With inspiration deriving subconsciously from bands like The
Replacements, Big Black, Hüsker Dü, Slayer and Venom, New
York's Stanley and their latest release, The Decorator, can only
be described as speedy, blaring indie rock n' roll. Melodic yet
distorted, pleasing yet brutal, Stanley's music emanates with a
commanding energy that's hard to miss. Possessing such easy-
going demeanors that talking with them is
like sitting down with a couple of old
friends, guitarist/vocalist Philip
Doucet and drummer Mark Levy prove
that you can find humor in this busi-
ness, yet still maintain your
intelligence and integrity.
Do you ever see much
violence at your shows?
Phil: We fight with each
other on stage, but we never
had a problem with fighting
at our shows. If we had
dreadlocks, we would be a
reggae band, all about peace.
MTV level, but it's not our interest.
Mark: Bands that we do respect, someone like
Jesus Lizard, who never really had support of com-
mercial radio or MTV, just toured and toured and
ended a o with a fan base that can't be beat. That's
what's important to us. We play our music, and we
want people who appreciate what we do and like
our music to just come and see us.
Mark: We take it very seriously. We're not
idiots, and we're not fuck ups, we stay very
focused to the music. We just avoid letting things
get in the way of it.
What made you decide to get into music?
Phil: I just kind of knew. It wasn't something I
decided, and I can look back on it and be like,
"Wow, I've been doing this for a long
time. Also, what the hell else am I going
to do? This is what I'd like to do. I can't.
STANLEY
With benefit performances ranging from Free Tibet, to
environmental awareness, to AIDS, have you guys
ever been involved in anything like that?
Phil: Actually, the show we played at the Berkeley Square
last fall was a record release for this label that did a compi-
lation for Muscular Dystrophy, and I know a woman that
suffers from it. I mean, I'm not opposed to anything like
that, but I just don't like to champion around banners. I
have my beliefs that I support, and if somebody asks me to
do a track or whatever, if I'm into the cause, then I have no
problem with that.
What sort of things do you try and avoid in the
music business?
Phil: Labels, managers, lawyers, poverty, hunger, alco-
holism, Mark's crack addiction...
Have those been problems you've faced in the past?
Mark: No, things are going good. There's a lot more inter-
est being generated towards the band with people starting to
call and ask us to do more shows and tours. So, things have
definitely been great. It's just been kind of a long winter, so
we just want to get out there and tour.
Phil And our ethic is not like Alanis Morrisette or any of
those other shit bands, we're doing this all ourselves. We
don't have a manager, we don't have a booking agent, we're
in here at the label getting stuff done for ourselves. And that
makes it a lot harder because you could easily be like, "All
right, we want somebody to represent us who's going to take
what we don't have so they could make money," and if you're
willing to sell yourself like that, then you can excel to the
Do you never want to get to the MTV level?
Phil: Well, anybody who reads this who wants to
write us a big, fat check... It's not that we fear it, it's
just I've got to look at where we are now and what
would make me happy, and it's more respect from:
people that are generally into music for the sake of
music and not how much money they can make
from it or what they can sell from it.
Mark: You've got to set realistic goals, and our
goal is to just be able to continue touring. As long as
people want to keep booking us, then we'll keep
playing and writing. If someone wants to keep
putting out our records, then that's what we'll con-
tinue to do. If you continue to do this, then there's
an awareness, then when you reach those levels.
you deal with them at that time. But none of us sit
around and say. "Why aren't we huge? Why isn't our
video on MTV?"
What about things you try and avoid in your
personal lives?
Phil: You can get really frustrated in this, and
that's what happens to a lot of bands that are not
sure where their center is or what they're doing, so
all we do is try and practice, and when tour time
comes, we set our minds to it and book it, and when
the show comes, we put our mind in that zone.
Right now, for me anyway, that's where I am. My
personal life is tough. I've got a girlfriend and every-
thing, and me and Mark have been working these
foot messenger jobs just to pay the bills, which
doesn't pay a lot of money. Everything we do now
revolves around working it into the band.
sit in some office with some jackass all
day, doing that.
Mark: When I first got out of high
school. I was working on the other side
of it trying to learn sound and realized I
couldn't stand that, I always had to
drum. Then I went to college and actu-
ally finished college and was able to get
many different jobs, and I did for a
while, but I still couldn't stop drum-
ming. So, anything that I've tried to do
as far as a normal life, it hasn't hap-
pened. Just a total addiction. I've finally
come to terms with the fact that I can't do any-
thing else but this.
So many people get sidetracked then real-
ize five years down the line that that's not
what they wanted to do after all.
Mark: Yeah, and I can't live with that kind
regret. If I lose everything, but know that I gave it
110%, then I'll be able to live with that, but I don't
feel like I've exhausted music at this point, so
there's nothing else I can do right now.
You've had office jobs then?
Mark: Yeah, I did marketing sales.
Phil: And I worked at an advertising agency.
Mark: So, it's not like I'm talking from not hav-
ing any experience. I've been there. Phil and I
have had this discussion before. We're lucky
enough to have and be able to focus on something
so seriously -Jasmine K Huynh
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