Scott Hudson

For the Argus Leader

I generally pride myself on being fully prepared when I set up a Link interview. If they’re a national act, I spend a few hours the night before prepping myself. Between artist websites, Wikipedia, videos, Spotify and other interviews, I’m usually pretty confident that I have a strong set of questions for even the acts that are the furthest removed from my normal listening fare.

Local bands can be a little harder, as their online presence can be pretty minimal. The odds are, though, that I know at least one member of any regional act. That alone usually provides enough clues about a band’s background and sound.

In the case of this interview with The Stem Cells, I couldn’t have been more clueless. All I knew was that they have an upcoming EP release show at Total Drag on Saturday, which is the reason for the interview. Walking into Black Sheep Coffee on a recent afternoon, I knew nothing about them. I was oblivious to their ages, their band’s sound or even if they were indeed from Sioux Falls.

So here are the basic facts: They’re young. Guitarist/vocalist Simon Keller and bassist Alex Holloway are students at Washington High School, while drummer Zach Smalley attends Lincoln High. They have an unusually wide set of influences, including Black Sabbath, Frank Zappa, Green Day and classic jazz. Keller says he would describe the band’s sound as “happy grunge.”

“We have a lighter side and a harsher side, and we go back and forth,” he says.

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But Smalley adds that he tries to include some “progressive and jazz influences, just to create a different feel.”

Their Total Drag show is to celebrate the release of “Medium Well,” and Keller says the title track “is called that because that’s how I like my steaks.” Recorded in one marathon session at Cathouse Studio, this five-track EP is a wonderful indicator that the next generation of local rock is in good hands.

Question: What were the first stirrings of musicality in each of you?

Keller: My dad’s a drummer, so I’ve always been surrounded by music. All of his siblings play music, too, and my grandpa did. In my house, we have thousands of albums. My dad has eight complete drum sets, and I have numerous guitars.

Smalley: I got my start from my brother. He started on guitar when he was about my age. He’s five years older than me. When it comes to drums, as embarrassing as it is, it comes from video games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero. It was like, “Well, why not?” Then it kind of came out that (drums) is what I enjoy the most as far as music and playing. As far as my current motivations, it’s these two (guys).

Holloway: My mom was always adamant about getting me into music. She was really into choir and band when she was in high school, so I just kind of decided one day to join the orchestra and play bass.

Q: Were there any certain bands or albums that particularly inspired you?

Keller: Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath are probably my biggest influences (when it comes) to a whole band. As far as art goes in music, I’m really inspired by Frank Zappa and Pink Floyd.

Holloway: What really got me into playing electric bass when I was little was Kiss, and then Green Day when I got into middle school.

Smalley: As far as drums go, there was a lot of Pink Floyd when it comes to the sounds I was going for with the drums themselves. As far as my playing style, there’s a lot of progressive stuff like Chon, and also Alkaline Trio.

Q: What was the first show you ever saw?

Keller: Probably my dad, but the first big name that stands out was the Kentucky Headhunters at a loading dock downtown. I remember leaving early because I was little and I got really tired.

Smalley: The one I actually remember was KRRO-fest in, I think, 2010. Whichever year that Slipknot played. That was a weird start.

Holloway: When I was like 6, my parents took me to a Keith Urban concert. It was the first worst experience I ever had. It was absolute trash.

Q: How did this band come together?

Keller: Alex and I had a group that just got together, and then later it became this. Alex and I have always been constants in wanting to make some sort of music that was harsh but still kept a rock feel. It just morphed into different things over three or four years and became this.

Q: How did Zach end up joining the band?

Keller: We had another drummer. He wasn’t the best, and there were some personality clashes. So we got rid of him, and our other guitarist at the time was good friends with Zach. We tried him out, and we just kind of grew together into this version of the band.

Q: How does the songwriting work?

Keller: I usually come up with a riff and a melody and write out a structural thing. Then we collaborate and kind of edit what we want to go on in the song. Like if we want to take a chorus again, or the types of solos. Or if we want to add another part. I’ll come up with a skeleton, and then these guys are the muscles.

Smalley: Can I rephrase that? You write something, we complain about it, and we play it anyway. (Laughs)

Q: Do songs come together pretty quickly?

Keller: A lot of them do. We’ve cut a couple of them that have taken too long to put together. Most of the time it’s pretty easy.

Q: Talk about the details behind the recording of the “Medium Well” EP.

Keller: There are five songs, and we recorded at Cathouse Studios. A couple of them are just our favorite songs, and a couple of them I wrote because I felt they would mix well with the other three. We recorded it the day after Christmas. We were there for like nine hours.

Smalley: We just got it all in one run.

Q: What was it like going into the studio for the first time?

Smalley: It’s a lot easier than trying to get that production value yourself.

Keller: We’ve tried to record ourselves before, and it’s really difficult without proper finances. Working there was a lot easier, and Mike Dresch is a great guy and knows what he’s doing. He was super helpful and had a couple of production ideas that really helped us. He made it easy.

Q: Were the tracks mainly recorded live?

Smalley: We only overdubbed the second guitar.

Keller: And the vocals. There was also a guitar part we had to redo, but that was about it.

Q: Did it take many takes to capture the songs?

Keller: A couple of them.

Holloway: The max was like three takes on one song.

Keller: It took me awhile at first to get my footing in the vocal booth. As a band, it took us a couple of hours because it was new and different, but we got it eventually.

Q: Before that recording session, did you spend a lot of time perfecting the songs?

Keller: A lot of time. Every day after school we’d spend a couple of hours at my house, and then every weekend we’d spend a few hours each day.

Smalley: And I still messed up the first drum part of the first song. Just a little bit. Enough where I’ll notice it, but nobody else will.

If you go

What: The Stem Cells’ all-ages EP release show

When: 8 p.m. Saturday

Where: Total Drag, 307 E. 12th St.

Admission: $5