You wouldn't know it by listening to their no-nonsense style of hardcore punk, but Static Age's origin story is rooted in classic rock. What? "Matthew (guitar) and Aldo (bass) went to high school together in Santa Clara," says Mitch, the band's vocalist. "They played in their first band together which was a '70s cover band but they were always more interested in playing raw and faster music. In between shows with their other band, they slowly began writing riffs influencd by bands like Oppressed Logic and Verbal Abuse.
"They threw up an ad on Craigslist in 2017 and that's when Mike (drums) and I joined the band. Even though Mitch and Mike are 10 years older, we all instantly clicked because of the desire to play fast powerful music. Mitch introduced a lot of hardcore bands like Inside Out and Gorilla Biscuits to the rest of the band and we began trying to blend those hardcore/melodic rhythms with the '80s punk riffs we initially had."
Static Age's latest release, a one-off track called "Out of My Mind," perfectly showcases what they're about:
Let's get a bit deeper into Static Age's sound, and how Mitch hears it. "We are probably most similar to '80s hardcore bands like Black Flag and Minor Threat. We are influenced by a lot of the Revelation Records bands (Inside Out, Gorilla Biscuits), punk bands like Monster Squad and Verbal Abuse.
"When writing songs, we try to drive the songs with fast '80s punk riffs and then break them up with chuggy, mid-tempo hardcore sections. This is more apparent on our album songs as the single leans more towards being punk. Overall, we try write riffs that are simple and easy to listen to while still being powerful and catchy. "
As we usually do on No Echo, we got into Static Age's hometown and how they fit into the scene there. "The San Jose scene has been going off the past few years. There are so many great shows all around the South Bay and down into Santa Cruz. Because we cross genres of punk and hardcore, we play both types of shows and have been playing pretty consistently and having a great time.
"Since we started, bands like Rekt and The Has Beens have taken us under their wings and we owe a lot to them. Jeff and Gareth from the Ritz in San Jose have been really supportive and helping us get on bigger shows such as playing with Agent Orange."
What's next for Static Age, you ask? "We self-released an album in 2018 (Set Up for Failure) and we are currently working on an EP that will come out this summer. Most of our songs are commentary/satire on what we see around us on a daily basis and we try to bring up things that no one else is really talking about in this genre. We are a socially conscious band, but we definitely don’t want to take ourselves too seriously."
Static Age on social media: Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp
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