Staynlis

A minsitry of rock
by Patrick Cossel

“Christ gave us His all and best for us, the least we
could do is give Him our all and best for His ministry
through us.” This is the motto of hard rocking
Christian band Staynlis.
Conceived from the creative minds of Merlin “Wiz”
Shippy and Wade Richard, Staynlis is making a name for
themselves.
Born in Beloit to local business owners Bob and Mari
Richard, Wade Richard studied music throughout his
schooling. A five year stint in Nashville TN to pursue
a career in songwriting/performing helped Richard to
work on his songwriting skills and allowed him to
make contacts the band would find useful later.
Richard moved back to Kansas with his wife of almost
12 years. It was in Kansas that Richard began to play
his music more in church than in bars.
Merlin “Wiz” Shippy grew up in Kansas City MO.
Shippy’s mother was an early influence for him as
together they would sing and play both country and
religious songs. Shippy played guitar in many garage
bands and was able to stand in on bass when needed.
The more he played the bass, the more he realized he
had a passion for it. Shippy, like Richard. began
playing in churches. Meeting at Revolution Church in
Salina , Shippy and Richard felt a connection
immediately both personally and musically. They shared
the same taste in music and helped to bring out the
best in each other when playing. “We played together
in the Revolution’s praise band,” said Shippy.
While at Revolution church, Shippy and Richard talked
often about doing a project together. “We both wanted
to do something with a harder edge. It is our
preferred genre,” said Shippy. Shippy eventually left
Revolution church and began working on other projects.

