What are your names?
Joe MacFarlane on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Nic Holson on lead guitar and backing vocals, Gabriel Almazan on bass guitar and backing vocals and Sean Priestley on drums.
What is the band’s name?
Stay For Tomorrow.
How did you come up with the band’s name?
We sat there for ages throwing around name suggestions, each sounding as corny and lame as the last. This is quite often the case when naming anything, it sounds silly until you call it that for long enough, then it just sounds normal. We all liked the idea of having the word ‘tomorrow’ in the title and then it was our original bassist Ollie Cobbett that suggested ‘Stay For Tomorrow’ and it stuck. We really like the message of the name, the idea of when times are tough or you are down on your luck, there’s often something better just around the corner.
What is your genre of music?
Possibly the hardest question we ever get asked. Each of us have a variety of musical interests so our music becomes somewhat of a mixing pot of them all. The easiest answer is to say alt-rock, but our sound covers everything from lighter indie pop songs to hard rock anthems and emotional ballads with hints of pop-punk thrown in.
Give us a little bio about you.
Formed in 2018, Stay For Tomorrow are an energetic four-piece alternative rock band emerging from Dunfermline, Scotland. Consisting of vocalist and rhythm guitarist Joe MacFarlane, lead guitarist Nic Holson, drummer Sean Priestley and bassist Gabriel Almazan. For fans of Twin Atlantic, Biffy Clyro and Foo Fighters, SFT look to create epic, fresh alt rock songs with their own signature sound that will make you wish you discovered them sooner! They burst onto the Fife scene in 2019 with their debut single Kings and Queens. Several singles later (Rumours + Criminal) we fast forward to 2021 with the releases I Don’t Need You To Save Me, Non-Applicable (Na Na) and The One. In 2022 the band released tracks Prison Living and Lipstick Lips. In 2023 they re-recorded and released their debut single Kings and Queens (2023 Version) coupled with a physical release of the album The Story So Far – a collection of all of the previously released singles! This was quickly followed by the single Always You which saw the band raise their profile and progress further with record amounts of airplay and streaming numbers! Pick Me Up was then released in November as they kicked off their third mini-English tour and knocked all numbers that Always You had set out the park. Stay For Tomorrow have supported a number of big acts such as Inglorious, Massive Wagons, Who Saves The Hero? and Anchor Lane and have also performed at iconic Scottish venues such as King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, The Mash House and PJ Molloys. In 2022 the band made their mark on the Scottish festival scene where they played Bonfest and since then have played Winterstorm and ButeFest. They won the Best Music Video (Lipstick Lips) award at The Lowlands Music Awards 2023 and were nominated for Best Rock Act. The band headed out on their first English tours in 2023 and have more shows planned for 2024. Watch this space, Stay For Tomorrow.
What made you go into music?
All four of us grew up attending concerts and developed a deep love for live music. It’s a creative outlet that has always resonated strongly with us, and some of us even studied music at university.
Joe – My parents were dedicated fans of The Proclaimers and took me to every show on their UK tours. This meant I attended numerous concerts from a young age, seeing rock bands like The Grim Northern Social and Playtone as their opening acts. My very first concert was Busted, which was incredible since they were my favourite band at the time. Since then, I’ve seen many of my favourite bands like Paramore, Bring Me The Horizon, and Pierce The Veil in large venues. I’ve also grown to love the local music scene, discovering emerging artists like Retro Video Club and Vistas. From being around music and so many live shows I fell in love with music and wanted to be a part of it myself!
Nic – I remember my mum playing Queen video tapes for me, and I fell in love with the music video for ‘Breakthru’. My mum even had big black permed hair like Brian May, which was amazing! Queen inspired me to want a guitar, but after strumming it twice and realising it didn’t sound like Brian May, I put it away for years. Music has always been a significant part of my life, with Radio 2 constantly playing in the house. I have fond memories of listening to Elvis, Marc Bolan & T-Rex, Alan Jackson, and Anastasia with my dad on the way to football matches. High school was really where my love of music exploded. Clarinet was my main instrument, but I quickly picked up the guitar again in an attempt to improve my street cred slightly. I started bands with friends and began playing gigs and fell in love with it. I then went on to study music at the Academy of Music and Sound in Edinburgh and then did my degree in music at Edinburgh Napier University and haven’t looked back since.
Sean – I grew up in a house filled with music. When “School of Rock” and the game “Guitar Hero” came out, I fell in love with the idea of being a musician. Every time I see a band I love perform live; I get that feeling of “this is what I want to do.”
Gabe – Before I understood music as a writer and performer, I loved listening to Santana and Queen, thanks to my dad playing their albums and greatest hits on repeat during car rides. In my early 20s, I dropped out of college because I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, except for writing music and performing with my band (which included one of my brothers and three of my best friends). That’s when I realised music was the only thing, I could see myself doing for the rest of my life.
Who are your influences?
We have far too many influences to not turn this into a massive essay. If we had to just go for one band each it would be Joe – Paramore, Nic – Black Stone Cherry, Sean – Pendulum, Gabe – Incubus.
Are you a signed?
