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STILL REMAINS
STEALING THE REMAINS OF AMERICA
by Lisa Sharer
Photos by Brett Mayfield
From the January 2008 issue of PRICK Magazine
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Making a huge dent in the music scene overseas, Still Remains is looking to capture a new audience—their home audience. Natives of Grand Rapids, Mich. this six-piece metalcore band has recently put out their second full length album on Roadrunner Records, The Serpent. With a more melodic nuance, this album has proven to be a more mature version of their sound. Lead vocalist, T.J. Miller, told PRICK in reference to The Serpent, "As far as band members go, we're to a point where everybody's on the same page. We actually feel like we're a real band this time around." That cohesiveness is exactly what has started to place them on the map of American metal.
A combination of two bands, Shades of Amber and Unition, Still Remains came from the DIY ethics that many of us hold so dear. Their first self made EP sold 5,000 copies in a relatively short time. They launched themselves into a touring frenzy and played along side the likes of Poison the Well and Every Time I Die. The aspiring, talented, and dedicated artists that they are have helped to grant them success in just a few short years. "Yeah, I mean it was an honor to be on the Warped Tour for the first time. We've been really successful over seas, which is really amazing. We did the Kerrang! Tour with Aiden and Hawthorne Heights. That was a huge sold out tour throughout England and Scotland and Wales; where we played in front of anywhere between 2,100 people and 5,000 people every night. Things like that, we've been very successful with. There have been some great, great points in our career. [However,] I’m definitely not where I want to be yet."
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Now, the real reason you are reading this article is because you want to know why you should listen to Still Remains over other "heavy music." Well, they've been compared to such bands as In Flames and Soilwork in the past. Now, you might still say that, but they're a more evolved and at times more melodious sounding In Flames or Soilwork. "There are a lot of heavy bands right now that aren't really
stepping out of the box, they’re not doing anything new from record to record—they keep putting out the same records. With us, we always try to experiment with different things, try to grab from all of our different influences. We aren't afraid to be as melodic as we are, we don't care. We just want to write music that makes us happy, instead of making everybody else happy. Our personal pleasure in the music comes first, I think. A lot of other bands don't feel the same way, or at least write the same way," says Miller.
It's not just the music that appeals to people but the passion that goes into their songs. Miller confesses that his favorite song to play live is "Drop from a Cherry Tree" due to the energy and the sing-a-long aptitude drawn from the crowd. He also uses it as a way to ease anxieties about the past. "It has a lot of personal meaning for me. There was a lot of crazy stuff going on in my childhood involving my mother. It's good to finally let that out even though it happened when I was so young. I never wrote about anything so personal. That's one of those songs where I said, 'screw it, I’m going to actually go there.' So every night it's a great outlet, and it's actually a lot of fun."
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Second to music for Miller is art. He is a poet at heart, and is awed by the aesthetics of the world around him. His own tattoos are a reflection of his outlook. "I love tattoos, I think they're beautiful. Well, depending on the tattoo (laughs). My personal outlook on tattoos, is when I first [started getting them,] I told myself that I wanted to get things that I thought were very beautiful about the world, things that I thought were beautiful about life. So I've got some really cool lilies, they're my favorite flower. I love angels, [which is why] I have a big angel going up my bicep with some more lilies around it. I'm getting to the point where my right arm is going to be sleeved out. It's not quite there yet."
Mike Church is the only other member of the band that is currently sporting ink. "He was going to get tattooed right before Warped Tour this year, but it didn't work out," says Miller. "He only has one small tattoo on his forearm. I think they're Japanese symbols that say 'Thunder Chicken' because that's his old band name." So, they may not be the most heavily tattooed band, but it looks like they're on their way. You may soon see Miller carrying the sword of Zelda on his forearm. "I'm a big video game nerd."
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Still touring the U.S. throughout January, these boys will be stirring up a lot more than mosh pits. There are sings of losing steam either. Chances are this will be one of those bands that will grace the stacks of CDs that make young girl’s hearts go pitter patter, chances are this band will mature with each album, and chances are that even the most musically deaf ear will fall hard for some metalcore this year.
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