Still Time
Encyclopedia
History
Still Time formed over a number of years while at the California Polytechnic State UniversityCalifornia Polytechnic State University
California Polytechnic State University, or Cal Poly, is a public university located in San Luis Obispo, California, United States. The university is one of two polytechnic campuses in the 23-member California State University system....
. Dan Curcio and Chris “Haircut” Arntzen began their musical collaboration after meeting in the Sierra Madre dorms in the Fall of 2002. In 2003, Nick Bilich was introduced to Curcio through his girlfriend and Haircut discovered John Vucinich drumming on his knee in the hallway of the math building. The band was completed a year later in 2004 when Vucinich met bassist Paul “Slapmaster” Smith-Stewart playing in the university jazz band. With Smith-Stewart playing the bass, Bilich switched from bass to guitar.
They began playing a number of shows around the San Luis Obispo under the name Longview. This was soon changed to The New Longview as a tribute to Spinal Tap
Spinal Tap (band)
Spinal Tap is a parody heavy metal band that first appeared on a failed 1979 ABC TV sketch comedy pilot called "The T.V. Show", starring Rob Reiner...
when they realized another band was already known as Longview. In 2005, they recorded an LP
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
called Still Time and continued to play local gigs until their song "High Tide" began getting heavy rotation on local station KURQ
KURQ
KURQ is a commercial radio station located in Grover Beach, California, broadcasting to the San Luis Obispo, California, area on 107.3 FM. It broadcasts an active rock music format branded as "New Rock 107.3".-Programming:...
and was featured in the compilation album SLO & Dysfunctional Vol. 3. As their popularity grew, they began opening for acts such as Pepper
Pepper (band)
Pepper is a rock band originally from Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The band's music is often classified as a combination of reggae, dub and rock. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Kaleo Wassman, vocalist/bassist Bret Bollinger, and drummer Yesod Williams...
, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, and Ziggy Marley
Ziggy Marley
David "Ziggy" Marley is a Jamaican musician and leader of the band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers. He is the oldest son of famed reggae musician Bob Marley...
.
Deciding that simply adding “The New” to their name did not distinguish themselves enough from Longview, the band changed their name to Still Time in 2007. This coincided with the release of their first major LP, Stream of Consciousness, in November.
2008 was one of Still Time's most dynamic years, performing at a number of instantly recognizable festivals such as Ranchita Rocks
Ranchita Rocks Music Festival
The Ranchita Rocks Music Festival is a three-day annual music festival held at the Golightly Farms Ranch in Ranchita, California. The 2008 event had six stages, featuring classic and contemporary rock performances...
, the first annual Pozo Green Music Festival, and Cal Poly's Welcome Week Block Party. In addition to their spotlight live performance profile, Still Time has earned rotation spots on a number of terrestrial FM and internet radio stations, including features on Insomnia Radio, and live performances on a number of stations including KPIG's "Please Stand By".
In addition to playing shows along the West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
, Still Time released their newest album "See America," in Spring 2009.
Members
Dan Curcio - acoustic guitarSteel-string acoustic guitar
A steel-string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar descended from the classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound...
, vocals
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
Chris Arntzen - Guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
Nick Bilich - Guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
Paul Smith-Stewart - Bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
John Vucinich - drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
T Bone - Harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
Sound
Still Time draws from many different genresMusic genre
A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
such as funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, and others. In an interview December 28th, 2007, Curcio stated that “(People) stress so much that you need to have your own unified sound. To me, it just gets boring by the end of the CD, to hear a bunch of songs that sound the same, sound like one 60-minute song." The eclectic musical background of each member of the band lends itself to the different stylistic and technical approaches from song to song. In a March 25th, 2008 interview, Bilich was quoted as saying “What we kind of found was we all come at music from different angles and we take all these different ideas and mold and create with them.”
Still Time's music is reflective of where they live on the Central Coast. They say, "It’s a very laid back atmosphere where we live, here in San Luis Obispo. We have a growing music community in this easy-going, small town which has helped us to write music we feel is distinctly California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
n, but unique at the same time... It's one of our most important goals as a band, to stay true to ourselves and what inspires us as we write music. We feel that we have our own distinct sound, but it is constantly evolving."