No we are not. We did get an offer at the start of the year but what they were offering just didn’t sit well with us. We are currently doing work behind the scenes to plug to lots of labels but if there are any reading this that want to sign us, please get in touch.
You released your latest Single ‘Crushing Down’, tell us more about the single and the meaning behind the song.
‘Crushing Down’ invites you into a world where inner demons reign supreme and the struggle to break free feels insurmountable. With roaring guitars, growling bass, thunderous drums and fierce vocals, the band look to continue to carve their path in the rock scene with a single that will resonate with anyone who has ever felt the weight of the world bearing down upon them. We wanted to make a hard-hitting rock song to not only voice unspoken struggles but to also express how complex these struggles can be. We also wanted it to be a platform for people to scream out in anguish alongside us. “I’ve held on for too long and now the weight is crushing down on me!” Joe already had a bit of the chorus idea in mind, but it was right after supporting Inglorious at PJ Molloys in Dunfermline that we jumped into writing it. We say right after… It was actually after an unexpected 9-hour drive to Hebden Bridge in England and back. Nic’s pedalboard ended up in the back of their van and it wasn’t until the next night at band practice that we realised it was missing. Many frantic emails and messages later, it still makes us chuckle that the last message from Inglorious read “we barely have room for our stuff ha, let alone anyone else’s’ ‘. Literally half an hour later their manager called to say they found it! Anyway, back to ‘Crushing Down’! After supporting Inglorious we felt really inspired and energised and wanted to write a song that we felt would appeal to their kind of audience if we were to support them or a band like them again. The single was recorded, mixed and mastered in Dunfermline with Dominic Hardy at Gracenote Studios.
Describe the track in two words.
Powerful and relatable.
What was the writing and recording process like?
This was one of the first times we sat down as a whole band to write the melody for the vocals. Although Joe had a bit of an idea for the chorus, it was exciting for us to all write the bulk of the melody together and showed us that even after several years of being a band, we are still developing and changing. Coming off the back of supporting Inglorious, we were so energised that it didn’t take that long to come up with the main riffs and structure of the song. Despite it all coming together fairly quickly, it took us a year and a half to actually get round to recording it. This was really just because we had other songs to record first and then with our original bassist Ollie leaving the band last summer, we then had to spend some time getting Gabriel up to speed. Gabriel also brought new ideas to the band, and this meant that we actually tore ‘Crushing Down’ apart and then re-worked it into what became this final version. We began recording it on the 1st of March 2024 and despite Nic constantly wanting to change his guitar tones and Gabe’s bass needing fixed to get rid of electrical buzz, (it turned out the earth wire had detached from his bass at some point) it all came together fairly quick. We were also recording another four songs at the same time, but we will leave talking about those tracks for now.
Who did you work with on the single?
To record ‘Crushing Down’ we worked with Dominic Hardy (drummer for Scottish punk band The Exploited) at Gracenote Studios in Dunfermline. Recording would probably go a lot faster if we didn’t talk so much but we really like the relaxed vibe of recording with Dominic and the freedom he gives us to tweak away.
Can we expect a music video and if so tell us more about the making.
For ‘Crushing Down’ we aren’t doing a live action video, but we do have a really cool lyric video for it dropping on our YouTube channel really soon.
Can we expect an Album or EP and If so, what can we expect form it?
Every now and then we discuss the prospect of us releasing an album or EP but at least for now singles just work better for us. We do not yet have a big enough audience to make releasing an album worth it and the benefit of regularly dropping singles is that it gives us constant content and helps keep our listener engagement up on streaming services. It also means that our music is regularly played on radio stations throughout the year. As previously mentioned, we have been recording a number of songs alongside ‘Crushing Down’, almost as though we were recording an album so expect more music very soon on a regular basis.
Do you have any live shows coming up?
We are off on a mini tour in July, playing Sunderland, Leeds and Newcastle with some great bands.
– 12/07/2024 – Independent, Sunderland supporting Ninebanks with Slackrr.
– 13/07/2024 – The Pack Horse, Leeds supporting Slackrr with Ninebanks, Stay Safe, Daisy Graves, Failed To Ignite and Plateface.14/07/2024 – Little Buildings, Newcastle supporting Roses in December with Shallow
and 3 Out of 4.
– On Saturday 3rd August we are also hosting a showcase of Nic’s guitar students at The Aberdour Festival and then on Wednesday 14th we will be playing at Bannermans in Edinburgh.
Let us know where we can get tickets if so.
Tickets to all of our shows can be found on our website – https://stayfortomorrow.com/shows/
What else can we expect in 2024?
More single releases, a new music video and more gigs.
Where do you see yourself now in 5 Years?
Since we last spoke to you in 2022, we have gone on to play shows around England, so our next goal is to play the rest of the UK and then hopefully venture into Europe or the States.
What quote or saying do you always stick by?
We always tell ourselves to make sure to have a backup of everything – prepare for the worst!
When you are at a gig, what are 5 things you cannot forget?
1. Guitars
2. Quad Cortex’s
3. Ear Plugs
4. Energy
5. Cowbell
Do you have social media accounts so your fans can follow you?
Yes, we are pretty much on everything. All of our links can be found here – https://linktr.ee/stayfortomorrowofficial
