Indie/pop band Black Tie Stereo based in Scranton, Pennsylvania have been bringing their indie-pop flair to the music world since 2014. Comprised of four talented members, Stephen Murphy, George Pachucy, Aaron Kovalich, and Jesse Morvan have been performing together since their high school days and establishing their craft from the ground up ever since. Their latest releases, “Cracked Screens” and “Could You Be Mine” are the band’s first ventures into self-production, utilizing the vast experience learned in their previous releases. No stranger to success, Black Tie Stereo has opened for acts such as Milky Chance, Panic! At the Disco, Weezer, Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, K.Flay, and Lewis Del Mar.
Their most recent release, "Somebody Like You" was mixed by Marc McClusky (Weezer, Motion City Soundtrack, Sia). The upbeat and atmospheric track “Somebody Like You” boasts everything an Indie Pop song should be. A track that’s lighthearted and made for rolling down all the windows and singing your heart out or simply dancing the night away. The catchy riff and contagious melody is guaranteed to be stuck in your head. “Somebody Like You” is the perfect blend of catchy guitars, precise drums, and show stopping synths to blow you away. With a tightly wound rhythm section and waves of echoing guitar and vocals, the band blends different styles of alternative music with a very ambient pop feel to create something new and interesting. Putting out a very atmospheric sound with an interwoven rock element, the four-piece brings a very energetic and captivating set. This track is so enthusiastic and uplifting it makes me feel like I’m in a movie, falling in love. “Somebody Like You” is a refreshing and awakening single that can get anyone out of their seat. Black Tie Stereo knows what their fans want to hear and deliver it in the most explosive way!
Listen to “Somebody Like You” here and read more below in our exclusive interview.
Hey guys! Can you tell us more about how you all met and how you created the name Black Tie Stereo?
Stephen the singer and George the drummer went to high school together and put together a band. After juggling a few members, we needed a couple more guys and Steve knew two awesome musicians from another high school, Aaron and Jesse. After playing together for a couple shows we thought it was a good fit, and kept moving forward with original music. The name was definitely a bit from left field, but we felt like we wanted to be a bit fancy and nostalgic all at once, and liked the way the words sounded. It’s stuck so far.
In what ways do your different personalities coming together influence your music?
We come from a broad spectrum of musical backgrounds, and definitely butt heads on some ways of thinking about our music. Out of a lot of our conflict comes our best work, because it forces each of us to really step up our game creatively. It’s a friendly competition of ideas where, at the end, we all win.
Can you tell us more about the meaning behind “Somebody Like You”?
“Somebody Like You” is one of our cracks at a feel-good song. We’ve definitely been writing some more introspective songs lately and we wanted to give something upbeat, positive, and catchy that we could really get people moving to. We feel a lot of love for the support we’ve gotten so far and that “someone” in the song is anyone to whom we give that love right back.
Who are your top three musical influences? How have they inspired you?
If we had to narrow down all of our musical influences to just three, we would have to pick The 1975, The Wombats, and Walk The Moon. With this record we’ve been able to dive deeper into producing than we have before and these bands have consistently been references that we go back to. From micro to macro details, we really enjoy the love that these artists put into their work.
What’s next for Black Tie Stereo?
We just announced a Kickstarter campaign to help us fund a full-length album in Chicago. Mark McClusky, who has worked with Weezer, Sia, and Motion City Soundtrack (to name a few) and who also mixed “Somebody Like You” is going to be producing and mixing the album with us at his studio there. It’ll be our biggest project to date and we are very excited to get working. After putting so much time and effort into this group, we really feel that we have something to say in this next release. We can’t wait to share it with you all!
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