ALTESCAPE_ have had the opportunity to speak directly to Stonebrim's lead vocalist and songwriter, Jacob Poorta, to gain a deeper insight into the band's undoubtedly 'British' sound.
London- based outfit, Stonebrim, formed back in the Summer of 2019, and began playing live shows together shortly after, in the early months of 2020. The group is composed of songwriter, Jacob Poorta, bassist, Sharik Essa, and drummer, Liam White; they formed after Jacob and Sharik bonded over their love for music whilst working together, at a financial firm in London, and later paired musical abilities with drummer, Liam, meeting him through friends of friends. Inspired by The Who, Oasis, The Beetles, and Rolling Stones, Stonebrim couldn't take on a more, distinctly, British sound.
Stonebrim have, impressively, managed to release two EP's this year, one in August, and one later in the year, released in December. Their first EP, 'The Music Therapist', ultimately, set the tone for what the band had in store for us. This idea of the 'Music Therapist', fits perfectly with what Jacob Poorta had to say about the band's ideology of 'Medpop'.
Reading up on what the group had to say about Medpop, via their website, they claim that Medpop is 'escapism, positivity and refreshing honesty'. Clearing things up, whilst conversing with Jacob, Medpop is claimed to be the band's own, original genre; Stonebrim are the first Medpop band in history. Regarding this, Jacob questioned 'What is a genre?' and went on to state 'I don't know what a genre is, I really don't understand what genres are'. The vocalist expressed that with the multitude of genres that cascade through the music industry today, how can an artist fit rigidly into one tiny, restrictive box, he likes things to be 'quite obvious and simple' and therefore, thought 'why not create our own genre, call it Medpop'. Medpop consists of upbeat, melodic music with a focus on the actual songs and their layout, compared to how a lot of modern music has a higher focus on style and image. 'Med' is the part of the ideology that, for me, really fits with the band's single 'The Music Therapist': 'music has a therapeutic quality like medicine, so let's treat it as such'.
Jacob has been songwriting for 9 years now, and the two EP's that the group have released this year have featured lyrics from when the vocalist was 17 years old onwards. In fact, 'Chameleon Kids', featured on the latest EP, was a track that Jacob wrote when he was just beginning his musical journey at 17. In terms of his lyrical process, the vocalist said that ' a lot' of the songs we see on the band's EPs ' are bits and bobs that have been written over a long period'. Asking Jacob what his favourite song to have written and released so far is, he immediately said ' I Believe In Winter', he went on to say that from his personal experience 'the best songs are the ones you write in one sitting' as 'it feels slightly more magical'. So despite many of Stonebrim's releases compiling lyrics from previous years, for Jacob the magic of songwriting is most prevalent when you experience that extraordinary feeling of ' Where did that come from?' after creating something beautiful in one session.
In terms of Jacob's favourite track in regard to lyrics, he said it would have to be 'Fake Bus' as it is very lyrically 'interesting'. The track is 'slightly cynical' and yet the message of the song is, ultimately, optimistic. Jacob regarded that the 'Fake Bus' basically invites people on a journey with the band: 'you come with us we'll show you an honest way of doing things, and it doesn't matter who you are, everyone's welcome'.
This attitude that is expressed in the lyrical message of 'Fake Bus', is echoed in the band's attitude towards their fan base. Asking Jacob who Stonebrim's desired audience are, he said 'everyone obviously' and expanded that: 'anyone that is willing to put money behind the band , whether thats buying tickets of donating'. Jacob expressed the hardships of breaking into the music world, and the simple fact that streams don't equate to enough money, especially if this is your livelihood. Therefore, for Stonebrim the generosity of their fanbase is vital to help fund the production of their 3rd EP, set to, hopefully, be recorded in February 2021.
Regarding this upcoming EP, Jacob said that 'they are all songs that have been on the go for a few years', but interestingly, there will be a couple of instrumentals featured. The sound for the next EP will 'bigger and might be slightly grander', and Jacob said that he hopes the tracks will have some 'anthemic like qualities' to them. However, so much can change in such a short time, therefore Jacob insisted that this 'is all in theory, that's the aim but who knows what will happen'.
We are grateful to have spoken to Stonebrim's lead vocalist and songwriter Jacob Poorta, and look forward to hearing a new EP from Stonebrim in March time this year.
Check out the band's latest EP now, you can find 'I Believe In Winter', and 'Fake Bus' below.
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