Interview with STEMM

Face the pain with STEMM – by Mel in Toronto

It's Saturday night, the gladiators are preparing for battle. You hear the music and you know what's coming: the anticipation is growing; the blood is pumping, and the adrenalin levels are rising. Suddenly, an eruption of sound is unleashed followed by a barrage of heavy guitar riffs and repetitive beats of loud drums. The warrior screams "Time To End the Suffering" and begins the battle.

The event is the UFC and the band behind the sound is STEMM. Since 2003, STEMM has been providing the sound and music of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and has carved a mark for itself in the MMA extreme fighting and metal communities.

Vocalist Joe's answer comes with a smile when being asked to choose between ultimate fighting styles 'ground & pound' or ‘submission of the senses' to describe their music, and he comes up their own style: "Fighting Through Life" Music.

Five years into their existence, the four band members from Buffalo, New York, have been very successful. STEMM are Joe Cafarella (vocals, lead guitar), Steve Crowl (bass), Alex Scouten (guitar), and Dan Nelligan (drums). The band member's influences are wide-ranging, including Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin to Metallica, tool, Pantera, Sevendust and Sepultura. "Some of us are even getting heavy into country lately. If it's a good song, we will give it kudos no matter what genre," Joe says.

In their creative process, the band does everything but fight. In writing their music Joe explains "we all put in our 2 cents, someone is always bringing in a guitar riff or a few ideas and we work it out as a band.  I like to do a lot of arranging. It's a great challenge that I enjoy taking on." In writing the lyrics, the approach is the same as Joe explains further "lyric writing is an open door policy in STEMM. I normally write a lot of the lyrics, but there have been many, many times where Steve or Danny has come in with their ideas and just like the music, we work it all out."

STEMM's music is not only inspired by direct personal experiences but also indirect life experiences: "Every day life situations that hit us on an emotional level. We don't even have to experience the situation ourselves to be inspired," Joe says. "Sometimes it's a friend, or a current event and we try to interpret what it would be like to be in that situation. Sometimes, our friends and family outside of the band need a voice also."

The band not only leaves a lasting impression on UFC fans, but delivers knockout live performances. What Joe really enjoys the most when performing live is "looking out into the crowds and seeing people singing your songs back to you and going crazy! It's very surreal for us because we wrote these songs at work or in our bedroom. To see so many people connect with us is unbelievable."

The energy STEMM transmits in their music and on stage is highly contagious and surely gets you going. The band's aspiration, to achieve "world domination," as Joe puts it, may not be in the far future. Read on and find out more about STEMM and their role in the UFC and The Fight Network.

"In your own words" – ONE on ONE with Mel and Joe

Mel: How and when was your music discovered by the UFC? 

Joe: We started working with the UFC in 2003. Our music was passed on to the music director for the UFC by a mutual friend. We have been working with the UFC ever since.

Mel: Where were you the night your music first premiered on the UFC? Which event was it? 

Joe: Actually, I was in my living room in my house and the UFC aired our music for the first time on a TV program called  AS REAL AS IT GETS on ESPN.

Mel: Which UFC heavyweight fighter best fits your style of music?   

Joe: Randy Cotoure. We're getting older, but we can still stand with the best. (laughs)

Mel: How has your affiliation with the UFC helped your music career?  

Joe: They broke our musical career and exposed us to a world outside of the metal genre. We are very proud to be known and affiliated with  the MMA Fight Community. Because of the UFC, we have performed at many MMA related types of fight events. It's amazing to see how many people know who we are from the UFC. Plus, we have built a friendship beyond music with many people involved with the UFC. It's a special family to be a part of that, we do not ever take for granted.

Mel: Which one of your band members could last the longest in the octagon against Rampage Jackson? 

Joe: I would say our drummer, Danny. He plays a lot of double bass, he's always moving. I figure he could run around the octagon and tire Rampage out before he could do some serious damage to him.  (laughs)

Mel: How did The Fight Network come across your music?  

Joe: Pure chance again. The music director just happened to be in Buffalo, New York, as the local radio station was playing our music and he loved what he heard, researched the band, and found out that we were the UFC band as well.

Mel: IndieSolo is launching an interactive MMA Music section that will creatively promote some of its top metal and heavy rock bands. What are your thoughts about having a section dedicated to MMA and how would STEMM like to be involved? Interested in headlining one of our shows in Toronto?  

Joe: We are honoured to be the first band in this new segment of indieSolo! We are not the type of band that expects anything, we appreciate everything that comes our way mainly because, we have to bust ass to move one inch in this business. So, when cool cats such as indieSolo approach us, its a bonus. We would love to stay active with indieSolo, as well as play a show in Toronto. We just caught Iron Maiden at Air Canada Centre last week. Killer time! Toronto is a great city filled with great people!

Mel: How did you come up with your band name and what is the meaning of it? 

Joe: We all come from much heavier genres of music from death metal to hardcore. We always felt the music was still heavy, just a bit more easy listening than what we used to do. While discussing the name of the band, this topic came up and someone said, "It's like we ‘stemmed' from our musical roots." We thought it was a cool name at the time (laughs).

Mel: Which artist would you like to record a song with and why?  

Joe: That's a tough one. So many. Phil Anselmo (Pantera / Down), Max Cavalera (Soulfly / Cavalera Conspiracy),  Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam), David Gilmoure (Pink Floyd), Cory Taylor (Slipknot / Stone Sour). They seem to be the type of people that say the things that most people are terrified to say, so they say it for you.

Mel: Who will be crowned champion at UFC 83 in April - Georges St. Pierre or Matt Serra? 

Joe: I never like to talk about that, because I am usually wrong, and Matt is a friend of the band.

-end

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