Buzz Magazine - Story Of The Year (Dan Marsala) (First Published: February 2010) -Bianca Bozzi

Not many bands out there can claim they were roughed up by Godsmack’s roadies outside of a radio station once. ‘We played a radio station in 2003, and we told the crowd to move closer to the stage. They were angry, mainly at me ‘cos I’m the lead singer.’ recounts Dan Marsala. ‘I know our bass player got a punch to the face, [but] no one got too hurt. It was over in about two minutes...It’s been about six years, so I don’t really care about it anymore. So we just continue to make fun of each other.’ But Marsala outrights says ‘I don’t like Godsmack.’

Missouri band Story Of The Year are currently on tour around the southern US with acts including Maylene, The Sons of Disaster and Thrice, who SOTY played with recently. ‘Yeah, we played with Thrice not that long ago,’ explains Marsala. ‘We’ve toured with them about three or four times...and it’s been about three or four years since we played together.’

There is always some guarantee of shenanigans at SOTY’s gigs and this time is no different, especially with the release of their new album The Constant. ‘The other night, there was a four year-old kid on his dad’s shoulders, and Ryan (Phillips, SOTY guitarist) let him play his guitar...in front of about 5000 people.’ Marsala also notes that there is always craziness surrounding SOTY’s gigs, even amongst the band ‘always hurting and jumping on each other.’

The Constant, produced by Michael "Elvis" Baskette (Escape The Fate, Incubus), is SOTY’s fourth album, and the creative process was rather straightforward. ‘We got together every week and jammed for about six or seven hours...more sitting in a room [together]. Something cool would come out eventually.’

The album’s name, however, has a much looser meaning. ‘The name can come from different things,’ says Marsala. ‘One meaning could be that music in general is a constant, it’s universal, it gets people through things.’ Marsala is rather passionate in his answer, which is intriguing. ‘It is everything to us, it’s a constant: a job, a love, a passion. We’ve been around for awhile now and *hope to+ continue forever. We’re here to stay.’

The reaction from fans for The Constant has fortunately been positive. ‘*It’s been+ a good reaction so far,’ enthuses Marsala. ‘We played one show in Phoenix last weekend...and we played a few songs off that...and it’s sold well in its first week *so far+.’

Marsala’s isn’t sure what his favourite track off The Constant is, ‘I don’t know, I go back and forth,’ he says. ‘*Maybe+ The Children Sing...we used a children’s choir *for it+, to go for something totally different, *and it+ turned out real good...and had an eerie feel *to it+.’

The album also features first single I’m Alive, accompanied by a rather creepy video where Marsala forms into an undead creature. ‘We wanted to do something different other than a performance video,’ explains Marsala. ‘*Director+ Ryan Smith had worked with us on four videos now...and we wanted something with a weird twist...to get people’s attention. *So+ we went with me turning into a werewolf or zombie-kinda thing. You don’t really know what I become.’ And SOTY’s next video may act as the sequel to I’m Alive.’ Our next video might explain what I was, *what happens next+.’

SOTY began in the late 90s under the name Big Blue Monkey, and after several line-up changes and changes in the band’s sound later became Story Of The Year. Catching the ear of producer John Feldmann and Maverick Records, SOTY soon released their debut album, Page Avenue, in 2003. The heavier-sounding In The Wake Of Determination followed in 2005 and The Black Swan in 2008, on Epitaph Records. ‘We were five friends originally...*all as+ a group hanging out at high school and skateboarding...with a passion for music.’ explains Marsala. ‘We just started playing around with different styles.’

Marsala has also started a side project with other friends, a punk band interestingly called The Fuck Off And Dies. Really. ‘It’s one of those things with friends, hanging out, talking one night...Six months later, I started recording demos in the basement...*and we all thought+ ‘wow, this is actually funny’. Whenever SOTY plays at home, we play shows, and we’ve posted some songs on MySpace.’ Marsala finds ‘it makes a nice change from SOTY and the serious music.’

SOTY are ‘working on’ coming back to Australia, aiming for mid June-early July, and when asked what 2010 and beyond holds, Marsala is optimistic. ‘We just wanna sustain...and keep doing what we do. We’ve had the same line-up since around 2001...and we’ve reached and surpassed lots of our goals. We can’t believe we’re still relevant and cool to people. We just wanna keep doing this for as long as we can.’