This Monday, Empire Underground will have a thunderous roar emitting down Columbia Street and onto North Pearl. The powerful viral band Small Town Titans strolls through town. I got to have a chat with Jonny Ross, drummer from the band about what brought the band together, how they have worked on their sound and how they have gained fans through a strange time to be in a band. With their influences ranging from your classic rock heavy weights and modern day hard hitters, their unique sound produces a great live show. Come down and check out the Small Town Titans Monday September 15th
Who is the best band or artist you have seen live?
There have been a handful over the years. If I had to pick one, seeing Aerosmith blew me away. The band has hits for days, AND they are a jam band live.
You’re a power trio with three standout voices and your sound is truly unique. How long have you been together, and how did you meet?
Hey, thanks for the kind words! We met in school at Lebanon Valley College a few years before the band was formed. We were music business majors. We became fast friends, and I really love that that happened first.
We also realized there was definitely a high level of work ethic we had with anything we were doing together in school. We just gelled.
When we decided to actually give being in a band a go, we just knew we weren’t going to half-ass it. The band formed in May 4, 2011, and here we still are!
The first I heard of Small Town Titans, as I am sure many others did, was through your mind blowing Youtube video of “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”. With over 1.3 million combined followers on your socials, you’ve clearly mastered online self-promotion. How did you maneuver this unorthodox way of gaining popularity?
Flying by the seat of our pants! We immediately did everything we could to capitalize on that song’s success. I remember us signing literally thousands of CDs that we were giving away for free. We just wanted people to have the music. We would get together once a week for hours just to sign CDs!
As we saw that the song was going viral, we could see that things were going to change for us. More opportunities we’re going to be within our reach. We definitely learned quickly not to sweat the small stuff. You just have to stay open minded, surround yourself with the right team, and take everything as it comes. I can’t stress enough the power of collaboration a band should have off the stage, especially when you’re all in it together tackling new things.
What can fans coming to the show expect when you get on stage?
We’re loud and full of energy for sure! Haha! I love hearing from people that we sound bigger than we should for a three-piece rock band. We’re also quite old school in a way. I don’t even play to a metronome, and there’s no backing tracks of any kind. We literally play our instruments and sing. Having the natural energy from performing that way is really fun for us.
Who do you draw influence from musically?
We’re definitely hitting “divorced dad rock” territory with what we grew up with I believe. Haha. Lots of grunge, too. Phil’s a big Soundgarden and Audioslave guy.
I love my fair share of bands that were dominating the space in the early 2000s.
Nickelback is a big one for me, plus modern-daybands holding it down right now like The Struts and Mammoth. There’s also definitely a love for the classics too.
Sabbath, Zeppelin, Queen, all the GOATs. Oh, and can’t forget about the Foo Fighters!
I love the “Will it Riff” videos, how did that concept come about, and what has been the best thing that Riffs?
We were brainstorming about something new and different we could do on social media, and one of those ideas became “Will It Riff?”. We tried it out, and the very first one exploded. We were a bit blown away again haha. The best thing that riffs? Hmm…good question. I get a kick out of finding the most absurd stuff now. We just did a soap containing actual used SydneySweeney bathwater. Yeah…
Besides Albany, where else are you excited to play on this tour?
We can’t wait to play at Empire Underground for the first time! Some other big firsts for us on this tour are The Machine Shop in Flint, MI, and the increasingly massive Louder Than Life in Louisville, KY!
One of my favorite covers of yours is Hunger Strike with Matt James, selfish request here, hook up with the boys in Blacktop Mojo and come on back to Albany!
Thank you! They came through our neck of the woods and we were able to play a show together. We hit it off with those boys immediately. As soon as I heard that band and Matt, I knew we would get along. I had an idea one day to cover thatsong with the two of them, and Matt was into it immediately. It was pretty painless. We’re really happy with how that turned out.
What does the future look like for Small Town Titans?
I wish I had a direct answer for you haha. We are definitely itching to get back on the road and get the bug again. And of course there’s some great material we’ve been working on for years! Plus,there’s this third side of the coin now with making content. We certainly aren’t done. Sorry for the shameless plug for the new single!
Thanks for taking the time to talk with WABY and we will see you Monday September 15th at Empire Underground.
My pleasure! Thanks for the questions and let’s definitely hang at Empire!
