Rad Stacey is super rad! They’re going to tell you why and it won’t take much convincing at all! Let’s see what they have to say!
First off, What’s up with your name? Is there a story behind it?
There’s a couple exigent circumstances that combined to make the perfect storm of a name. Out of high school I [Ian] spent all my free time at shows and hanging out. There was this one apartment that a bunch of us would kick it at. It was like the second or third story and it had this big balcony. The owner of the place was buddies with my friend Danny, this kid that used to hang with me and jam out. This dude’s girlfriend had this little dog names Stacey. She was a mix of a bunch of shit and was always down to clown. If she hopped on you and licked you you were good, if she barked or nipped at you you were out. Anyway, she had beef with the cats on the street so everyone knew to keep the sliding door closed so she didn’t just yet herself off the balcony in a fit of rage. So one night there was a party and some new people were there. One of these guys isn’t fitting the vibe and Stacey isn’t having it. Homeboy is on the patio, I’m there, my boy Danny is there and a grip of other people and he comes stumbling out showing his ass and shit, leans over tha balcony and hollers at the cats and like drops his beer bottle off the ledge—being a punk. Sure enough his dumb ass left the sliding door open. Here comes Stacey all pissed to the Nth degree. She hops up, butes his leg or some shit, he freaks, ends up going over the rail, takes Stacey with him. There was a hedge line that broke the fall in an almost cartoonish way. We all ran down. Stacey was fine, still barking, and we were all like, “You that was rad, Stacey.”
The other thing was Fountains of Wayne. Like I knew them from the 90s song “Radiation Vibe” that was on the radio when I was a little kid. When “Stacy’s Mom” became a thing I always thought, “Damn, when is Stacy going to get hers man?” So part of the name is in honor of Stacy who got slept on because her mom was so bad.
Tell us about your musical past, would you tell us about your early years?
We all sort of came from abscure musical backgrounds. I [Ian] started busking at like nine. I went to a small catholic school in the downtown area of where I grew up, so I’d sneak out of class right before lunch and walk a few hundred feet to the corner where I hid my guitar in a bush. I’d play five or six songs for passers by and make enough, usually, to get the good lunch in the cafeteria or buy some basketball cards off another kid who had no idea what they had then turn around and re-sell them to my friends at the public school. Joey grew up in a small town in Northern Arizona and was part of this like Vaudvillian troop of musical clowns and what have you. Typical hero origin story, someone lets one of the animals from the circuis act out—a bunch of people get taken out. Joey is the last man standing. When the dust settles it’s an abslute shit show, everything goes under, so, Joey packs up his guitar and feelings, goes home and starts writing songs and changing the world for the better one lyric at a time. Shawn, we don’t talk about Shawn. Rumor has it he was assembled at the International Music Museum out of spare parts of preserved members of the 27 club, with the exception being Rasputin of course.
How would you describe your sound, to someone who can’t hear?
So, we’d say, “Imagine you have this friend who you see as more than a friend. You know you are meant to be but sure enough this friend decides they want to date a complete jerkoff who treats them like total trash, but they claim to love this person and you being the awesome person you are abide as their confidant, so they communicate all the gory details of their relationship, from the partying, the sex, the violence, the frustration to you. The worst part is there is always this undercurrent of them insinuating they would just be happy if they could be with you, but it seems like they will never leave, until one day they text you informing you they have left this person. The joy swells in your heart and you know this is your fucking moment. Sure enough the TLDR is you get your friend and you are partners, but then you go on your first date and you bring them home. You both choose to wait and take things slow. There is tension but you feel like this is the right move. A few weeks later you bring your partner to meet your parents. You’re scared they won’t approve, but you remember you’ve been friends for years and maybe they’ve even met one or both parents in passing before. The night goes swimmingly everyone is hitting it off and you can’t remember the last time you had this much fun with your friend or parents. You call it a night early and crash in your old room at your parents’ house. The next morning you get up and are ready to kick life’s ass because things are better than they ever have been. As you rub the sleep out of your eyes you see you woke up alone, but figure your partner is got up before you and is in the living room. You go out there but nothing. You’re troubled but not too concerned until you see a note on the kitchen counter essentially informing you that your partner and your parent had this strong inexplicable connection and have run off, they are both so sorry but this is how it has to be. Your face burns, your throat swells, your eye feel like they will pop out of your skull, and you feel like you are about to pass out because you haven’t taken a breath in minutes, and just as feel like you are about to drown in this emotional pool of hell you wake-up. You realize it was a dream. As you come to there is a sense of comfort that your mind made all that up, it’s just another Tuesday. You take in the room around you though. It is not your room. You look at your hands, they are unfamiliar. You feel completely awake, too self-aware to handle a dream inside a dream there is no way it all feels too real but makes no sense, WHAT IS HAPPENING?!?!?! Our songs are kinda like that I guess?”
What’s your source for hearing new music?
