How’s it going guys and also Happy New Year!  The first band I will cover for the 2014 year is a rock band from York, PA called Small Town Titans.  They create a unique sound to the music scene and many people respond with great reviews.  A few weeks ago I was able to catch up with their drummer, Johnny Ross.

Q. Tell us a little about the band.

A. We are a hard rock band from York, PA.  We take pride in delivering emotional songs in the studio that translate very well live.  Our songs differ in subject matter, but positivity is definitely a common thread.  Our music is for people that truly want to get the most out of life every day by owning it.

Q. How did the band start?

A. We started from an impormtu jam session in college believe it or not.  It was in May of 2011.  Three out of the four members went to Lebanon Valley College.  I had known Ben (Guitars) and Phil (vocals) previously, especially Phil.  Although we became friends through school, we actually had never jammed on any ballsy. In your face rock n’ roll.  As luck would have it, Ben’s current band was ending as well.  I knew him a bit personally and also knew he could play.  We got together that night without a bass player just for fun, and we haven’t stopped since.  We found Eddie from myself and our ex-guitar player playing with him in a cover band out of Lehighton called Blunt.

Q. What are some of your inspirations?

A. Our inspirations are all over the map.  For me personally, I like artists that had it the whole package, not just great songs.  Nikki Sixx from Motley Crue is definitely a favorite for me.  The guy still has Motley Crue who have been together for 30 years and still with their original members after all this time.  He’s also got his other band Sixx: A.M., a clothing line, a radio show, two bestselling books, etc.  He inspires me.  I’m also a big fan of Avenged Sevenfold.  They’ve been fearless in every step of their career.  I admire that a lot.  Phil is a huge fan of Johnny Cash and Dave Grohl, two more artists that really made an impact in my opinion.  Ben loves lots of classic rock.  That’s what he grew up on.  One of his favorite bands is Deep Purple.  He also enjoys Taylor Swift and he will proudly tell you haha.  Eddie is a huge Dave Matthews Band guy as well as Lamb of God. As you can see, we pretty much listen to everything.

Q. What do you guys write about?

A. Pretty much what is in Phil’s head haha.  To me it’s very organic.  It almost always starts with a riff or guitar part from Ben that inspires Phil to jot down thoughts.  He usually does this pretty quickly.  Phil seems to know right away what a song is going to be about.  It’s fascinating really.  I have no idea how he does that, but it’s cool every time.

Q. What are some of the bands you’ve been able to play with?

A. Our absolute favorite has been Otherwise.  Those dudes are not only killer musicians on stage, but they also are a class act off of it.  They treat everyone around them with respect and it’s cool to see.  In fact I can honestly say we haven’t really been disrespected by any artists.  We’ve had fun with Pop Evil, Saving Abel, Foxy Shazam, Nonpoint, Super Bob, and many more.  We also strongly believe there are great bands from our area that we have a blast with.  Audiobox, Bullet Method, True Becoming and Graces Downfall are just a few.

Q. What is a moment from a show that you will never forget?

A. Our CD release party at Tubby’s Night Club was definitely a cool one.  As we were preparing to take the stage we saw the entire floor fill up quick.  I’ll never forget that.

Q. Where can we find your music?

A. Our music should literally be available just about everywhere you can imagine online as well as at our official Web Site http://smalltowntitans.com. We are also on Spotify, iTunes, AmazonMP3, Mog, etc. We also have CDs at all of our shows too of course.

I want to personally thank Mr. Ross for giving us such deep incite on STT. Until next time,

-Nathan