MidWest Friends Fest: The One With Stokelys

Pick up some Skyline Chili, make a few friendship bracelets and grab your buds as Midwest Friends Fest is returning to the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area for its sophomore year. Midwest Friends Fest is once again taking over the Southgate House Revival in Newport, KY. 

The 2-day festival with multiple stages and amazing national and local acts like Signals Midwest, Cinema Stare, The 1984 Draft and Tooth Lures A Fang will take place from 30 & 31 May with tickets available here. 

Stokelys have joined TGEFM to discuss this year’s festival for this installment of our MWFF interview series. Check it out below and we’ll see you at the bonfire in the woods!

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Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview! What should our readers know about Stokelys; your history, your mission, your sound?

Stokelys is a project that has existed, in one form or another, since 2012. Bryan and Sam, guitarist and bassist respectively started playing in a band together in high school. A few years Emily came into the fold, who impressed immediately with that incredible singing voice, and her even more incredible ability to tolerate Everyone’s nonsense. Most of us played in a band called Useless Fox for a while, before taking a break in 2018. Then, during COVID, the three of us started playing together. We were lucky enough to add Tim on drums to allow Bryan to pursue his lifelong dream of not having to play drums in a live setting anymore. 
Our sound is primarily riff driven post punk, with hardcore influences. We like overdrive, hooks, shouty lyrics and songs that get kinda quiet in the bridge and then have a big ass build into a final chorus. Our mission, such as it is, is to play socially conscious punk rock that is emotionally honest without being dramatic or pandering. We’re always trying to balance our more aggressive influences with the pop elements. Emily has this beautiful melodic voice and it pairs up in an interesting way with fast heavy songs. We’re just trying to find elements we like and stick them together in various combinations until we get something that excites us. 

You are gearing up for Midwest Friends Fest in the coming months, what does the festival circuit mean to artists like yourselves? What does Stokelys have planned for us beyond MWFF?

Even just as local band that tours on a limited basis, these festivals mean a great deal. Showcases like this get a lot more eyes on local music than the average show, and give local art patrons an opportunity to see a whole bunch of cool music in rapid succession. It’s a good place to find your new favorite local artists. We’re also playing another great local festival this summer, the Northside Rock N’ Roll Carnival, on the Fourth of July. As for new music, Our second EP “Darker Times Ahead” sometime later this year. After that our first full length LP will be the next thing on the horizon.

What have been some of the most memorable moments or experiences with the band so far? What’s been the most unexpected? The weirdest?

There are two major ones that stick out. First, getting the opportunity to perform at the last ever Witfest. There was a storied punk house in Cincinnati called Witler that operated for well over a decade and saw a ton of bands come through, some of which definitely found significant commercial success in subsequent years. Getting to do their last annual festival felt like an honor. The second occurrence was when we performed in Akron last summer. We met a band called Massive Hotdog Recall that are fronted by a guy named Al Mothersbaugh, a cousin of the famous DEVO Mothersbaughs. They were a massive band with a six piece horn section and genuinely one of the most remarkable bands we’ve ever performed with. We did a pretty gutsy thing and covered DEVO in front of a guy who is related to DEVO. It was definitely not stage ready but we gave it a shot. Anyone who sees us at MWFF will see a much better version of the same cover. Its also worth noting that some of our fondest band memories aren’t remotely related to music. We were on tour and watched Starship Troopers then talked about it. It was fun as hell, Paul Verhoeven rules, but, to a greater point, getting to do something you love and have stimulating conversations with your friends as you’re taken to interesting new places is my favorite thing. It’s all about those quiet moments in between.

Regarding live sets, what are you most excited to bring to the Midwest Friends Fest audience? What do you want the attendees to say about your set when they tell their friends about you?

The biggest thing that we want to bring to any stage that I’m on is energy and a sense of fun. We are very punk in our sound and ethos, but less so in our attitude and aesthetic, so I’m also excited to challenge people’s idea of who can be punk. The number one thing I want people to say about our set is: “I moshed so hard during the breakdown of No Room on the Rocket that I required an overnight stay in a hospital and an I.V. drip.” We also wouldn’t mind hearing something like “They didn’t suck! They brought together the pop-punk fans with the hardcore fans! They’re like punk rock Jesus!”

We’ve all got a few, what is your biggest regret? A gig you turned down, advice you didn’t take, what one thing do you wish you handled differently as a musician?

Its hard to say if there’s much of anything we regret. We’ve been very fortunate to have the opportunities we’ve had over the past few years and we really appreciate how kind and supportive everyone’s been. I think there’s always a desire to do more, and we certainly wish we could spit songs out faster and get them recorded more expediently. But there is an understanding that our individuals lives and needs realistically constrain how much we can do. We’re all full time day job warriors with other commitments and, as our music discusses, some of us live with the day to day realities of chronic health issues. We just take it all in stride and try our best to take whatever opportunities come our way. 

