Stuporhero, delivered to you from Seattle, WA, broke into the pop scene in 2005 with their debut album, It Would Be Nice To Wake Up.  The band's sophomore release, Last Star Shining, fused Jen and Will's bright harmonies and fuzz-laden guitars to create another collection of ultra-catchy gems.  Their latest album, Weightless, is boiling over with effervescent sing-a-longs and somber melodies. As a duo with a rumored third member made of plastic, Stuporhero have been cheered for their ability to “take the indie-rock duo ‘awww’ factor to 11.”  Their lo-fi formula also has plenty of goodness for fans of Neutral Milk Hotel and Guided By Voices.  With stand out tracks like 'There Goes The Rainbow, Baby' and 'Welcome Wagon' the music of Stuporhero brings an enticing punk-tinged mirthful sound to the indie pop landscape.
photo by joseph p. traina

Will and Jen started writing and arranging songs they had floating around in early 2005.  In July of that year they recorded their debut, It Would Be Nice To Wake Up, with their friend Chad Yenney at Earth To Emma studios.  The group started playing live in November of 2005, and at their first show ever, opened for The High Dials.  Following a few more shows and some good reviews of the album, released May 2006, Stuporhero took their act on the road on a Western US tour. 

During the beginning of 2006, the band began crafting new material and recorded about forty rough mixes of songs in their basement.  They ended up recording about twenty of those songs in August of that same year, again at Earth to Emma Studios.  Will and Jen did some additional recording and editing in their basement over the next six months and eventually decided on the sixteen tracks for their sophomore album, Last Star Shining, released August 2007.  The album received critical acclaim and charted on radio stations across the US and Canada, getting spins at college and other public stations, as well as on nationally syndicated programs.  Stuporhero also played a NXNE showcase, were featured on NPR's Open Mic, and embarked on their first nationwide tour. 

While working up a set of songs to play on tour, the band was motivated to begin recording a new collection of acoustic inspired songs.  The end result is their newest release, Weightless, available as a free download here on their website .

The band is currently in the studio writing and recording new material.

Songs on Weightless, Last Star Shining, and It Would Be Nice To Wake Up were all mixed by Chad at Earth To Emma Studios, produced by Chad and Stuporhero, and mastered at Golden Mastering.  All cd covers were designed by Vladimir Verano at Natsu Design.







And now for a little history...

Will began playing trumpet in the 5th grade and continued through his first year of college.  His older brother had a drum kit in the house, so Will taught himself to play drums at a young age.  As a teenager, Will hung out with friends who played guitar and he pestered them to teach him some chords here and there.  Finally, one friend gave him an old acoustic guitar to practice on and he was hooked.  Will's first band as a drummer, SCAM (Slow Corruption of American Morals) and the Killer Bees, formed in high school.  They played a mix of pop and punk covers and originals and had only one proper show at a high school dance sponsored by the debate club (which consisted of several members of the band).  Will's first band on guitar and vocals, Slugfest, was the first group to showcase some of his original songs.  Another SCAM member, Jim Brunner, joined Will in this venture and the band released a couple of DIY recordings and played locally in Seattle.  Will's next group was a three piece power pop/rock group called Tourmaline.  The band recorded a five song demo at Egg Studios and played locally in Seattle.  Will finally convinced Jen to quit being such a scaredy cat and learn the bass, beginning the musical journey that led them to Chuckles.

Jen began playing the violin in the 5th grade and continued through high school.  She really wanted to play the cello, but was painfully shy (still is, really) and too embarrassed to carry it on the school bus. She also took piano lessons from a super cool old lady, but never really practiced and didn't get very far on the instrument.  Jen always had aspirations of rock-goddessness (she practiced her air guitar moves diligently in front of her mirror at home), but didn't develop the courage to live the dream until she was all grown up.  She started plunking away at the bass and soon found herself in several bands with Will.  Thankfully, she also realized playing the cello was nothing to be embarrassed about and began taking lessons.

Chuckles taught herself how to play drums by listening to Led Zeppelin records and mimicking John Bonham.  She traveled the world for years, studying percussion instruments of different cultures .  While traveling through England in 2001, she met a street performer by the name of Acey Black and the two became friends.  Black was performing a style of folk music some penned “Horror Folk” or “Black Folk”, the latter of which was a combination of  dark lyrical imagery and the perfomer’s last name.  The two began writing songs together in a collaboration called Tea Party Massacre.  After recording their self titled debut, Black mysteriously disappeared and the album was never released.  Chuckles moved to Portland, Oregon and hung out in a junk shop until she met Jen and Will.  They convinced her to come out of retirement and Stuporhero was born. 
          
Stuporhero is the fourth band Jen and Will have been in together.  In 2002 they played together in a punk/fuzzpop band called BratForce.  The band recorded a rough demo with their friend Chad at Earth to Emma Studios and played a few local Seattle shows, but their drummer quit to pursue other things.  Jen, Will and remaining guitarist Kevin Nicholas auditioned several drummers, but had no luck finding a replacement, so Will switched from guitar to drums and they became the 3-piece Tarantulada (named by friends Karen and Johnny).  With Nicholas taking on more of the songwriting duties, Tarantulada’s music was much faster and harder-edged punk rock.  After some local shows, the band added 2nd guitarist Jon Mark Pitts and returned to Earth to Emma Studios to record their first album, “Like, Drug Me” (taken from a guitar pedal at the studio).  The DIY self-released cd gained good reviews and airplay on KEXP.  The band toured the West Coast and went back into the studio to record a 4 song 7' record that also received favorable reviews and local airplay.  Tarantulada disbanded in 2004 when Kevin became a father for the first time (a fabulous baby girl named Ruby) and Jen and Will were ready to try something different.  For a short time, they teamed up with friends Schmidt-Kicker and Hollerin' Jimmy B in a wise crackin', old school country and bluegrass band called Chucklin' Suzy.  The band was influenced by beer, whiskey, tangerine-lime diet soda, cowbells and hot dogs.  A dangerous combination that was destined to burn out, not fade away.  Good times while they lasted...


Enjoy the tunes.

Below are more pictures and info on Will, Jen, and Chuckles' previous bands.