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STR.
 No, STR did not break up. Yes, they finally have a full-length album, 'Hopes For Hire'. And no, they're not after an Atticus endorsement. One of the most honest and hardworking bands around, for six years STR have been one of the stalwarts of the Adelaide punk scene, playing Warped tour in 2002 and supporting the likes of Millencolin, the Ataris and New Found Glory, and they sure ain't gonna sell out now.
"I think my main problem with it is that once you start putting a certain amount of money into supporting bands it sort of controls the creative output," says guitarist and second vocalist Josh Mann. "It's not all about the music: it's suddenly about companies."
It hasn't all been smooth sailing for the band, who found themselves down to just two members a couple of years ago: Mann and frontman Nathan Humphris. "It was a tough time," Mann reflects. "Tensions became too high between members and our bass player left, and then our drummer joined Day Of Contempt." Humphris and Mann scoured Adelaide for members, all the while having to deal with anxious questions from loyal fans.
"We had a lot of people saying oh, we thought you guys broke up," Mann sighs.
"I was just like, 'nah, we're just stuck.'" Eventually they pulled in drummer Gareth Woodfield from Sydney, and local bass player Adam Frawley, a long time fan. "We keep looking at old photos and seeing him in the crowd, and in our video clip and stuff." Mann laughs.
The new-look STR are re-energised and ready to get the ball rolling again. In March and April last year the band went into the studio to record 'Hopes For Hire'. "It was pretty full on. We were in there for about six weeks and there's a lot of emotion, a lot of opinions get thrown around," Mann notes. "You're stuck in this little room with no air and you start to get a bit of cabin fever. But as you get closer to the end it gets more and more rewarding and you start to see the songs that have come together. It was tough but it was worth it."
'Hopes For Hire' is the band's best-recorded work to date, incorporating STR's skater punk background with its more modern emo and hardcore influences. "What we tried to do was play a bit of that old, fast, sort of Fat Wreck Chords inspired punk and merge it with our other influences, the more hardcore bands like Boy Sets Fire and some of the poppier bands like Saves The Day," Mann explains. "It's a bit of everything so I think it should appeal to the fans who've been around for a while, but it should also have something that the new kids will like."
These other influences have led to a sound that is rife with emotion, featuring not only infectious melodies but passionate screaming, a prominent aspect of the new-wave of emo bands coming out of the 'States. But it's not a fad that STR are following: indeed, they want to avoid that at any cost. "We've been doing it for years now," Mann explains. "It's funny to see that that's suddenly become popular through bands like Finch; everyone's doing it now. It's always been a part of STR... We're just doing what we've done for six years. I think there's a lot of bands that are maybe just out to impress the record labels whereas we'd rather just impress the kids. I think it's just about doing it for the right reasons."
And the wrong reasons? "I think Simple Plan and those sort of bands are just 'punk rock is the cool thing to do,' so they took it, bastardised it, dumbed it down, took away the soul and inserted a commercial selling aspect."
STR plan to hit the road with the new record, forever striving to keep it about the music and about having fun rather than becoming the next big thing. "Obviously everyone would love to have a career with music, and if that comes to us then so be it, but if not then that's cool too. We're quite content to just keep playing as long as we're having fun with it."
Matt Vesley
 | STR launch 'Hopes For Hire' with an all-ages gig at the Adelaide UniBar on Sat 12 Feb with Stolen Youth, Chrysolite, Wendy Icon and Short Term Gain. |
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