As far as a first true headlining tour goes, this was one of the best.
SoCal band, Sitting on Stacy, took over Brooklyn’s Elsewhere on March 27th. This isn’t the first time that fans have had the chance to see the band — they’ve actually toured with the Jonas Brothers before! However, this tour was sure to leave an impact on fans’ hearts which was clear from the beginning. Immediately, Sitting on Stacy pushed their audience into the deep end of energy and excitement.
“We want anyone who comes to our shows to be entertained and leave feeling happy and part of the whole extravaganza,” says the band. The entire night was clearly focused on reaching that goal.
They set expectations high from the beginning. For such a small venue, the feeling was electric. As the band made their way onto the stage, the front row was squirming with anticipation. It was packed in the venue with an audience that ranged in gender, age, and even subcultures. Sitting on Stacy appeals to such a wide base of people it was sort of uncanny to see your mainstream pop girlies vibing directly next to the alt-sceners who are more used to mosh pits and crowd surfing.
The pressure to perform, though, is actually what they think has been their biggest challenge. “We would say planning shows and getting in shape for the massive cathartic release of adrenaline during our high energy performance resulting in minor injuries sustained during that time,” they when asked. This may seem like a bold statement. After all, on-stage injuries can’t be that common… right?
Well, the band really did know how to take a pop sound and make it just a bit reckless. By the end of the act, Hoyt Yeatman (lead singer) had found himself opening up the crowd and full-sending it into the audience. This may seem like the most dangerous part of the show, but what was worse (in the best way) was the encore.
As the band clamored their way back on stage, they went so hard dancing and singing and giving a true performance that they fell into a heap on top of each other. Out of breath, but with a shining sparkle of passion in their eyes, they took in the sound of the cheering audience. Fans begged them not to leave the stage, but the show had come to a close.
Sitting on Stacy is on the brink of something great. That night in Brooklyn, we think they saw that. The fans saw it, too. Their biggest fear? They say it’s “losing sight of why we play music in the first place.” The band has a clear intent and a focused mindset. “For us music is supposed to be fun,” they say. “We don’t want to get to a point where we feel pressured to write songs.”
We had a chance to talk with the band about their goals and the behind-the-scenes of Sitting on Stacy. Here’s what they had to say:
Q: When and how did you first know you wanted to pursue music as your career?
SOS: We knew we wanted to pursue music when we first picked up our instruments at a very young age and knew we wanted to make this our career from the moment we walked out on stage at our very first shows.
Q: Was there a moment as a band where you felt like it really “clicked” and you knew you were on to something?
SOS: When we were playing at venues and house shows in the San Diego area, we knew we had found something when the audience started singing back our lyrics to us on songs like “Chest Hair”. Also the audience would go crazy when we played our set. One time a girl jumped off of the roof into the crowd. We had the craziest experiences playing shows and the audience reactions made us feel at home.
Q: You lean into the recent trend of California surf pop. What would you say is your defining factor as a band?
SOS: We love branching out of our comfort zone and experimenting with all sorts of genres of music. We love putting in harmonies and writing a mixture of soft songs and heavy/crazy songs.
Q: Describe your music to someone who’s never heard it.
SOS: It’ll catch you off your rocker in the most epic yet crazy/fun way possible.
Q: What are the best and worst aspects of touring for you?
SOS: The best aspect would probably be going to venues and cities that we’ve never been to before. Just living with the spontaneity of it all and not knowing what to expect. Also, it is super fun when we play our set every night.
The worst part is all of the driving/loading gear and waking up at 5 or 6am every day to get to the next venue.
Q: Walk us through the songwriting process.
SOS: Each song is different but usually Hoyt will come up with a melody and some chords and then Kyle will come up with the bassline and some harmonies. Trevor then adds the drum part and we all help to structure and arrange the song during the course of a few jams.
Q: Where do you see yourself growing from here? Biggest bucket list items for the next like 5 years?
SOS: Coachella, Lollapalooza, ACL, playing any big stage, and playing overseas. We want people to feel something when they listen to our songs and hopefully, we make a lot of people happy along the way.
