Persona is an Indie Rock band out of Bethpage, NY. The band consists of Tom Spartinos (vocals/guitar), Costas Themistocleous (lead guitar), Sam Trestman (bass) and CJ Kostaras (drums). The guys came together in 2011, but each member of the band had been perfecting their craft for years prior to that in separate bands. Persona released their debut EP, “Take Me to the Moon” in 2012 and have hit the ground running ever since. In June, the band released their newest single, Indie Cowboy, a song that contains a combination of Indie Rock and Alternative Rock vibes!
I was able to speak with some of the members of the band and gained insight into what Persona is all about. When I asked what genre the band considers themselves, they stated, “we don’t really tend to one genre. We consider ourselves and Indie Rock band, but we have an edgy side and a bright pop rock, pop punk side.” I love that the band labels themselves as such because their music demonstrates this so well. The majority of their music has an Indie Rock vibe but has that edgy Pop Punk/Alternative side similar to bands like The Story So Far and Blink-182; the band that inspired each member of Persona to get into music in the first place! “In the beginning we were inspired by the music scene and the way the Pop Punk/Punk Rock movement was. It was something new, refreshing and liberating. As we got older the inspiration became life. Music has always been a form of therapy and when you are writing music to cope with your feelings and there are people who listen to your song and feel the same way or of a sort, it is a beautiful thing. It definitely was fuel for our fire.”
On June 8th, 2018, Persona released their new single, Indie Cowboy. The song starts off with a short acoustic guitar riff that quickly leads into full band instrumentals. I immediately fell in love with the hard hitting instrumentals on this song. It reminds me so much of a mix between Brand New, 30 Seconds to Mars and Stories Untold. This song is a true example of why Persona tries not to hold themselves to one genre. So many different influences can be heard on Indie Cowboy. The band was able to incorporate the slow, soft sounds that many Indie Rock songs contain as well throw in the hard guitar riffs, infectious drumming and edgier vocals that can be heard on more Pop Punk/Alternative songs.
Persona shared with The After Hours Review that “to us, this song is about being introduced and enveloped around chaos and problems. Being surrounded by a cruel world, cold people and things you just can’t change. It’s about walking away even if that means walking alone. About standing up for your morals, beliefs, and ideas and isolating away from what you can. It’s about creating your road and not walking a broken path. It’s about taking the higher road.” Persona hit the nail on the head with their explanation of the song. You can feel the pain and emotion that was poured into this song when listening to the vocals! “Pull yourself inside out. Swallowed whole, drowning sound. Fight the mind, brittle down. No difference to be lone. I’m gonna walk a lonely road. The people divided, the village is burning in flames!”
Persona is a band I only came across a little over a month ago and they are without a doubt one of my favorite up-and-coming bands! Their unique ability to create music that doesn’t stick to one genre is something that needs to be recognized! When asked what direction they hope to take the band in, Persona responded “we want to reach and impact as many people as possible. To us, if we reach one person on a deep level, and have changed their life, mood, or feeling, we have done our job. There is nothing more fulfilling than receiving a message or comment from a fan telling us how much we mean to them, or how much their song changed their mood or perspective.”
Persona deserves all the exposure they can get! They already have a couple of EP’s and some amazing singles under their belt, and it’s obvious they have no intention of slowing down! Persona will be running a North East tour this month, and plan on releasing two more singles in the fall! Make sure to follow the band and listen to Indie Cowboy and more of their music on the blog’s Spotify playlist: After Hours Review!