With two of its members — John Nolan and Shaun Cooper — formerly of emo band Taking Back Sunday, Straylight Run had a built-in audience the moment they formed. The band members are firm in their beliefs: you can’t define their style, and they won’t let just any record label sign them. Nolan (vocals and guitar) views being signed as an opportunity as much as a selective process.
“If we sign with a label, we do it on our own terms,” he says. “Once we make a record, it’s about getting someone behind it who’s excited and finding people who back our ideas. We just finished our third album; we recorded it ourselves, paid for it ourselves and produced it ourselves.” The next few months will decide with which label (of many interested) Straylight will sign.
After “creative differences” with the other Taking Back Sunday members influenced his decision to leave the group, Nolan says he is taking a fresh approach to his new band.
“Personally, one of the things I wanted changed had to do with how we approached running the band. From the beginning, we decided [Straylight] would be run by a democratic process. Decisions would be made by everyone,” he asserts.
Their music consists of slow to moderately paced songs. While full of expressive, rock ‘n’ roll substance, delicate piano playing is prevalent in every song. “It’s hard to define our style because all of our songs are so different,” Nolan says. “People have compared us to Ben Folds Five, I think it’s because of our use of piano and our catchy tunes.”
When asked what bands he would hate to be compared to, Nolan doesn’t know where to start. Listeners will have to see for themselves.
“Our concerts are a great way to see the band for the first time,” he says, “because the songs come off better in a live setting.”
Straylight Run will play Axis on December 2 at 6 p.m.