In 2005 Richard left Revolution and informed Shippy
that it was time to put something together. Timing
couldn’t have been better for Shippy as he was between
projects. “We came together and talked about using the
gifts God has given us for His benefit and not ours,”
said Shippy. Together they decided to create a band
that was every bit as edgy as anything on the secular
market. Only their music would talk of the message of
God and the difference He has made in their lives. By
doing this, they believe they let their audience know
that there is an alternative. “An alternative for the
youth and young adults to music, lifestyle and the bad
message that music has become inundated with,” said
Shippy. The only thing left to do was to find a
drummer.
The band, Staynlis, went through a few drummers the
first year they were together. It wasnt until later
that they would fill the position full-time.
With everything laid out for them the members of
Staynlis set out to take the Christian rock world by
surprise. Richard wrote most of the music for the
band and they began to play festivals throughout
Kansas . “We played four or five festivals in
Lindsborg, Salina , Ellsworth and so on,” said
Richard. “We did not go for the 'following idea', our
goal is to come out of nowhere and for people to
wonder ‘Where did these guys come from’,” said
Richard. According to Richard, it is all about putting
your best foot forward and sticking to your guns.
In 2006 the band started looking into having an album
made professionally. Talking with several Christian
artists, they learned of a Christian producer named
Travis Wyrick.
Wyrick has worked with several bands including Pillar
and P.O.D. He also has several awards to his credit..
Wyrick told the band that he was only open at the end
of October. After that he would be booked until July
of '07. Richard and Shippy struggled to decide if they
could come up with the money and time to take the
trip.
A week went by when Wyrick contacted them and told
them that he just agreed to work with P.O.D. during
his open October time slot and was officially booked.
"We proudly say that we got bumped by P.O.D.,"said
Richard.
Determined to get their album done, Shippy and Richard
continued to search for the right studio and engineers
to help them. They made many contacts before finally
contacting Creative Soul Records.
The band began trading e-mails with Creative Soul and
finally they all agreed to an appointment. Trusting in
God, Shippy and Richard headed to Nashville with the
hopes of being signed to a label.
Meeting with the representatives at Collective Soul
turned out to be very positive for the band. "Once
Eric and his team heard our stuff, and learned of
our heart to minister, they made a decision to sign us
as the first act of their new, soon to be announced
rock label," said Shippy. A record deal had come.
According to Richard CSR works differently than some
other labels do. The label allows Staynlis to retain
the majority of the rights and income generated by
sales. "The last thing we want to do is become a
puppet, so in a certain sense we are buying into
control and getting studio, production and promotion
at a really great price." said Richard.
With the label offering the band control the guys are
financially responsible for a large amount of the
album costs.
Currently the band needs to raise $14,000 by May of
'07. "We have been able to raise half through
donations, playing and personal savings," said
Richard. In order to help raise more money the band
has to play more shows which means touring. With
touring there was now a demand to find a full time
drummer.
Richard and Shippy had learned of a drummer by the
name of Tony Witt. They knew his credentials and tried
time and again to contact him with no luck. After
returning from Nashville contact with Witt was finally
made.
"We spoke with Tony for about an hour and a half and
got together shortly after that, the chemistry is
amazing," said Richard. "This is just one of the many
ways we have seen God's hand and blessings in all of
this," said Shippy, "Within a two week time frame He
brought us a new drummer and a recording contract."
Born and raised in California , Tony Witt has played
percussion instruments for a long time. He began
playing drums in church at the age of 12 and had his
first recording at 14. Witt has played with several
bands and moved to Kansas in 1993 with his wife and
son. Witt played with bands at bars and parties before
finally playing at a foursquare church in 2000. Witt
has lived in Kansas for 14 years, has been married for
15 years and has six children. "Staynlis inspires in
me influences like Rush, Tool, Korn and Project 86.
Then these guys will spin my head for a second and do
something that resembles the Red Hot Chili Peppers,"
said Witt.
"Tony really brought the music to another level. We
feel that with his servant attitude and heart for this
ministry we have the pieces to make this whole thing
work." said Shippy.
With the band formally together it was time to
consider touring.
Touring can be difficult on bands. Being on the road
and away from the comforts of home takes its toll on
people, especially people with families. It is
fortunate for the members of Staynlis that their wives
and children are so understanding.
"They realize that this is what God has designed us to
do and support us 100%," said Shippy.
This does not mean that feelings of neglect do not
come up. According to Shippy the bottom line is
simple, "Christ sacrificed everything for us and all
of us, our wives and children included, know there
will be some sacrifice for Him," said Shippy. "Christ
tells us to take up our cross and follow him. He never
once says that it is going to be easy."
The band will be returning from Nashville in March and
will be releasing their cd in the second quarter of
2007. After the cd is released they will begin a
series of shows to help promote their new release.
The prospect of a tour is scary. Each member of the
band works full time and touring puts a strain on the
job. Staynlis has come up with a couple of options for
them that they hope will make it easy on themselves
and their employers. "What we have decided is that we
may only tour on the weekends. We would have to pick
and choose where and how far away we play and this
would limit our fans in distant states the
opportunity to see us." said Richard.
They have also discussed that if the touring is enough
to support one of their incomes, then that one person
could quit his job and begin managing and booking the
band full time.
They hope to find businesses and individuals who see
the vision and get excited about the ministry that
they have and help them to supplement some of their
income loss.
When asked by individuals what help they could give to
Staynlis for their ministry, Richard offers this, "If
"if an individual or business feel that it is wtihin
God's will to help us financially, they can send
correspondences to:
Wade Richard
Sales Manager
Midway Motors
McPherson, KS
620-241-0234 ext 320
785-569-1006 cell
1-800-324-8046 ext 320
Staynlis will be performing throughout Kansas after
returning from Nashville . Recently they played the
opening of a youth church in McPherson. "The gig was
set up by a couple of pastors who came into my work
and began speaking to me back in November. We
exchanged things like them being pastors and me being
in a Christian rock band. They informed me that they
were starting a youth church and wanted a band for
opening night," said Richard. The band has purchased
some domain names and plans on having a web site up
and running soon.
They can be contacted through their myspace page at
www.myspace.com/staynlis and also at their Christian
based blogging site www.shoutlife.com/staynlis.
Staynlis will continue to serve God through their
music and in their lives. "God never says that when
you serve him it will be easy, in fact he says just
the opposite in James 1:3 'Your faith will be put to
the test. You know when that happens it will produce
in you the strength to continue'."

