The Active Set Q&A

Your name:

Matthew Stolarz. I cackle/groan in this band, as well as make noise with the guitar.

Where are you from?

“Los Angeles” is the formal answer, but this place is HUGE and all of us are from different corners, some be beachy, some suburby.

Name of band: 

The Active Set.

Who else is in your band? 

Francis Ramsden on guitar, Gabriel Grinta on drums and Alen Racedo on bass.

How would you describe yourselves and your music?

Decent people with a deep urge to say something meaningful. Our music is the some total of our varied tastes/abilities/limitations. I once joked “we’re halfway between Death Cab and Duran Duran” but it’s kind of true. There’s and 80s/90s/00s things happening. I usually just say “alternative” to keep it simple.

Who are your main influences musically?

Collectively we’re all over the map, but I would say great bands with great energy like Bloc Party, XTC, Strokes, Replacements, Klaxons, Smashing Pumpkins, Airborne Toxic Event. 

What do you hope to achieve in music?

Get our message to the people it most resonates with. Tour more, with AMAZING bands. Make lots of friends in the process. Write at least one timeless classic album.

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why?

We had the opportunity to tour with Neon Trees and AWOLnation, and it opened up a whole new audience to us. Many of the fans became our fans, and it was really a great way to support the record we has just released. We’ve maintain a great relationship with Neon Trees, and have had several other opportunities to play with them.

And what’s the moment you want to forget?

Any of the times that things didn’t go well with former members, resulting in their/our dissatisfaction and unhappiness.

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?

Umm, we’re somewhat eclectic, with broody slower songs as well as uptempo rockers, so a definitive single song is a bit hard to pick. You could listen to “Actual Factual” off of our new EP and experience the more intense side of the Active Set.

Where can we listen to it? 

soundcloud.com/theactiveset/actual-factual

Where can we find out more about your music?

Our official site will take you all of those places - www.theactiveset.com

Anything else you’d like to say about your music that I forgot to ask?

We are extremely proud of our new EP, it's the best recording we've ever done, thanks to our long-time producer Jason LaRocca. He really helped us dial it in. We hope that people will give it a listen.