STANDOFFISH
1. Thanks for this interview! Would you please introduce yourself, where you’re from, and what you do in Standoffish?
My name is Josh. I’m from Brooklyn, New York and I’m on vocals in STANDOFFISH.
2. Tell us a bit about how the band came together, your origin story if you will.
So during the later end of the pandemic, I started doing a lot of writing and home demos. I wrote a few in this style that I’ve been wanting to play for a really long time and they kind of just sat on my computer until I brought them to my buddy Ilan. Ilan is kinda like a jack of all trades, so we hung out for a few weekends and threw together our first EP with him on drums and bass, and myself on guitars and vocals. He recorded the whole thing in his basement just the two of us. Fast forward two years, we decide to recruit a bunch of homies to make it a real thing.
3. What about your hardcore origin story? Who were your gateway bands and what drew you to the music and scene?
Initially I just listened to Epitaph bands and Choking Victim, and I kind of shit on hardcore at first. But when I was like 13/14, there was this all ages venue in my neighborhood, which was a synagogue that had DIY shows on the weekends. One weekend they’d have bands like Bigwig and Smackin Isaiah (now known as A Wilhelm Scream) and the next weekend would be a beatdown show with bands like Everybody Gets Hurt, Billyclub Sandwich and Irate. It was sick. That’s what drew me to the scene for sure, and the community kept me there.
4. Standoffish released the first EP in 2023 and now you’re back with Insignificant Thing. What transpired in those three years?
Life, basically. I had other projects that I was working on, a band called Heavy Lag in particular, and I didn’t have a ton of time to commit to it. The songs also started becoming out of my range. But then Ilan showed me we can cheat and just tune down a half step, and I was ready to go.
5. The first single, “Tireless,” gave us a taste of the new EP. What can listeners who haven’t heard it yet expect? How does it tie into the EP as a whole—what sounds and themes figure prominently in the song and on Insignificant Thing?
I think having “Tireless” as the first single and the first song on the EP is a solid representation of what we’re trying to do, just keeping it fast and melodic, with a little heaviness when we can. We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel, we like the wheel. As far as themes go, I think it’s mainly about uncertainty, trying to move away from living in the past and finding a path forward.
6. You cover “Graduate” from the self-titled Third Eye Blind record. Funnily enough, I was listening to the record again driving home a few weeks ago and I thought, “you know what? I’m ready to admit that this would be one of my ‘if I were stranded on a desert island and could only bring five albums with me’ albums.” What went into the decision to include the cover—tribute, irony…?
Zero irony in that decision, everyone in the band loves Third Eye Blind and I think that the self-titled album is one of the best albums of the 90s. I think “Graduate” has always been a banger and it’s wild nobody has covered it yet.
7. Preach, brother! So what have been the major highlights of the band’s existence so far, and what are some things you hope to achieve with Standoffish?
Pulling off a Third Eye Blind cover for one, and also getting to play with Pulley recently was really cool. We’re still pretty fresh and we just hope to play more shows and write more music.
8. A promoter with unlimited funds and artist access, as well as access to a time machine, is putting on a show. They have approached Standoffish to play, and you get to choose the other four bands or artists, at their peak, from any era. Who are you playing with?
Rob Zombie four times.
9. Thanks so much for your time. Any last words or shout-outs?
Shoutout to all the buds making great music - 300 USD, Sadlands, Hell Beach, TV Cop, Bad Crime, Tired Radio, Awful Din, Not Gorgeous, Slugwater, Lazlo, Dead Bars, Dear Dan.