. Rich goes into detail about the process of the album. “Sort of smack bang in the middle of recording when it was all going well, we had to just all kind of, not really abandon the project, but we had to go our separate ways. But I also think that was a bit of a blessing in disguise, because we ended up writing some more songs during that break. I think there was a different feel to the new songs, because of the situation we’re in. It was kind of the unknown, it was meant to be a three week lockdown, which ended up lasting so much longer than three weeks. When we finally got back together, we all fleshed out these new songs. They ended up replacing four songs that we originally penned for the album. So one of them being the first single, Revelation.”

When asked about the songs that were previously created for the album, he says, “well, they actually never got completed. Because obviously, it was kind of an abrupt end to the sessions, and they never got finished. So when we were meeting back up, we intended to finish all the recordings, but we just ended up putting them to one side, and they’re kind of half done songs. Would we ever use them again? I think we could do. But I think that the four songs that we wrote changed the dynamic of the record. We could probably adapt them to be, you know, more like this, this new sound that we’ve gone for. But yeah, I mean, I’ve got probably about 200 half done songs on a hard drive somewhere. Sometimes I do dip into and get ideas from stuff and I’m like ‘I think it’d be used like that, if I’m honest, like, oh, remember that little riff in that point in that song, we could steal that and put it in this new one.’ That’s kind of how we’d recycle the songs.”

COVID-19 and the restrictions were a factor into the band postponing their tour to April/May. “It’s just been a complete nightmare, isn’t it?” Rich admits. “We had to go through many sets of dates. We’ve never been in a situation like this before, I think everyone’s just had to try and adapt to it as best as they can. It’s a shame, right? We’ve been wanting to go out and gig for the past 18 months now. But we’ll get there, and I’m super, super confident that April is definitely going ahead. I mean, by that point, I think the current word on the street is that restrictions won’t be a thing anymore by then, which will be pretty cool. I mean, I think that would have completely destroyed us. We’re live bands, that’s what we love doing, live shows. That’s how we get our kicks. I think if it was put off again, even to the back end of this year, I think we’d have all been depressed, I think just because we need to get out there and play.”

Revelation is out now via Spinefarm Records.

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