Black Stone Brewers are an alternative rock band from Perth, Western Australia. With Blair, Jonathan and Rob as founding members from an original version of the group, this iteration of the band kicked off in June 2020 with the addition of Simon on bass and Luke later joining on lead guitar. 'Too Far Gone' tells stories of life, a collection of our most vivid moments, the kind that stick in our heads and hearts forever. It culminates in an anthemic chorus as a realisation that these moments are merely figments of the past; that we shouldn't get lost in the endless swirl of loss, hope, and escape.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Jono (keyboards, rhythm guitar, vocals) from the Brewers had a chat with Lost in the Manor about the band, their brand new EP ‘Conduit’ and everything the future holds..
Hello Black Stone Brewers. What first got you into music?
It’s a bit different for each of us. We’ve all been playing music in some form or another since we were young kids. Rob (rhythm guitar/vocals), Simon (bass guitar) and myself all went to school together and we were surrounded by music every day with our commitments to school ensembles and bands. Blair has been drumming his whole life, and Luke (lead guitar) has been playing bands for years, heck he even works in production mixing bands every week for a living! For me personally, it’s bands like The Police and Coldplay that were very formative in my very early years which set me in the direction of music (hopefully) becoming my full time career. I think if we could all do this full time, we would in a heartbeat!
What do you think your role is in this world?
That’s a very difficult question to answer sometimes, particularly while we’re still quite small as a band. I think all we can really do on a personal level is try to be the best and most honest and true versions of ourselves that we can, to hopefully make some kind of an impact on others lives. Thinking about the bigger picture, we’d love our music to reach as many people as we can so that it could be an escape for them from whatever troubles they go through in life. I know for me, there are plenty of artists that have helped me to ‘escape’ the world I live in sometimes … I’d love to be that for someone else one day.
Your latest track is 'Too Far Gone'. Can you share with us the background of its creation and did any unusual things happen during its creation?
This is a funny story for us to think back on actually. The song first started off with this one guitar riff, which when the track was being mixed in the studio, we realised actually didn’t need to be there anymore, so the musically formative part of the song actually isn’t even a part of the tune now. But this song really came together one night when Rob came over to mine, and we spent some time building the pieces from the original riff.. The chorus was actually a mistake, as Rob sang something wrong in the melody we were working on, but it was that golden moment we were waiting for to make that chorus as catchy as it is. This was one of those songs we had a full arrangement before taking it to the band which was something a little different for us. Usually we all work on a song together from start to end. This time we built it from the ground up, knowing we had a killer song for everyone to write parts to in the first place.
Lyrically though this one took quite a while to finish, I think we wrote maybe 12 different verses, then had to pick and choose the right combination of words and emotions to really tell the story we wanted. It also went through at least 4 different titles - Simon, our bass player still calls it the first rough name we had for it - we won’t tell you what it was though!
What is one message you would give to your fans?
Well firstly, thank you from the bottom of our withered little hearts for supporting us! Obviously we wouldn’t and couldn’t be doing this without people actually caring and taking an interest in what we do. Secondly, stick around, because as much as we love the songs we’re about to release on ‘Conduit’, we’ve got some incredible material in the pipeline we hope to play live at gigs real soon, and hopefully, we’ll be able to record them and get them out there for everyone to check out shortly after! Keep supporting live music and following, sharing and purchasing from your favourite local bands to keep them creating for you!
How do you spend your time?
Well each of us unfortunately have full time jobs outside of the band, so that for everyone comes first. We all work in different industries too, which is great so we’ve always got fun things to talk about when we hang out together. Outside of our jobs though, pretty much all of us love spending down time making music, practicing, and going to gigs. I myself go to what some might say, too many concerts, but it’s totally worth it, there’s not much that’s better than live music!
What are you most proud of?
I think at the moment it has to be the EP we’re about to release. ‘Conduit’ has been such an integral part of not just myself, but this band over the past 2-3 years, that now it’s about to come out, it’s impossible not to feel some serious sense of pride about it. It’s been a long time coming, lots of time and effort spent. It’s going to feel good the second it comes out to just take a deep breath and exhale knowing that those 6 songs are no longer ours, but the world’s as well. It’s a pretty exciting feeling. I can’t wait to hear how people respond to it.
If you could go open a show for any artist who would it be?
Ooh there’s too many to pick from. As a band we’d love to open for artists such as Manchester Orchestra, Karnivool, VOLA or Sleep Token. They’re kind of some of the big inspirations for the 5 of us at the moment, so it would be pretty sweet to meet any of them and play a show together.
What are you doing to ensure you continue to grow and develop as an artist?
We’re always working to do the next thing better than the last. Always writing, also jamming, always creating. At the moment we’re experimenting with some complex rhythms and grooves, at the same time as trying to write catchy stick in your brain choruses. It’s important to keep that muscle flexed, because I’ve had so many times where I haven’t been creating and it’s been difficult to get back into it. I think now as a band we’ve found that sweet spot with how we all work as individuals and as a collective that we can really maximise time spent together and at home to push us all forward. We know what music we want to make, and we know how each other slots into that mould.
Do you think that technology is improving lives?
It’s an interesting one because the obvious answer is yes, but it doesn’t come without its hindrances or worries. I find that even though we’re connected to the world we live in more than ever, personally I can feel just as disconnected and isolated from the people I love and care about. So it’s important to maintain those personal connections, and not just be on our phones all the time. From an art perspective, I’m finding the whole AI conversation rather interesting at the moment with the idea that that technology could one day put artists out of a job. Obviously that’s concerning being someone who strives for a career in the arts, but the conversation around it at the moment is a really interesting one for me.
What are your plans for the future?
Well immediate plans are getting the EP released and doing the big EP Launch gig next month at Amplifier Bar here in Perth. We’ve got some new merch on the way and are looking forward to a big show with some incredible support bands. We’re hoping that we can ride the wave of this EP for the next 6-9 months musically, get some more content out there and do as much as we can to make ourselves known. After that, we’re already planning the next thing, and we’re really excited about that. Already got the next 12-24 months planned out … it’s a really weird concept living that far in the future, we’re still getting used to it. But in the meantime, I think we’ll just live in the moment as we release ‘Conduit’ and take a short second to appreciate the hard work that’s gone into making the tunes as good as they are, and celebrate that with a few beers and massive rock show. That’s just as important in my opinion!