For Immediate Release - January 2, 2007

Nashville-based Artist Development and Record Company,
Creative Soul Records, announced today that it has
signed the Kansas rock group Staynlis, to a production
deal.

Creative Soul is planning a whole new rock development
division, and new rock specialty label, and has chosen
Staynlis as the first band for this venture.

“We’re certainly happy to work with Wade, Merlin, and
Tony, and welcome them into the Creative Soul Records
family,” reports Eric Copeland, founder and president
of the thriving Nashville music company. “Their songs
and spirit are exactly the kind of thing we are
looking for in the artists we choose to work with. We
look forward to a long relationship, and helping them
impact the world for Christ with their music and
ministry.”

Creative Soul Records has been in business for over 10
years, with over 100,000 CDs released across the US
and the world, and hundreds of artist concerts and
appearances each year. With recent multiple top 40
radio success, and national and international
distribution deals, Creative Soul is positioned for a
banner year in 2007 for it’s artists and ministries.

Staynlis has been in development for the past year,
honing their songs and sound, and expects their first
national and international CD release this spring on
the soon to be announced rock spin-off label from
Creative Soul Records.

For more information, contact:

Eric Copeland
Creative Soul Records
Nashville, TN
EC@CreativeSoulRecords.com
www.CreativeSoulRecords.com
- Beloit Call

By Brad Bowman (Wheat)


1. How long have you guys known each other and how long have you been together as a band? Where are you from?

Wade and I (Merlin) originally started the band in late 2005. We had a few member changes until Tony and Shawn came onboard in mid 2006. As a band we are fairly young in terms of playing together, however as individuals we bring many years of experience together in many different genres of music.

2. What bands did you guys listen to growing up and which ones influenced you the most?

For me from a bass player standpoint it was groups like Rush, Yes, Kansas , Boston , etc. However my musical tastes as well as the rest of the guys is very diverse. You may find anything in our IPOD's from country to Pop to Rock. Lately groups like Red, Decyfer Down, and Pillar have been filling my personal play list

3. What would you like the listener to gain or get out of listening to a Staynlis CD?

When we started the band we wanted to give listeners the in your face rock that groups like Staind, Seether, Tool, Nickelback, etc brought to the industry. But instead of a worldly message, we wanted to reach those that gravitate to this style of music with a Godly message. We feel like music has such a powerful effect on people that we can reach people for Christ through our music that may be unreachable through normal channels like church, etc. Our music is simply our struggles, trials, failures and tribulations in our daily walk to grow in our relationship with Christ ...put to music.

4. Let everyone know about your latest project. How smoothly did the writing and recording process go with this release? Any tour plans in the near future?

Wow may not have enough room here ;) (will try and be brief) The plan in late 2006 was to release a full CD. We started looking for some quality studios to cut tracks in; however we wanted the quality to be as good as or better than the "major" releases. We knew that was going to be expensive, but our constant reminder was that Christ gave it all and His very best for us. We need to give our all and our very best for Him in the ministry He has called us to.

After searching for a while and never really happy with the quality of the studios and engineers we talked to, we started looking at the engineers and producers of Christian artists that had the style and sound we were looking for. We began negotiations with Travis Wyrick (Pillar, POD, etc, and ended up having a slot tentively secured and were in the planning stages, however Travis ended up calling us back and saying he needed to bump us for a POD emergency session. His next slot was going to be in the summer of 2007. We wanted to track and release before then. So we ended up finding and contacting Eric @ Creative Soul Records. We set up a meeting in Nashville and after that meeting we inked a deal for a recording contract with CSR. Long story short CSR introduced us to Tony Palacios (Decyfer Down, Red, Kutless, etc) and after talking to Tony he thought due to our budget and travel time to track in Nashville that we would get a much higher quality product by releasing a four song EP rather than a full length CD. The rest is as they say history. I gotta say this though. Tony is the man! What a great guy. Not only is he down to earth and a standup Christian, but he is a Phenomenal producer and mix engineer! Plans for tour are in process already, Dates are filling in as our name is starting to spread. Problem for us is Kansas is NOT the hot bed for rock music! I know I can see the surprise on your face! We have seen a bigger response and interest out of state at this point.

