BY ANTHONY TOTO

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Stars In Stereo, an up-and-coming rock band, dazzled local crowds with a blistering set at the legendary Stone Pony Friday night.

Formed in 2011, Stars In Stereo is building a national reputation with full-scale touring and a debut album set for release on April 9th.

As one of the few female-fronted rock bands making waves in the rock world, Stars In Stereo’s dedication to exuberant live performance demonstrates the work ethic of a young band committed to expanding their musical adventures.

The band combines Bec Hollcraft’s soaring vocals, Jordan McGraw and Frog McCormick’s layered guitars, bassist Justin Siegel and drummer Drew Langan’s solid rhythm section with electronic samples recalling artists such as U2, Foo Fighters and Daft Punk.

By maximizing the experiences of opening for multi-platinum artists such as Flyleaf and Drowning Pool, Stars In Stereo demonstrates the demeanor, confidence and chemistry of a band with a refreshing sound that’s leaving an impact on audiences around the country.

In an exclusive interview with New Jersey Newsroom, Lead Guitarist Jordan McGraw sat down to discuss Stars In Stereo’s beginnings, current events and future for a band on the brink of reaching the next level.

Formed in Los Angeles, four of the band members grew up in different areas of the country ranging from Texas, Mass., Fla. and Ore.

“We somehow all found each other in Los Angeles,” said McGraw as he detailed the band’s beginnings. “A few of us were playing music together in different bands. We kept writing together and we met Bec, it was the perfect fit collaboratively. The day we met her, we went into the studio two days later, started from there, developed our sound and started touring from there.”

Bec Hollcraft, the group’s talented vocalist displays an incredible vocal range equally powerful and serene, adding an indefinable element to the band.

McGraw described the experience of hearing Hollcraft when she auditioned for the band, “She was looking for a band and we were looking everywhere for a singer. She was the only one that we ever saw where we were all like 'yeah!' From then on, we started working right away.”

In the last few years, a few female-fronted rock bands found success in the mainstream rock scene. Even as the barriers slowly crumble in a predominantly male defined genre, the amount of recognizable female rock vocalists is still unique and uncommon.

McGraw certainly takes notice in recognizing the talent of the band and their distinctive vocalist, but the focus remains on the music. “Bec is the best singer I ever had the privilege of working with. It’s cool to be in the female-fronted rock club but we just want to be the best band we can be. Not the best female-fronted band but the best band we can be. We don’t really think about it.”

With only two years of experience, the band built an impressive résumé touring nationally with popular bands such as The Used, Hoobastank, Flyleaf and Drowning Pool.

By going on the road with established acts, McGraw acknowledges the lessons learned and knowledge gained from their fellow tour mates.

“Every band we go out with, we use it a chance to go to school and learn from everybody. Every band we toured with has something different to offer. It’s really cool to sit and watch night by night and pick up something different.”

Make no mistake; playing in front of audiences unfamiliar with the music presents no easy hurdle. As a young band looking to grow their following, it takes a special approach to win over the fans of the headlining acts.

Stars In Stereo maximizes the opportunity of playing in front of new crowds. McGraw shared his advice for upcoming bands looking to develop their band’s following.

“Don’t take your live show for granted, that’s how people are going to see you and how they are going to make their first impression. We rehearse four to five times a week even when we’re not on tour just to keep it fresh. If you can entertain somebody for 30 minutes then they are at least going to stick around to check out more. The live show is the most important thing and obviously the songs are too, but once the songs are there, dial in the live show and be committed to it.”

In a modern day music scene where record sales are no longer the sole determining factor in evaluating a bands success, social media plays an integral role in uniting artists with their fans on a platform where accessibility is key to achieving growth.

Stars In Stereo embraces the benefits of social media as a way of growing their audience as McGraw describes, “Social media is great for us, especially now, I can’t imagine us doing it without it because we meet people after the shows. If we didn’t have social media, it would stop there. We get to talk to, keep up and hang out with everybody because of it.”

Describing the experience of witnessing his band’s hard work pay off and their fan base grow, McGraw said, “It’s working. We see more and more people singing along and saying they came and saw last us last time and we’re a reason they came back around this time.”

Talking about the band’s upcoming album, McGraw said, “We have a four song sampler off our album coming out on April 9th. We wrote a lot of songs for it over a long time. We’re really proud of it and we’ve had it done for a long time, it feels good to get it out there.”

Detailing what fans can expect to hear from their debut, he said, “We try to keep all the songs on this album positive, it’s pretty high energy and we wrote all our songs from personal experiences. We’re stoked to get it out there.”

Once the album comes out, the band will be going on The hardDrive Tour with big bands such as Halestorm, Bullet For My Valentine and Young Guns.

Looking at an exciting year with an album being released and new touring opportunities, McGraw said, “We’re going to try and stay on the road for as long as possible. You can guarantee we’ll be working to make sure you have a good night.”