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Stimulus Package wins the battle of the bands |
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Written by Jackson Morrison
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Wednesday, 10 March 2010 |
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“Finally, now that I’m playing with this group, it’s showing that all the hard work is paying off,” says Will Steiner as he casually strums his Gibson Les Paul, reminiscing about Stimulus Package’s win at this year’s second annual Music in the Schools Battle of the Bands competition. After six years of playing guitar, Steiner stumbled upon fellow guitarist, Ben Sokoloff, who was looking to form a band to compete at this year’s Music in the Schools Battle of the Bands.
“I wanted to find the best rock musicians at Grant,” explains Sokoloff, and with Steiner, Levi Zaalman on bass, and Nate Sonenfeld on drums, Stimulus Package was born.
Because of their win, the band receives 20 hours of recording time at a local recording studio called “The Vault,” and an opening spot at Music in the Schools Spring Benefit Concert at the Crystal Ballroom. There’s a possibility that Stimulus Package could be opening for bands such as Death Cab for Cutie, The Shins, Spoon, or The Dandy Warhols. “There’s going to be a lot of people that might like our music,” comments Sokoloff. “That’s huge exposure.”
When asked to describe the music of Stimulus Package, Sokoloff thoughtfully considers the question before answering that “it’s pretty much straight-up rock.” Steiner agrees, adding in that there is a distinct guitar-driven edge, and a dark quality to their sound.
The music written by Sokoloff and Steiner comes from their time spent playing by themselves and combining their ideas for guitar lines and the basic structure of the songs. Sokoloff handles the lyrics and melody himself while Zalman and Sonenfeld take care of their own parts.
“Everyone plays a really important role,” says Sokoloff.
The music Stimulus Package writes has roots in the styles of contemporary bands, such as Band of Horses, Ratatat, Kings of Leon, and more classic influences like Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd's David Gilmore.
What’s next for a band that was only formed for one competition?
“Once we get a set of about seven songs together we’re going to play as many shows as we can before the spring show,” Steiner explains, still noodling around on his guitar. Stimulus Package plans on using their free recording time and playing as many live shows as they can before they break up after their big spring concert at the Crystal.
Even though they know the band will not last past spring, Stimulus Package is providing its members with a way to do what they love most: write, play, and share music with others.
“I like to think that the stuff I write sounds good, is easy to listen to,” says Steiner, showing off a guitar line he’s developed for a new song. It is an almost psychedelic riff, reminiscent of Pink Floyd, or Funkadelic’s Maggot Brain. “In the end,” he says, “It’s something I’ll always have.”
As brief as the period of existence for this band is, Stimulus Package provides an invaluable experience for all four musicians involved.
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