STONE GARDEN new album

STONE GARDEN Guitarist/Singer Discusses Early Days Of Band And Their Music

Paul Speer, guitarist/singer for the heavy psychedelic, '60s-era band STONE GARDEN, is excited that there is still an interest in his band's music.

More interest will no doubt surface for the band with the upcoming Shadow Kingdom Records' reissue of their self-titled this November with five bonus tracks.

Speer credits his parent's encouragement of learning and playing music in helping inspire the band's music. "Our parents were both avid keyboard players (never as professionals) and we had a baby grand and a full size organ in our living room. Besides playing the hits of the day,we had a desire to write our own songs. It just felt like the right thing to do as all the bands we respected, including other local groups along with major acts, wrote their own music. Writing songs became a very important part of the band's existence."

After more than 30 years since Speer first came into the music business, how has his outlook on the music he created for Stone Garden held up? Has its magic stood the test of time? "We are all truly amazed at the interest in our music more than 30 years after it was created. I am so glad we put out the single of "Oceans Inside Me" independently and that I was adamant about recording our original material and preserving the tapes," he notes, "Is it possible to be objective about something you created so long ago? I don't know though I try," he reveals. "As an experienced record producer today (QUEENSRŸCHE, HIMSA and many others), when I listen, I mostly hear the flaws and it is difficult to get some distance. But once in a while, I do and I hear some incredible, unique music and wonder, how on earth did we come up with this stuff?"

"One of my main philosophies in life is to make the most of what you have available and I think we did pretty well. We had a manager, an agent in Seattle, performed throughout a fairly large geographic area, and made enough money to perpetuate the band. But we lived in a small town in Idaho," he says of the pitfall that the band faced, while others bands of the era skyrocketed to fame. "Nobody, including our manager and agent, had a clue how to break into the major record business in those days. The Pacific Northwest didn't get any respect from the music business until the 'grunge' era which, of course, occurred long after the time of the Stone Garden."

He ends off, "Therefore, even if it was possible to get our music in front of record execs, I doubt we would have even been signed."

To hear some tracks from the band, go here.

The full tracklisting:
'Oceans Inside Me' (Ripcord version),
'It's A Beautiful Day',
'The World Is Coming To An End',
'Bastard',
'Da Da Da Da Da',
'Stop My Thinking',
'Assembly Line',
'Woodstick',
'San Francisco Policeman Blues',
'Oceans Inside Me' (45 version),
'Grayworld Forest',
'Life Is Getting Harder',
'Day To Day',
'I Am Nothing',
'Stainless Steel'.