The punk, ska and indie scenes have almost always been at the forefront of inclusion and diversity within the music scenes.   The flipside of course is that the gatekeeping in the scene is also very prevalent?  Why do you think the genre brings in such a welcoming community and is so happy to let everyone in and also seems to shut the doors so quickly behind themselves?

This is a great question, and one we have a lot of thoughts about. On one hand, we wouldn’t have found some of our favorite bands, picked up our instruments, met each other (particularly prevalent since two of us are married), or pursued music with such intensity if we hadn’t started out listening to the commercial pop-punk bands. Bands considered decidedly “NOT PUNK” by the purists. I think there’s value to holding space for people on the outskirts of a subculture to engage with radical ideas on their own terms. On the other hand, some of these spaces are rightfully sacred to those who don’t fit into the mainstream by the nature of their existence. They deserve a space free from the bullshit of the world. It’s difficult to set hard rules or boundaries to these things when the mechanism is by nature decentralized, but what it comes down to is privilege. If you’re in a position where you fit the mold of outward acceptability, and have the time and mental energy, it can be worthwhile to be welcoming to someone who could potentially be reached; someone who doesn’t necessarily suck, but has absorbed bad ideas from our culture by merely existing in it. There’s also two conversations happening here, one with the art and one with the subculture. These are more thoughts on the subculture end, but for genre gatekeeping its important to remember that none of us came out of the womb with mohawks.

This festival is all about friendships and music. What do you value most in friendships amongst yourself and your stagemates?

We’re lucky that we all get along well, even outside of performing. We have several shared interests (film, politics, etc) that bind us, but our friendship runs deeper than that. I think there’s an understanding that any of us would do anything within our power to help one another if there was a need.  We all do movie nights, play board games, have brunch at Findlay market. We also support each other in rough times, like when Bryan got his dick stuck in his guitar strings during practice while trying to improvise a solo. There’s a shared drive to create music that got us together, but we all tend to view art through the lens of community. The music wouldn’t be as good if we thought of it as a job, it’s just a part of our lives.
(Sam added “Solitude makes me a stronger bassist. I’m built different.”)

Stokelys is from Cincinnati. I thought the city was only known for amazing chili, a dog-obsessed racist baseball owner and the greatest rollerblading movie of the 90s featuring Jack Black and Seth Green (Airborne), but MWFF is proving the city is home to some amazing artists. What’s going on in Cincinnati that led to so much of an overabundance of great music In the scene lately? How does the area feed into the music you are writing, if at all?

It’s in the chili. IT’S IN THE CHILI!!!
No, but its all a matter of attitude. There are always going to be scenes and people that treat all of this like a means to an end, a stepping stone to something “better.” In our experience the local music scene and accompanying community is the actual point in Cincinnati. It leads to a lot of cool artists who support each other and always provide room for folks to be weird.
We would also argue that Cincinnati has ALWAYS had a great scene, going back decades. Once every 10-15 years, someone somewhere goes “damn… there’s a lot of good music in Cincinnati.” MTV did a video exposè on Cincinnati in the early-to-mid 90s which you can still watch online that includes great 90s bands like The Afghan Whigs and The Ass Ponys. Bandcamp did an article about Cincinnati punk just a few years ago that included some of our favorite locals like Spoils and Leggy. We’re a weird city in a very convenient geographic location, within a half days travel of no less than a dozen other major metropolitan areas. That makes us a great stopover spot for independent talent trying to cut their teeth, which in turn promotes a healthy local scene. Though if Jack Black and Seth Green want to make Airbourne II I think we’d all get behind that, especially if they soundtracked it with locals. Also, it is subtle, but if you look closely at our lyrics you can see many allusions to Airborne and its genre defining stars (both of which guested on the X-Files? Coincidence???)

The world has been going through some shit over the last few days, weeks, hell, decade. What affect, if any, have the cultural and political landscapes of the last few years had on your music or the live scene in general?

For sure, the current political landscape has had a MASSIVE impact on our music. I mean “No Room on the Rocket” was written about Elon even before the Bozo in Chief gave him way too much government power. But the subjects of our music are, unfortunately, evergreen. Healthcare in America was horrible even before Trump. Basically every industry in this capitalist hellscape gets more deregulated and worse all the time. We like to think our music gets to the heart of the issues in a way that’s broadly relatable, and we hope that someday people look back on the subject matter and go “wow, thank god we don’t have to deal with THAT shit anymore.”