5. Do any of the events going on in the world today such as the war with Iraq or other subject matter come into play when you are writing your lyrics or do you mainly focus on man's relationship with God?

Mainly the focus off our music up till now has been mans relationship with God. However songs like Cry, Pray and Too Much are really universal. What I mean is take the chorus of Too Much for example. It says:

Cause it’s much, too much for me
Please give me peace
Can’t bear this cross I carry
Too much too far
I wear the scars
It’s much too much, too much for me

That could be soldier in Iraq , or someone that has lost everything in a flood, or someone that lost a loved one in the war or in an accident, crying out to God.

But then the Chorus of Cry says the following:

So cry, cry for me
Cry and I’ll give you peace
Cause you know I love you
Yes I love you.

God wants and desires a relationship with us. He hurts when we do, actually more than we do! He will give comfort, He will give rest, He will give peace.

6. How would you guys describe your music? How far do you think you have progressed as a band since you first started?

We like to use the phrase "In you face rock with a Christian message" to describe us. I think we are hitting our stride right now. The new songs that we are writing have the Staynlis style. I'd like to think that when you hear a Staynlis song and you don't know who the artist is, that you would be able to hear Staynlis signatures. We are getting to this point. However the songs do not sound alike, that just have the Staynlis sound. Really a band is all about a blend of the different members styles and making the styles work together to make a signature sound. So in terms of progress we have made some good forward steps.

7. How would you describe your band and how would you describe the feeling knowing that you can help someone who's lost through your music and message?

This is the great thing about serving Christ in a music ministry. Not only does he allow us to do what he designed us to love to do, but He blesses us beyond belief when he uses us to deliver His message to both churched and un-churched! There is no better feeling than knowing you were a part of making a difference in someone’s life either by bringing them to Christ for the first time or by helping someone walk stronger in their faith and relationship with Christ.

We are just a bunch of guys who don’t have it together most of the time and often fail and come up short in our walk more often than we like to admit. However we are first and foremost a family of brothers in Christ that hold each other accountable, support one another and pray for each other daily. We are also determined to use our failures to hopefully help others in some way, and are looking forward to the day when we meet Christ face to face and hopefully hear Him say “well done good and faithful servant”.

8. What's the story behind the bands name?

Well like a lot of Christian bands we struggled with a name that said "rock band" but also had Christ association to it. Since I am a car and motorcycle junkie (Gear Head), I started throwing out names like Torque, Fuel (taken), Piston, Crank, etc. When I threw out Stainless it just clicked. We are Staynlis because when God looks at us (you and me) He looks at us through the blood of Christ shed on the cross. Because of the blood shed we are Staynlis in the eyes of God.

9. This is the speak out portion of the interview. You can air your thoughts about anything you want. Let everyone know what’s on your mind about any subject you like.

I think I pretty much said what is on my mind? In case you did not get it…God loves you, He desperately wants an intimate relationship with you, and He waits with open arms for you to come to Him. He is not the author of confusion or of pain. He is also not absent or not listening to your cry. You have just not turned to Him or left your pain at His feet.

10. What Music have you guys been currently listening to?

Anything edgy, like Decyfer Down, Red, Pillar, TFK, Showdown, etc. Also enjoying new bands like Flyleaf, Wavorly, and High Flight Society

Thanks for your time guys
Peace and God Bless
Wheat
www.christianxtreme.com
www.myspace.com/christianxtreme - Christian Extreme