Sound the Alarm

Sound The Alarm (STA) are products of their environment. The band formed at the age of 12 in Bangor, PA (a small town east of Allentown), and were raised on an older brother's record collection. Factor in healthy doses of Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin with a steady diet of modern rock bands including Foo Fighters, Incubus and Stone Temple Pilots, and the band's infectious sound dilates into focus.

Frontman Cody Jancovic, bassist Colin Ellis, guitarists Brian Chiusano, Joe Brule... (more)

Sound The Alarm (STA) are products of their environment. The band formed at the age of 12 in Bangor, PA (a small town east of Allentown), and were raised on an older brother's record collection. Factor in healthy doses of Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin with a steady diet of modern rock bands including Foo Fighters, Incubus and Stone Temple Pilots, and the band's infectious sound dilates into focus.

Frontman Cody Jancovic, bassist Colin Ellis, guitarists Brian Chiusano, Joe Brule and drummer Rick Stephans were still in high school when they were discovered by producer Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, The All-American Rejects, Head Automatica, Fly Leaf) and recorded under his direction.

Now in their late teens, the band is ready to unveil their first album, Stay Inside.

Stay Inside consists of twelve diverse tracks, a fact the band credits to the eight months they spent in Los Angeles last year writing their record. "We wrote over 50 songs," explains Colin Ellis. "We had an apartment together and all we would do everyday is write and explore new ideas."

The result is an album that's as unique as it is engaging. Equal parts melodic and driving, the opener "Closer" sets the album's tone early. The acoustic-tinged ballad "Telling Lies" shows that STA can harmonize with the best of their peers. "Fact Or Fiction" and "Picture Perfect" showcase the bands ability to walk the fine line between rock and pop sensibilities. "I think the album's diversity has a lot to do with all the different kinds of music we listen to. I take pride in the fact that none of our songs sound similar to each other" says singer Cody Jancovic.

The first single "Suffocating" is a unique amalgam of modern rock, pop and punk. The song is immediately memorable and accessible-and it also has a special significance for the band. Says Colin who wrote the lyrics for the song, "I wrote 'Suffocating' at the beginning of our junior year while things were just starting to pick up for us, there was uncertainty as to where we would be in the coming months. That, combined with the pressure to graduate and make a definitive decision as to what I was going to do with the rest of my life, was, at times, overwhelming. It's just about rising above the fear of change and becoming an adult, finding direction in an area I knew nothing about."

Adds Brian Chiuasano, "We were being pulled in a lot of different directions," referring to the band's decision to pursue their music as a full-time career. "We were just killing ourselves thinking about it and what was next."

Consequently, it's no accident that the song "Stay Inside" became the albums title track, as it offers the best metaphor for what the album - and STA - are all about. "We wrote that song about stepping out of your comfort zone and not feeling intimidated about what you want to do," says Rick Stephans, thinking back to the day three years ago when they were invited to a meeting with producer Howard Benson. "When we started this band, we never thought we would get to this point," Joe Brule admits. "There's no way we're going to let up now."