I recently got the chance to sit down with this awesome local band:

For the four members of local punk/pop band Straitlaced, the past six months have been a journey into the life of what it could be to be rock stars. The group is just putting off what they see as impending fame until the end of the college semester. “Since I joined in April of this year, we are starting to get into a groove with shows. We haven’t played a lot of them, we’re just kind of treading water until the end of school. But we’re always trying to get our name out there,” said bass player of ten years — and current University of Penn student — Leland Weeks, “But from everything that I have seen in that little bit of time, the response has been simply awesome.”

Straitlaced was formed in November 2003 by guitar player and vocalist Viv Peyrat and twins Dan (vocalist and guitar player) and Andy (drummer) Sinkler. They added Weeks as a bass player in April 2005. “Our band is really interesting and different because we never looked at it like there was a favorite song or a favorite type of song that we wanted to try to play,” said Peyrat. “It was always more like that we always had a consensus on what songs and kind of songs we all hated and didn’t want to do.” “Since I’ve been with these guys, we never attempted or even talked about trying to do a single cover song. I like it that way, with all original music, and I’m pretty sure these guys agree with me.”

The band — now with an average age of 21 (19, 20, 20, and 25) — is mostly looking for exposure. “The biggest thing is always to get ourselves that exposure, like any group would want,” continued Weeks. “We are all trying to just get our names out there. I personally would like to date Kelly Clarkson and go to VIP parties, and these guys each have their own plans as well.” It focuses a lot on playing in Philadelphia and some of its outlying areas. “Quakertown and Fallsington are two places that we go to sometimes,” said Peyrat. “So it’s definitely not just a home thing in the Abington area. One of the other best parts of being in a band is getting to go on tour across the US. The four of us have already been down to Tennessee for a tour, and our bus broke down two times on the way down there. So we got experiences in both music and
life in our few months together.”

For inspiration, the band turns to groups such as Jimmy Eat World and Taking Back Sunday. The Sinkler boys also look to their famous grandfather, jazz musician Charlie Parker. “I think of him as the Jimmy Hendrix of the jazz world,” said Dan. “It’s all about the music. Sure, we’ve got some things we’ve got to sort out before we make that next, big jump,” said Weeks. ” But
once we do that, we should start to really roll.” “We are literally waiting for the end of the semester to start another tour and to start playing out more,” said Andy.

Straitlaced has four upcoming shows: Friday, November 4, at Emmanuel Episcopal in Quakertown; Saturday, November 5, at The Globe in Bethlehem; Thursday, December 1, at Double Decker in Allentown; and Friday, December 9, at the Bean Cellar in Kutztown. Further information is available on the Web at http://www.straitlacedrocks.com.

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