Straight Line Stitch riles subgenre fanatics with When Skies Wash Ashore
By Keidra Chaney
Published: August 19th, 2008 | 12:00pm
The in-your-face vocals of Straight Line Stitch frontwoman Alexis Brown seem at odds with her almost soft-spoken demeanor. Friendly, but reserved, Brown appears to reserve her aggression for the stage and the recording studio. That’s not to say that she’s a woman of few words, however. Once you get her going, Brown jumps on pretty much any topic: the release of the Knoxville, Tennessee band’s August 19, 2008, sophomore album When Skies Wash Ashore (Koch Records), the effect of gas prices on touring, and especially about the multitude of labels (metal, metalcore, hard-rock, thrash — you name it) being slapped onto her band by certain segments of the subgenre-happy music press.
“Some people can be … single-minded.” Brown says of the heavy-music scene. “I don’t mean that in a foul way,” she clarifies. “I just don’t think anybody should pigeonhole themselves, and we don’t.”
When Skies Wash Ashore is anything but single-minded and highlights the sound that sets Straight Line Stitch apart from other contemporary metal bands. Songs that often start with pop-flavored but intense hard-rock melodies and Brown’s soaring vocals will shift in a heartbeat to crushing guitars (courtesy of guitarist Seth Thacker and bassist Jason White) and throaty death metal–influenced screams. Brown, who lists Stevie Nicks, Sade, and Billie Holiday among her diverse influences, says the vocal switch is not just for show. “I just go with the music; when there’s a heavier point in the song or lyrics that I think needs to be screamed, that’s when I do it.”
While Brown has been with
the band for four years, Straight Line Stitch has an almost ten-year history that precedes her; the previous incarnations of the group featured two male lead singers. “I was in another band at the time, and we played a show together,” says Brown of her first meeting with SLS. After Brown’s band broke up and SLS parted ways with their singer, drummer Patrick Haynes got in touch with Brown in 2003 and invited her to try out for the band. “I dropped everything, drove out to
That history includes the 2006 self-released To Be Godlike and endless touring since 2003 (according to their press materials, the band performs nearly 200 shows a year.)
When asked about how the current state of high gas prices has affected the band’s touring, Brown nearly wails. “Oh my god! It’s horrible!” she says. “We’re struggling to go out on the road, gas is ridiculous. A lot of what we make on tour goes to gas.” Stymied as to a possible solution to the crisis, she acknowledges, “We’re not the only ones dealing with it, everyone is: touring bands, people who have to drive to 9-to-5s everyday.” Despite this financial setback, she sees no immediate end to Straight Line Stitch’s touring schedule: “We’ll probably be touring [non-stop] for the rest of our lives,” says Brown. It’s hard to tell if she’s joking.
With fresh songs to debut on the road, Brown is ready to win over new fans, but she acknowledges that the band’s refusal to stick to a particular style or a catch-all label may ruffle some feathers in the metal community. “I think it’s good to be able to jump from one to the other end of the spectrum. I just don’t think it’s smart to just lock yourself in and sound like everyone else. It’s not like we are a regular band — with a guy singer in a genre full of millions of guy singers.” she says. “But I think it’s our music that really sets us apart.”
Straight Line Stitch MySpace
Issue #24
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