An Interview With Stalefish, a Texas-Based Indie Pop-Rock Band
By Alexandra Henriques
Photo Credit: Happen Twice
Stalefish, a Texas-based indie pop-rock band that draws inspiration from the sounds of the 90s, will release their newest EP, New Pop Experiments Vol. 1, on June 27th. The 6-piece band is stepping into a more sonically adventurous chapter, hence the title of the EP, built on long-distance collaboration, shared passions, and raw creativity. WGMU Radio had the chance to talk with Dalton Hausman and Jake Magee, the two lead lyricists and vocalists of Stalefish, about the formation of Stalefish, New Pop Experiments Vol. 1, and their future projects and goals.
All six Stalefish members met while playing in the Texas/Austin local music scene. While most members started in separate bands, they often crossed paths, played together, and eventually decided to form Stalefish as a collective. Hausman and Magee lived together during their years at the University of Texas at Austin, and their music taste meshed, which draws the band together sonically.
“The challenge for us was to do something more significant, and because that’s what we wanted, we knew that we needed to take it more seriously and try harder to push ourselves, in our writing, in our performing,” Magee said when talking about the initial drive behind forming Stalefish and their early vision for the band.
Stalefish, which got its name from the vert skateboarding trick, often draws inspiration from a variety of artists.
“Songs that end up on the same project often have different influences,” Magee explained, as Hausman and Magee listed some of their top inspirations as Pavement, Ween, The Breeders, of Montreal, and the sound of Beck.
Hausman and Magee also shared some of their career highlights, such as when they got to play the after-show for Built to Spill, and Doug Martsch (Built to Spill’s lead vocalist and guitarist) watched their entire set.
The two band members also shared their music-making process, explaining that it is a combination of solo and collaborative work. Hausman and Magee had both been working on music since the release of their second album, It’s All Down Here from Hill, in August of 2024. The two had written some songs separately before showing them to the rest of the band. In late 2024, Stalefish spent two weeks demoing songs, and then between the end of December to the beginning of April of this year, the band recorded and mixed the six-song EP. However, the band is often separated geographically.
“If Jake’s in town for four days, then all of our free time for those four days is going to be spent writing and recording together. ‘Cause then a month will probably go by or a month and a half where, y’know, we’re all split up again,” Hausman said about their recording process.
New Pop Experiments Vol. 1 moves away from slacker rock and embraces an exploratory approach to different sounds.
“The concept behind the EP was to push ourselves in more extreme directions, like pop-music wise, and just try stuff that we hadn’t tried yet…And I think we were pretty successful in getting to try out new things, whether it’s songwriting stuff or instrumentation. Every song on the EP has some sort of thing that we’ve never done before, and that was kind of the goal in a way,” Magee said.
Their lead single, “1000 Books a Day,” was inspired after Hausman and his girlfriend attended Austin City Limits, and his girlfriend encouraged him during a Royal Otis performance, which inspired Hausman to write a radio pop song. However, the song evolved from its original synths and electronic drums when he brought it to the rest of Stalefish, who helped it become more of a rock tune while keeping some of the pop influences.
Hausman and Magee shared some of their favorite memories from the creation of New Pop Experiments Vol. 1, such as when everything clicked into place for “Hannah’s Song,” a song about Hausman’s girlfriend, and hearing the string quartet for “Horn of Plenty” come together.
“To be honest, I would be more than happy and satisfied just to be able to know that we had an impact on the scene around us and that we, you know, we were important, at least in our little corner of the world,” Hausman said while talking about the band’s biggest goal (though he stated being rich and famous is certainly a goal, too).
Stalefish is going on their first tour across state lines this summer, with shows in Chicago, Kalamazoo, New York (including Brooklyn), and Boston.
“That’s always rewarding to play somewhere you’re not from and have people like what you do…The drives are not the best, but at least we’re all together and that’s always fun,” Magee said.
Stalefish is not slowing down anytime soon. New Pop Experiments Vol. 1 is out tomorrow, June 27th, on all streaming platforms.
