Tuesday, Jun. 01, 2010
Solace and Stable
Band finds balance with metal music, religion
Miranda Wycoff, Journal Staff
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The words metal band and Christianity don’t normally go together. But for the local band, Solace and Stable, the two go hand in hand.
Lee’s Summit resident Gabe Fry, 23, who pens the band’s songs, describes the five member Solace and Stable as a “melodic progressive metal band.”
But Blue Springs resident and bassist Jerod Goodman, 22, also describes them as a Christian band. “We really try to emit (our faith) in our lyrics,” Goodman said.
“Our faith plays an important role in all the aspects of our lives,” Fry said. “In our struggles and our victories.”
In fact, Christianity and faith are so important to Solace and Stable that when they were looking for a new drummer they knew they needed someone who took their faith seriously.
“(Our faith) is probably one of the most challenging pieces of this band,” Fry said. “We take our representation of Christianity seriously.
“We want to have people in the band that stand for what we stand for,” he added.
And while the lyrics to the band’s songs, all of which were written by Fry, may not be outwardly Christian in a strict sense, their faith certainly helps the group rise above typical metal band stereotypes.
Goodman and Fry said the group’s faith is what helps the band bond as a group.
“It helps bring the band together,” Goodman said. “We are all striving for the same thing — to try and break the mold of what people think of Christians.”
Their faith isn’t the only challenge Solace and Stable faces as a metal band. They strive to challenge themselves musically with every song they write, record and perform.
“We try to push the limit with every song,” Goodman said.
And they don’t want to sound like every other metal band.
“Most local metal bands are very generic and very simple,” Goodman said.
“Our music is pretty diverse,” Fry added. “What sets us apart are the scales we choose to use so we don’t sound like other bands.” In addition to making sure they don’t sound like other bands, they also want to make sure they are not one of those bands where every song they write sounds the same.
“The biggest challenge is writing music that has a familiar feel, but doesn’t sound similar to one song,” Fry said.
Fry chalks their ability to do that up to all the different musical influences the band has.
“I don’t listen to metal music,” Goodman said. “I just play in a metal band.”
Fry considers himself a music junkie. When he heard his first metal song, he immediately went to the Internet to find more new music and more new artists. And he admittedly has a wide taste in music.
“He got into jazz recently,” Goodman said of Fry. “And that’s a little weird.”
Solace and Stable, which has already released one full-length album and is working on a second, isn’t picky about where they play, they just want their music to be heard. “Anywhere we can set, we’ll shred,” said vocalist Sam Tennant. At 17 and still in high school at Blue Springs South, Tennant is the youngest member of Solace and Stable, but he’s been with the band almost since they began in 2007. He was 15.
The band has played everywhere from churches to bars, including Jerry’s Bait Shop in Lee’s Summit.
Their next show is at 7 p.m. June 26 at Lakeland Community Church, 913 N.E. Colburn Road, Lee’s Summit.
To reach Journal reporter Miranda Wycoff, call 816-282-7017 or e-mail mwycoff@lsjournal.com