In addition to the core members, Still Time plays with a wide variety of guest artists during live performances and in the studio. At times their songs have featured additional vocalists, harmonica, keyboards, guest rappers, multiple drummers, violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, didgeridoo
Didgeridoo
The didgeridoo is a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians of northern Australia around 1,500 years ago and still in widespread usage today both in Australia and around the world. It is sometimes described as a natural wooden trumpet or "drone pipe"...
, and a 7-piece horn section.
Albums
- The Longview LP The Doublewide Years - 2011 When It Hits Records
- See America - 2009 When It Hits Records
- Stream of Consciousness - 2007 When It Hits Records
- Still Time - 2005 (released as The New Longview)
Compilations
- SLO & Dysfunctional Vol. 3 - 2006 New Rock 107.3 / 1 Track (High Tide)
- SLO & Dysfunctional Vol. 4 - 2007 New Rock 107.3 / 1 Track (9 To 5)
- SLO & Dysfunctional Vol. 5 - 2008 New Rock 107.3 / 1 Track (American Dream)
Tours / Festivals / Major Television & Radio Shows
- California Festival of BeersCalifornia festival of beersThe California Festival of Beers is an annual beer festival and one of America's largest and oldest regional beer tastings held at Avila Beach Resort, Avila Beach, California...
(Avila Beach, CA) - 2006, 2007, 2008 - Palo Alto Promenade Film and Music Festival (Palo Alto, CA) - 2008
- Oktoberfest (San Luis Obispo, CA) - 2008
- Grover Beach Dunes Festival (Grover Beach, CA) - 2008
- Santa Barbara Funk and Ska Festival (Santa Barbara, CA) - 2008
- KZOZKZOZKZOZ is a radio station located in San Luis Obispo, California, broadcasting on 93.3 FM. KZOZ airs a rock music format.The station plays a mixture of classic rock from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, and current top rock hits...
93.3 FM (San Luis Obispo, CA) - 2008 - KSBY Morning Show (San Luis Obispo, CA) - 2008
- KURQKURQKURQ is a commercial radio station located in Grover Beach, California, broadcasting to the San Luis Obispo, California, area on 107.3 FM. It broadcasts an active rock music format branded as "New Rock 107.3".-Programming:...
New Rock 107.3 FM (Grover Beach, CA) - 2008 - KPIGKPIGKPIG-FM is a radio station located near the city of Santa Cruz, California, USA. Founded in 1988, the studio is based in Watsonville, California, and broadcasts to the counties of Santa Cruz and Monterey. It also has a radio repeater on 94.9 MHz FM in San Luis Obispo County as KPYG...
107.5 FM "Please Stand By" 7/13/08 (Freedom, CA) - 2008 - Wrightwood Mountain Music FestivalWrightwood Mountain Music FestivalThe Wrightwood Music Festival is an annual music festival with performances held over the Labor Day Weekend in Wrightwood, CA at Vivian Null Park.- History :...
(Wrightwood, CA) - 2008 - Ranchita Rocks Music FestivalRanchita Rocks Music FestivalThe Ranchita Rocks Music Festival is a three-day annual music festival held at the Golightly Farms Ranch in Ranchita, California. The 2008 event had six stages, featuring classic and contemporary rock performances...
(San Diego, CA) - 2008 - West Beach Music Festival (Santa Barbara, CA) - 2008
- Pozo Green Music Festival (Pozo, CA) - 2008
- Morro Bay Harbor Fest (Morro Bay, CA) - 2008
External links
- Official Band Site
- Official Sonicbids EPK
- Official Myspace Page
- Official Still Time Bands of the Bay Page
- Official Still Time Marin Local Music Page
- Still Time on The Sixty One
- Music-Lounge Sound Shots Interview 8/20/2008
- Insomnia Radio Daily Dose 8/21/2008
- Urban Climber Interview 8/26/2008
- New Times SLO Archive 12/26/2007