With the announcement of this year’s Substance Festival at the Great American Music Hall, we here at SF Sonic wanted to highlight some of the bands and artists playing over the three nights, whether they’ve been around for years or are early in their musical journey. Over the last few years, Still Ruins have made a name for themselves in the local post-punk scene. Already having cut their teeth as a live band supporting bands such as Soft Kill, Harsh Symmetry, and Provoker, the music on the trio’s self-titled EP leans into the sweet spot caught firmly between post-punk and dream pop. I talked to frontman Frankie Soto about the band’s origins and future.
Tyler King: How did Still Ruins come to be?
Frankie Soto: Our guitarist Jose Medina and I have been writing music together close to a little over a decade now. In another band and now this one. We both met bassist Cyrus VandenBerghe at a Pains Of Being Pure At Heart show at the Rickshaw Stop in 2012. When we knew we needed another member in 2020 we immediately thought of him and we haven’t looked back since.
TK: How did you find your voice as a singer?
FS: I did choir in high school and sang in other bands before Still Ruins. I didn’t feel fully confident about my voice then and I only feel somewhat confident in my vocal abilities now. It’s something that just takes time, I suppose.
TK: Your voice has such a dreamy quality to it that matches your music perfectly. I’m curious if you write your music to match your voice or if you adjust your singing to match the music?
FS: We kind of already know where my register is, so Jose will come up with a riff or chord progression on guitar or the piano and we usually try to find the sweet spot of the music around that.
TK: Do you write your songs with live performance in mind?
FS: We usually focus more on the song and will try them out at a show or two and see what needs to be adjusted. Usually it’s just the tempo!
TK: Does the song “Perfect Blue” have anything to do with the Satoshi Kon film? Or is the imagery of someone being a perfect blue a reference to something else?
FS: I’m a huge fan of Satoshi Kon, so a little bit of this and that. The lyrics are about the film, losing someone in real life, and in a way losing yourself. Wanting the person you lost to remain with you and wanting yourself to stay the same person you once were.
TK: I love the artwork for your self-titled EP. Obviously it’s a reference to the lyrics of your song “Left Against,” but what about the lyrics and the imagery of the jester made you decide to use that as the launching point for the artwork?
FS: When I started chatting with Lia Kantro about what the EP artwork should look like we both looked through the lyrics and just decided the jester from that song should become the main focal point of the piece.
TK: Your EP is already nearly a year and a half old. Can fans of the band expect new material in the near future?
FS: Time sure does fly! They might get a few songs by the end of the year.
TK: What other bands playing Substance Fest are you looking forward to seeing?
FS: All of them.
TK: What can people going to Substance Fest expect out of your set?
FS: A possible return of a full band line-up.
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Tickets for Substance Fest can be purchased here
