Stegall

Stegall is a trio of sisters from Canada who developed a tribal, Bo Diddley rock beat into a modern sound with songs that are both catchy and gritty.
The London, Ontario-based band is made up of Clara Stegall on vocals and guitar, Sydney Stegall on guitar, and Liza Stegall on keyboards. Clara has a surprisingly passionate and soulful voice, and she gets ample vocal and instrumental support from her equally talented sisters.

It might be easy to say that Stegall is just a pop-synth rock band. But there’s a lot bubbling under the surface that points to deeper musical expressions and influences. While rock bands tend to come and go like shooting stars, Stegall has the potential to stick around for a while.

I caught up with Clara recently via email about the band and their music.

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According to your bio you moved around a lot growing up. How did that come about?

We moved around mostly due to our Dad’s career. Sometimes it was hard. You know – leaving friends and familiarity. But we experienced so much and were exposed to so many cool things. Especially when it came to music and the arts. Now, none of us want to stay still. We are addicted to travelling and moving around! That being said, one thing we always make time for as a family and individuals is visiting our first home (and current home for some) — Ontario.

How do you think this experience influenced your musical vision?

Moving around certainly allowed each of us to experience all the places we have lived in different ways. Not only did moving around shape who we are as people, but it has also opened up large diversity in our music appreciation.

Stegall BandAside from your song Tribal Woman, I sense a tribalism in your music as a whole. Where did that come from?

Well, the song Tribal Woman is about prejudice that we have seen towards the Navajo communities in Arizona. But I do think, since it is specifically about a tribal “woman”, it could transcend to the idea of being strong women. Never have we had a conversation about making our music sexier, or maybe more feminine. This whole process has never been about our gender, but we are aware that that is the first thing some people see — 3 chicks making music. Perhaps the “tribalism” you are hearing is our way of saying “Hey, we aren’t a chick band”…whatever that even really means.

How did all of you develop an interest in becoming musicians?

Both of our parents are musicians so we were constantly surrounded by music growing up. Whether it was family jam sessions in the living room or just blasting our favourite records, music was always around. It was a daily thing. In fact, the neighbors would often complain about the loud music coming from our house! We also had a bunch of instruments in the house and began playing piano and learning about the logistics of music at a young age.

Who are a few of your biggest musical influences?

The three of us are kind of into totally different things. But at the core of our band, it comes down to the stuff that our parents filled our ears with: Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock, James Brown, Bill Withers. Some more contemporary influences include Mutemath, Trixie Whitely, Tegan and Sara, St. Vincent, and Radiohead.

Who plays drums and bass on your recording?

For our EP “IV” we have Fraser Moore playing bass and Matt Weston playing drums. Matt was also our producer and recording engineer for the EP. Two incredibly talented guys.

The artwork for the band is really cool. Who’s the artist in the family?

Thank you! All of the artwork is by Sydney. We are hoping to incorporate her art into our live show and our other visual elements (merchandise, online sites).

Now that your first EP has been released, what are your future plans for recording?

We are constantly writing and we have tons of tunes that we would love to put towards another recording project. Whether it’s a full-length or another EP we aren’t sure of yet. In any case, recording some new material is in our near future.

Has the band toured outside of Canada? If not, any plans to head south?

We have not toured in the US, but we would absolutely love to. It would be especially cool to play in the areas we used to live in.

Where are the best places online to find out what the band is up to and to purchase your album?

Our album may be picked up at our Bandcamp website (you name the price!). Any updates usually hit our Facebook and Twitter (@StegallMusic) first. Our website is a good place to keep in the loop as well and you can sign up for our mailing list through there too. - Ben Cisco's World of Music

Stegall is a brand-new band from Canada and their EP, “IV” definitely has a punch. Imagine that Pat Benatar joined The Black Keys. It will be very interesting to listen as their sound matures. “We Better Fear” and “Tribal Woman” are high powered pop-soul-rock tracks that standout on the EP. Go download their EP for FREE on bandcamp right now. We hope to hear more from these very talented sisters. - Green Hearts Blog

Sometimes a band name makes perfect sense – Stegall is the synth-rock trio of three sisters of the eponymous surname – Clara (vocals), Sydney (guitar) and Liza (keyboards) from London in Canada.

Stegall - synth rock from Canada
Stegall

Hitting the ground running, having formed recently, Stegall offer music which resonates of their upbringing which saw them move across swathes of The USA and the music provides an inclusive international quality. Light on the feet, they are not trying to recreate the wheel, rather add embellishments to a genre and this they do with some style.




A delightful bass sweeps along the music and the percussion is thoughtfully programmed allowing the vocals and tonality to hold the attention of the audience as Stegall showcase their compositions which belies the age of the band.

Having spent considerable energy in getting the on-line and visual elements right, they have also recently released their perhaps appropriately named début EP IV, which evidences these are more than glossy marketers. As a template for new bands Stegall are stellar examples.

The next step will be to see how this transposes to a live environment and they are booked for a tour in Eastern Canada later this year. I look forward to catching up with Stegall later in the year to see how it is all developing. For now, well worth catching at the start of what has the foundations for a promising career. - Emerging Indie Bands