Not Your ‘Standard’ Punk Band: Standard Living Set to Drop Impressive Debut Album

(EDITOR’S NOTE — The Buffalo punk band Standard Living will soon be dropping its debut self-titled album on all streaming platforms. We’ve been fortunate enough to give it several spins and have been blown away. Though young, Standard Living has a raw and powerful sound that conjures punk’s second wave, offering reassurance that the future of punk rock in Buffalo is in good hands. Yet, while the album is full of old-school Fugazi-type sound, the band does not limit itself and exudes a bold versatility. 1120 Press recently spoke with the band’s members about the new album, and we’re thankful for their time. Standard Living is comprised of Carson Davies on guitar, bass, and vocals; Aiden Jasper, on guitar, bass and vocals; and Ian Saccomando on drums and auxiliary percussion. — Photos provided by band.) 

1120 PRESS: First, congratulations on the new record. It’s really very good. How are you guys feeling about it now that it’s wrapped up and about to be released for public consumption?

IAN: It's a huge milestone for all of us. It was a total passion project, and I think we'll all be looking back at this moment for many years to come.

CARSON: We're super excited and we can't wait for people to hear the record. 

1120: What struck us right out of the gate is that, for a young band, much of this album has a very prominent old-school, second-wave punk sound. There are not many bands your age with this sound in Buffalo. Who are your influences?

AIDEN: Yeah, from my songs, I take some influence from bands like Green Day, Minor Threat, and Fugazi, but I would say a ton of influence from local bands as well such as Prairie Pavement and Echolocator.

IAN: We've taken heavy inspiration from early Goo Goo Dolls, but personally I take lots of inspiration from Phil Rudd, Jerry Speiser, Chad Smith, Neil Peart, Dave Grohl, Alex Van Halen, Ringo Star, Will Calhoun, Bill Ward, and Tre Cool. I also listen to old-school hip hop like Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul and Beastie Boys, as well as reggae and jazz. I'd like to give a special shoutout to Nigel Usiak of Echolocator and Dylan Lumb from Prairie Pavement. My biggest influences have been my drum teachers John Fata, Phil Aguglia, and Patrick Towey. 

1120: You mention bands like Prairie Pavement and Echolocator and what’s interesting on this album is that it ‘genre mashes’ at times. The song ‘At the Beep’ is different than ‘Vintage Red’ which is different than ‘I’ll Be Thinking of You’ etc. You have straight up hardcore punk songs but also folk songs and a Ska song and a range of instrumentation including trumpet and banjo. The ‘Prairie Pavement influence,’ so to speak, definitely comes through on some tracks. What’s the band’s philosophy in terms of genres?

CARSON: Because we listen and are influenced by so many different genres it's hard to restrict our creative process to one specific genre. I think our blend of genres helps us stand out from the average ‘punk’ band.

IAN: Sometimes in rehearsals, we just start playing jazz or jam on pieces from songs we were listening to the day before and jump from genre to genre. On ‘Soldiers of Hatred,’ for example, I took heavy inspiration on my drum solo from the solo in Jeremy Levy Jazz Orchestra's cover of ‘Mars: The Bringer of War,’ which was originally a classical piece. Not to mention our use of broken cymbals, metal beads, vibraslap, and — my personal favorite — timpani mallets for the entirety of ‘What Did I Say.’ We take a ‘fuck it’ attitude with our composition here and there.

1120: When you were writing and recording this album, was there any aim you

guys had in terms of your sound? And what was the thinking behind debuting with a full-length LP as opposed to an EP or a few singles?

CARSON: In terms of production, we knew we knew we wanted to keep it lo-fi and a little rough around the edges to stay true to how we sound live, and we figured a full-length album was the best way to represent us as a band.

AIDEN: I believe with this record we managed to find a sound that we believe is what our band stands for. We originally thought about releasing a few singles to start attraction, but we wanted to get this album out as soon as we could.

1120: In terms of subject matter, what are some of the issues/themes these songs are exploring?

CARSON: We all have different approaches to how we write our songs. I write about relationships, politics, and stories. Anything that would make a good song.

AIDEN: With my lyrics I took a more abstract approach, where I just wrote down the first words that came to my head. However, these songs are directed emotionally to subjects like relationships and politics.

IAN: ‘La Paz’ is the song I wrote lyrics for. When Carson screams "stop the shootings" I really feel that. As someone who's been in an active-shooter situation before, I think we need more people screaming those words. I also thought about the horrendous conflict in Gaza, where innocent people are being slaughtered every day. It's our way of saying guns kill people all the time and its fucking awful, and it needs to stop.

1120: Owen Shotwell (bassist for Prairie Pavement) served as a tracking and mixing engineer and co-produced the album with you guys. What do you think he brought to this project?

CARSON: Owen was a big part of this album. He offered guidance and input that only an experienced producer and musician would have, even though he’s still in high school. We can't thank him enough.

IAN: Owen has been one of my best friends since middle school. We formed our first-ever band when we were 13 and nearly six years later, I knew I had to call him up to help us record this album. Go listen to his band Prairie Pavement, they're fucking fantastic.

1120: What else does the band have on its agenda for 2025?

AIDEN: We plan on playing as many shows as we can and maybe release an EP with some new music.

1120: Is there anything else you want to add that we haven’t covered here?

IAN: Thank you to my parents and my twin sister, Shannon, who have been extremely supportive over this past year.

STANDARD LIVING (collectively): The band would also like to say:

Thank you to Mason Sabo for playing trumpet on ‘Take me Away’ and ‘La Paz.’

Thank you, Nate Miller, for mastering the album.

Thank you, Gem, (@gxmdraws on Instagram) for the album and logo art.

And thank you, Owen Shotwell, for producing and recording the album. (@oa_shotwell_media on Instagram)