When it came time to announce the winners of the Battle of the Bands competition earlier this month, Erick VanCuren and the rest of the members of SoulStrum couldn’t believe they had won it.
Sure, they took the stage at Ector Theatre on July 2 believing they could win it, but comparing SoulStrum to the other talented bands that were competing that night VanCuren knew it was going to be close.
“We were pretty excited,” VanCuren said. “I guess we were just a little bit surprised because of the talent we were sharing the stage with. It was a very exciting moment. All the bands were talented enough and good enough to win. We have a lot of good talent in West Texas and that’s not something to be overlooked.”
The Christian rock band consists of Stephen Stroope on lead vocals and bass, Weston Jordan on lead guitar, Zeke Stroope on drums and VanCuren.
As the band’s reward for winning the Battle of the Bands, SoulStrum will get a music video made as well as an album cover.
They’ll also get to close out this year’s Hot Summer Nights as the group will perform today at 7 p.m. at Noel Heritage Plaza.
The music video will be courtesy of Young Gun’s Entertainment.
“That’ll be something that we can use to help promote our band and it’ll help get our name out and get our music out,” VanCuren said.
The album cover and the music video are still in the works. VanCuren says the band is currently focusing on this week’s Hot Summer Nights finale before turning its attention to the other prizes from Battle of the Bands.
“Once we’re done with that on July 29, then we’ll focus on recording our main song and that song will be ‘Soldier.’ That’s the one we’ll do the video shoot for.”
“Soldier” has been a song that SoulStrum has had for 10 years. It was around the same time that VanCuren joined the group when the band wrote that song.
“There was something special about it being the first song with new additions to the band and it has an interesting feel to it,” VanCuren said. “It has a very rock ‘n roll and slightly metal feel to it.”
Bands such as Alter Bridge, Soundgarden have played a part in influencing the song “Soldier.”
“The main thing with the song was not just the sound but also the meaning and the purpose behind it,” VanCuren said. “It can be perceived as being a soldier, essentially, but it’s about being a soldier for Christ. That’s what the whole meaning about the song is.”
SoulStrum was among the four finalists that received enough online votes to compete at Battle of the Bands.
They competed along with Gone by Nin9, Murder Monroe and Never Too Young. SoulStrum was first formed in 2005 by Stephen Stroope and Jordan.
“I felt a lot of pride for us because we put in the work for us,” Stephen said. “We challenged ourselves like never before. It just made me feel that all that hard work had paid off. It wasn’t just a matter of ‘are we better than these bands?’ as much as ‘do we still have what it takes to do this?’”
Stephen Stroope originally came from Galveston, graduating from Ball High School before going to college in Lubbock at Texas Tech.
VanCuren talked about some of the things the judges critiqued the band on after performing.
“One of the things the judges said was that they could tell we’ve been a band for a long time and that we’ve performed for a while,” VanCuren said. “They complimented on the rhythm section and the overall composure of our songs. It was good things they said that we can take with us. It was a reminder of the hard work that we’ve put in is so worth it. We want to continue songwriting and to get better.”
VanCuren talked about the band’s music-making process.
“A lot of times, we’ll record something and then we’ll listen to it and make a few tweaks here and there,” VanCuren said. “The good thing is everyone in our band adds something to our songs so it’s not just one person doing all the work. We all collaborate very well together. I can say that synergy that we have and the biggest thing is that it’s a God-centered group of men that we have. Not only do we write something that has a rock and roll feel to it but also something that has a good message to it.”
While the band has been around since 2005, there have been a few breaks during the last 17 years.
“Honestly, it was a great thing for us because we had a few years off because of family things and being busy,” Stroope said. “When you take a few years off, you wonder if it’ll come back together or not but we were able to stay together as a band and tried this battle. When we won it, it was affirmation that we were doing what we were gifted and called to do. That was a good thing for us.”
His son Zeke is now the drummer for the band.
VanCuren said the group is hopeful to gain some new listeners.
“We’re super blessed and excited to get to share our music,” VanCuren said. “We thought this was just the beginning even though we’ve been a band for a very long time. We started in 2005. But since then, we’ve aged as men but we’ve gained second generation SoulStrum with Stephen Stroope’s son, Zeke Stroope on drums. He brings a new life to some of our old stuff that we have. He brings that youth which is unique with his drum style. He’s a metal drummer but he has several styles and influences with his drumming which you can hear come through. We’re excited to play in front of everybody at Hot Summer Nights.”
For more information about SoulStrum, go to tinyurl.com/43myh2pe.
If you go
- What: Hot Summer Nights, featuring SoulStrum.
- When: 7 p.m. today.
- Where: Noel Heritage Plaza.
