May 14th, 2015 
Brian Leak 
London rock four-piece Staring Out The Sun are still riding high on the positive praise of their most recent 4-track EP that was released in February of this year. Break The Silence balances heavy riffs and pummeling percussion with softer, melodic bits that serve as a great juxtaposition throughout the effort’s brief, 13-minute runtime. Those who enjoy the works of acts varying from Alien Ant Farm to Dead Poetic should find themselves enjoying the sounds created by SOTS.
We had the chance to speak with the members of the band to discuss Break The Silence and its recording process, what they’ve been working on since, and what they have in store for the rest of the year – so follow us through the jump to read about all this and more from Staring Out The Sun, and be sure to stream their EP at the very end.
Can you tell me each of your names and what your roles are in the band?
Hey, I’m John and I provide the vocals.
I’m Alex, aka Alejandro Alvarado Pita, and I play drums.
I’m Tekin and I play guitar and backing vocals.
I’m Chris, I try to play bass.
And where does the name Staring Out The Sun come from? The “out” as opposed to “at” kind of throws me off each time I read it or say it in my mind.
Chris: It comes from a lyric from one of our songs called “Black Cloud” in which it was used as a metaphor: “There was a black cloud staring out the sun.” However, taken literally we all liked the idea of achieving an impossible task. You must have played that game when you stare out your mates, right? A ‘Staring Out’ competition looking into each other’s eyes without blinking. First one who blinks loses. Well, try playing that game against the sun! Bravery, stupidity, retinas of steel; the lot! It’s kinda dumb but it’s also quite inspirational (to achieve the impossible) at the same time.
Alex: Saying “out” also allows John to showcase his Arnie accent, so win win.
How did the four of you initially all come together to start the band?
John: Chris and I met at Uni, and I used to sing and play guitar (not very well mind you). Chris put out an ad for a second guitarist and we found the beast we now know as Tekin Mustafa! He looked all kinds of wrong for the band…mind you all of us didn’t look the part, but his skills definitely paid the bills. Alex, we found you via Bandmix or Musofinder I believe. Anyway, we auditioned him and it went really well.
Alex: I auditioned at Survival Studios, probably the first time I’ve been so far west since living in London – hated the ridiculously long journey from there to East Finchley. I didn’t hear anything from anyone in the following days. Then somehow got in touch with John again who casually asked me to have a jam with them as their drummer at the time was leaving. And the rest is history!
And where would you say a lot of your individual influences come from that helped form the sound you decided to take on?
John: Varied I’d say, but over the years I would describe music we’ve written as sounding like Deftones or Incubus when really it’s closer to…to be honest, I don’t know who we sound like. I think when we all get together it just sounds like Staring Out The Sun.
So what can you tell me about your debut, Break The Silence? How would you describe it to someone who hasn’t heard your music yet in order to interest them in listening to it?
Alex: It’s the best music related thing I’ve been involved with ever. Super proud of what we achieved. the road that led to it and how it made us grow as a band. I’d say it’s aggressive but commercial. Interesting but poppy. Emotional and mega catchy.
Tekin: Fat grooves and riffs with big sing along choruses and catchy middle bit. Simplicity with musicality.
As a huge fan of the show, I have to ask: “Trust No One” isn’t a reference to The X-Files is it? The lyrics don’t appear to be, but the title easily could.
Chris: In no way [laughs]. I would shit myself if it was, and the 14-year-old scared boy when I used to watch the show would rise again.
Was this recording process a first experience for all of you guys? Did it go smoothly or were there any obstacles you feel you learned from that you can avoid the next time around?
Chris: A first as a band yes but no virgin experiences individually. The process had ups and down for sure but nothing we couldn’t handle, plus being in the safe hands of Paul and Matt who produced/recorded it. Fucking legends may I add. We learnt so much from both of them. I’d just say demo demo demo then tune tune tune; you can never be too prepared or in tune for that matter.
John: I think in one form or another we’ve all been in a recording environment before, but this was our first real experience, taking our finished songs and breaking them apart only to build them back up with the help of our producers, Paul and Matt. I reckon it went smoothly though I think we ended up ditching a song as it wasn’t sitting well on the EP. I was really surprised with how many layers of guitars and vocals were used to create such a huge sound.
Alex: The recording process itself was pretty much standard except for the fact that we had Matt frigging Hyde on the controls. I’m from Venezuela – we don’t get no Slipknot or Machine Head Grammy-nominated producers working on our music. That was huge. But the super cool part of the process, and something I’ve never done before, was the pre-production. Sitting down with Paul Blue tearing the songs apart and building them up again into something much, much better. This stage was an awesome eye (or ear) opener to the craft of songwriting and thanks to it our EP sounds the way it does. I’d avoid camping next time…
The EP’s been out for a couple months now. Do you already have more material ready for your next release and any concrete plans for that?
John: We have quite a few songs in the bag already, but because we feel like we’ve grown a bit as musicians in the last year we’ve been writing new material to see how that compares to the older stuff and see what makes the cut, prior to recording our debut album.
Chris: It’s kinda scary how much material we have. Nothing is ready though. Some of it is just ideas, some are demoed up, and we are writing a ton of stuff too that’s all going to be stirred up in the pot. We are planning an album next, probably early next year.
You’ve got a short run of European dates coming up in June. Will this be your first time playing any of those places? What are you looking forward to the most on this tour?
John: For most of us this will be the first time touring as a band and it’s also going to be the first time visiting some of the places as well. I’m looking forward to playing out of London as people tend to be way less jaded and really seem to appreciate bands and new music in less populated areas.
And do you have any other dates lined up for later this year or any places you’re hoping to be able to play soon?
Chris: Nothing solid yet. I just wanna have fun and meet cool peeps and make friends. That can happen anywhere, right? Then go back and hang out. Friends in Reading, we are coming for you by the way.
Alex: Nothing set in stone yet but hopefully big festivals and finally a US tour. It’s been my life-long dream and this is the perfect band for it.
You released a video for “Secrets” before the EP officially released. Do you have plans for another video off this EP?
John: Yes! We have had plans from the start. They will all combine to form a story of the EP. Our second release will be “Anaesthesia” and will debut at the end of May with two videos getting shot later in the summer to complete the story.
And overall, any plans or goals for the rest of 2015 that you’re hoping to achieve? Anything else you’d like to say that we might not have covered?
John: Releasing an amazing album and playing a large scale rock festival, like Rock Am Ring, Download or Sonisphere would be fucking amazing. Touring the states and Japan would be another great one. Now I’m just being greedy.
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