We do a pretty good job of sending each other new music and artists. I can’t think of a time we got together that one of us brought up a band that one of us didn’t know. Joey likes to drop Spotify link with no context in the band chat. It’s a nice surprise. There are also so many shows going in the Phoenix area that it’s pretty easy to catch a new act any day of the week.
Who is your dream producer(s)?
I can only say for myself, beause I’m a primadonna and didn’t ask the guys. I’d say Matt Good or John Feldman. I’ve been a fan of Feldy before most people knew him as a producer. Like I read the credits on Good Charlotte’s CDs and The Used and saw his name and was like, “The dude from Goldfinger? Sick.” I was still in high school when I saw Goldfinger play and I was helping out PETA promote at the show so I got to meet Feldman. I told him I really liked the stuff he was producing and he looked surprised this punk kid knew he was a producer and gave me one of the most genuine “thank yous” I’ve ever heard. Anyway, when he started putting out stuff for MGK, Travis Barker, Yungblud, Avril etc. I was like, yeah checks out, guys been putting in work for like 25 years. Were buddies with the guys in Winterhaven and they had some singles and I think a whole album produced by Matt Good and it was a game changer. I was blown away and he’s a local cat so I’d love to work with him. We have an amazing producer in Tyler Goldenberg who just knows what we’re looking for, so shout out to our boy who keeps it creamy.
If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be?
Straight up the guys in Magnolia Park. Straight up those boys are cookin’ right now. They have perfected this third wave of pop punk by blending something familiar with a new spin. The fellas in Four Year Strong would be amazing too. I think I’ve seen them three times in the last six months, tightest live shit I’ve heard and the re-recodings from Enemy of the World fucking brilliant.
What led you to music, and what motivates you to keep making it?
This is as basic as it gets from us—it’s an essential part of our balanced lives. Anytime I’ve gone without having a musical outlet I get depressed and get into trouble and am miserable. That’s how it is for us all to some extent.
Tell us about the songwriting process. How does it all come together?
For now one of us comes in with a riff or a melody and we build from there. For the most part I’ll take the idea and build a song out of it in my studio or some or all of us will jam something out. Not to say I don’t put a lot of thought into the process, which I guess I do, but I like the way a new room looks—I don’t really pay attention to the mixing of the paint. I feel like getting into the nitty gritty of song writing is like talking circle of fifths on a first date to a someone, period. I like fucking with melody and harmony, finding frequencies in a mix that compliment one another. Then I write some lyrics, sometimes right away with like “Night Traffic” or it takes me a minute to really put something together even for a song as simple as “Push”.
How do you connect with your audience? What is the easiest way for them to connect with you?
Honestly we just fuck with them when they show up, be it at a show, on our socials, or even running into someone at a bar who knows us. I love getting to know people. For the most part a conversation with a fan or friend of the band is like 10% Rad Stacey shit and 90% is us getting to know the person or just kickin it. Occasionally we’ll get into some shit like taking shots or lighting something on fire, but that’s what’s exciting bruh, you never know.
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5wmUicL8nHBPkzh2TZ1rf1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/radstaceymusic
YouTube: Rad Stacey – YouTube
What’s next for you?
We are working on a litany of new singles for eaerly 2023. Maybe putting them all together in an EP in the Summer.
Anything else you’d like to add or let us know about?
You can punk a skunk but never tease a weasel. We have a sister band in Nepal called Rude Bettey. Brother Samuel, our merch manager, is dead ass the heart and soul of this band and we love him! Legend has it Elvis once grinded up on a mic stand so ferociously that he unintentionally (we assume) got himself off and had to complete the show as is. You guys are awesome!!
Bio:
The Arizona based, Rad Stacey, genre bends with their high-energy songs that elicit a hard rock feel with a Pop Punk tint. Rad Stacey’s music engages audiences with fat guitar licks and catchy beats that mix well with their energetic and honest lyrics. The band started in 2020 with a menagerie of musicians that have worked together in the scene for years. With heavy influences from punk, hardcore, pop, to hip-hop, Rad Stacey hasn’t planted their feet in any one genre.
Rad Stacey released their inaugural EP, Shhh…Tell ‘Em All in 2020. This EP is an expansive, uplifting collection of tracks that takes shape with its signature crunchy guitar riffs and high-energy beats. Melodic leads and hook-laden vocals are the driving force behind the songs. The uplifting and honest lyrics promote putting yourself out there and answering life’s call to live.
Their follow-up single “Night Traffic”released in 2021 is a pop punk anthem for all those who feel like they aren’t being heard or are in situations that are brining them down. Full of angst ridden aggression in the guitar riffs, a heavy bass line keeps the song full throttle while melodic vocals call out to the masses.
In December 2022, Rad Stacey, will release “Still Here”, a heavier rock jam that firmly establishes the boys as a promising new voice in the world of rock.
Line-up: Ian Heirs, Joey Hudson, Shawn Denner
Read our review of Rad Stacey’s “Push” and our review on their “Night Traffic.”