Also, the sheer economics of playing live music and getting your material out there have changed so drastically. COVID hit the bars hard, and T H E A L G O R I T H M dictates all that breaks through. As for the effect on our music, there’s no shortage of shit to be angry about, but so much is almost post-satire in how horrible it is. It can make writing about big issues hard, like your only option is the lyrical equivalent of pointing and screaming about a terrible headline. We credit Emily with a lot of unique viewpoints, her style is always been deeply personal. It becomes about how these big issues affect us as human beings. For example “Stay Well”, a song about the healthcare system, and how Emily’s lyrics beautifully sum up the immense heartbreak that happens in such a cold and impersonal machine. We think that’s one of the main things we try to get across in the endless shitstorm, the human element.
Two nights after the election we played a show at a local artist collective space and overheard a member of another band talking about how blaming our fellow working man is only going to make things worse. If you go into the scene you are going to find people thinking deeply about this shit and you are going to find art that reflects that. I know we are a part of it, I know countless other groups that are too. Our hope is that eventually the scene will impact the political landscape as hard as the political landscape impacts the scene.  

What album or band or significant singles made you go “Yeah, this is what I want to do”  Not just an influence but who or what was the catalyst?  On the flipside to that one… Who are some non-MWFF bands on your radar that TGEFM readers may not know about, but you think they should?

I would imagine the former would be different for each of us. Though you can hear the most direct influence in our sound from bands like Against Me!
I think some vital shared influences would include groups like: Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, Jeff Rosenstock, and of course we were all kids in the early 2000s so you know Blink 182, Green Day, etc are going to make appearances in our sound.
The latter question is a massive one given how many bands we’ve come to know, but we’ll try. Some great local bands we’ve performed with include: The Electric Indigo, Heeseeker, Nevernew, Plug, Get Wrecked!, Antematter, Camel Jam, and Draven & The Ravens just to name a few. As far as out of town friends, we recommend: The Sweet Spot (Akron), Mel Bryant & the Mercy Makers (Nashville), The Vumms (Cleveland), and Caravan Discordia (Lexington) to name just a few. And that’s NOT including all the bands we’re friends with on the fest, both local and traveling.

I don’t know if you’ve heard about this newcomer by the name of Taylor Swift. Her growing fanbase trades friendship bracelets. If you made a bracelet for MWFF, what word or phrase word you put on it?

A few suggestions:
“You know how scientists did that experiment where you put your arm behind a little partition and they tickle your arm and a fake arm with a feather and eventually stop tickling the real arm, but they can still feel the fake arm being tickled? What do you think getting jerked off would feel like if they did the same thing with your dick? Would it feel good? Could you cum? I want to know, but I’m afraid to ask any scientists because then they’ll think of me as the weird ghost jerk-off person they met at a dinner party.” <- all of that on a bracelet. Also Sam has “don’t ever stop giving a shit” written on the back of his pedal board. So maybe that, or Bryans suggestion above.

Post show jam session in a large, empty field. What song are you singing around the bonfire? (Pardon my playful biases, but everything I know about the Midwest comes from shitty movies and songs by the Kinsella Bros. so I assume everyone playing here has spent some time at bonfire parties in the fields off some lonely county road)?

That might be slightly more charming than the reality but who doesn’t love a good bonfire? I think something everyone knows or could learn quickly is always the best answer. Maybe some old union hymns just to make everyone a little more politically woke? “Solidarity Forever” or some such thing. Maybe throw in a “Wonderwall” just to be ironic, we love irony in the Midwest.
That or just an Acapella version of the Twin Peaks theme in honor of recently departed icon David Lynch.

Midwest Friends Fest is a smorgasbord of fantastic acts. Which bands are you most excited to see?

Our pals Pickle Bucket have become good friends over the past few years, they absolutely rip and we’re so excited that were able to be added to the fest. Our friends Manor Gates from Columbus always bring it, they’re easily one of the very best bands in Ohio. We also can’t speak highly enough about the locals, but some of our favorites include Mall Witch, Heist, Tooth Lures a Fang, and Alex Kasznel and the Board of Directors. We’re also big fans of Signals Midwest but I’d guess that’s true of just about everyone playing this thing. Also shout out to Boy Clothes, who are mostly coworkers of Sam’s girlfriend/ our in-house visual artist Claire. They have some of the best branding we’ve seen from a band that’s still pretty new.

Was there anything I missed that you’d like to share or dive deeper into with our readers?

One of the hardest thing about the nightmare that the 21st century has become is that it is so isolating. We so often feel trapped, helpless and alone. We’ve never once felt that way at a punk show. None of us know exactly if that’s enough to fix things, but we don’t have any better ideas at the moment. So come see us play? It might make the world better, or at least help build a community that can make the world better. Honestly we’re just really grateful to be part of something that holds the music and the community in equal regard. This isn’t just a good weekend of music, there are organizations tabling throughout the weekend that care about a lot of real ass shit. So we just hope that folks who come for some sick jams take the chance to meet people and learn new things. Knowledge is power!!