Stories Through Storms performed Dec. 15 at the Bottleneck in Lawrence, KS. They are a metalcore band originating in Kansas City, Kansas but now operating out of Topeka. After the show, I spoke with Austin Spencer-Androes, one of the two vocalists in the band.

How did you get into music?

“I’ve been listening to music and I loved music all the way through school. I did choir and orchestra and all that stuff, but I started a band and we all got together.”

What are the biggest problems you encountered at first?

“Getting people to listen to us, I mean, getting people to come to shows. It’s a tough life. Even now, we’re one of the bigger bands in the whole area, and we still just grind it out and talk to every single person we can.”

What’s a typical workday for you?

“If we’re running a song, we’ll just get together and our guitarist records all our music for us. So we’ll just go over to his house, hang out, write music and record it. On a show day, like today, I got up at 10 o’clock and I’ve been focused on this ever since.”

What’s your favorite part of performing?

“For me, personally, it’s the connection to people. Especially when I see people singing our lyrics and stuff like that. The fact that they connect with how I feel, that just moves me in a way that I don’t think anything else could.”

What is your most memorable show?

“We played a show in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and it was our first tour. We thought it was probably going to suck, like 10 people every night, and we got down to Mississippi, and there’s like 100 people there, and they’re screaming our lyrics at us, and they absolutely love us, and I think that was the most surreal point in my life I’ve ever had.”

Where’s the furthest you’ve gone on a tour?

“Our last tour, we went clear up through Nebraska, all the way to New York, all the way down to Florida, and all the way to Texas.”

What’s your favorite city?

“I went to Rome last year, does that count? My favorite city in the states is probably New York City.”

What goals do you have for your band?

“I want to reach as many people as possible. We have a message, and especially within this kind of music, people are going through so much stuff, and I’ve been through a lot myself. I just want to connect with people and change people. We usually have a message, we didn’t really have time tonight, but we work with suicide prevention companies. I like to tell everybody who talks to us that if anybody needs a helping hand, if they have thoughts of suicide or anything like that, add me on Facebook, my name is Austin Spencer Androes, and that’s just me. That’s why I’m doing this. I like to help people.”

What other hobbies do you have?

“I like to play video games, all kinds. I like Skyrim, and horror games, definitely. I also skateboard and I play drums, also.”

Do you think you’re going to keep the sound of your band relatively stable, or will you be changing it?

“In June, we’re going to one of the biggest producers for this type of music, and I’m not really sure. I mean, I know we’re definitely going a little more mainstream, but I think this scene as a whole is, but we’re still going to have the heavy side to us. Once we go to him, he’s going to go write for us, so we might sound a little different, but it’ll still be us.”