Hear Milwaukee Hardcore Band Stone's New Burner "Skeletons"

Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Baltimore, D.C., Texas — these are nationally known strongholds for hardcore music, but Stone is here to put Milwaukee on the map. Featuring a pair of members from the popular Midwest hardcore entity Expire, who called it quits in 2017, Stone enter the fray with hard-as-nails riffs, a no-nonsense approach to vocals and delivery, and an overall aesthetic that screams, "I'm not fucking around!" In the world of hardcore there are two types of bands: ones who ape coming from a real place of anger and frustration, and those who live it. Chalk one up in the latter category for Stone. 

Inch of Joy is Stone's coming-out party (due on 3/2 via Pure Noise) — a gale-force hurricane of anvil-heavy riffage and vein-bulging vocals ready to make Jasta whimper and cower to a shaded corner. The latest offering from the band is "Skeletons," which makes its debut here today at Revolver.

The song is about substance abuse and the demons that follow, according to vocalist Zach Dear: "I used to enable friends on tour to get fucked up however they felt fitting and it never effected me because it was on tour. When that shit started to follow me home and seep into the lives of close friends, I started to despise it. That's what I wrote 'Skeletons' about."

Check out "Skeletons" above and head below for a few questions with Dear about Stone, his move from Expire and inspiration in hardcore as a member of a heavily touring entity.

STONE WILL DEFINITELY APPEAL TO FANS OF EXPIRE. WHEN GOING IN WITH STONE DID YOU HAVE ANY GOALS TO SEPARATE YOURSELF FROM EXPIRE, MUSICALLY?
ZACH DEAR People relating the two bands was something that could never be avoided no matter how hard I tried. Aside from Marcus and I having been in Expire, Stone has nothing to do with it. We write differently, the songs are their own, there aren't old unused riffs from old bands. Stone is 100% its own band. Once the record comes out and people see it live, they'll see where the steps of separation come into play. 

HOW DOES MODERN HARDCORE COME INTO PLAY AS FAR AS INFLUENCE? WOULD YOU SAY THAT YOUR INFLUENCES FOR STONE ARE SOMEWHAT "FIXED" CONSIDERING YOUR YEARS AS A MEMBER OF A TOURING BAND ETC?
Stone is a blend of everything we like and dislike about hardcore. And by that I mean we take influence from the shit we see and hate, and try to do it better. I think modern hardcore is completely in the eye of the beholder. I love it. A lot of people think metalcore has taken over in a negative way. I think while it exists, saying it all went to shit is a fucking cop out. If you don't like something, change it. There was nothing "fixed" about the way we wrote these songs. Obviously we took influences from older bands but we took just as many from modern bands. Driving each other to create something harder and faster should be the goal, not ragging on bands for having different influences that you. 

HOW DOES THE MOVE FROM GUITAR AFFECT HOW YOU APPROACH VOCALS?
It helps in that if I have a vocal idea, I know how to show the rest of the band the type of riff I'm thinking it would work with. Being able to play a few different instruments and help write on the musical side of things makes us a better band. Same as some of the other guys give input on vocal patterns and whatnot. Coming from more of a shotgun position and moving to driving as far as live presence goes has also helped. Years of that helped me see the things I liked and things I didn't like as far as frontmen go and shape myself into what I think works best for Stone.

DID YOU HAVE ANYTHING THAT YOU WANTED TO ACCOMPLISH WITH EXPIRE THAT YOU DIDN'T? SOMETHING THAT YOU COULD ACCOMPLISH WITH THIS BAND?
Expire did exactly what we wanted, when we wanted and with who we wanted to do it with. If there will be a similarity that carries from one band to the other, that will be it. 

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE FANS OF STONE TO TAKE AWAY FROM THE BAND THAT MAYBE THEY DIDN'T WITH EXPIRE?
This is a tricky one because my answer could easily bum out the other dudes who played in Expire and make them think that we were lacking somewhere. I want Stone fans to walk away and not think of any other old bands we were in or other bands we are in. I want the blinders on and to only be thinking about what Stone just made them feel.