STAND Debut CD Release Topping Charts on MP3.COM

    LOS ANGELES, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- The concept of the Internet's
 ability to expose new music to the masses is being validated by local group
 STAND, whose debut CD, STAND, has five songs on MP3.COM's top 100 download
 chart, including 5 in the top 40 and 2 in the top 10.
     The group, formed barely a year ago and without being associated with a
 major label, is attracting new fans worldwide, despite the band not having
 played outside of L.A.  "We've gotten fan mail from Ireland to Australia,"
 says Paul O'Toole, STAND frontman and lead songwriter.  "The net provides a
 global audience who can bring us into their homes.  There's no other medium
 where consumers can more intimately sample, select and enjoy music, short of
 us playing live.  It's like radio on demand or being your own deejay."
     "'If I was a poet, I'd write a poem, I'd tell you how I feel... but I'm
 just a dreamer, and sometimes, dreams come true' -- was written as a debt of
 gratitude," says O'Toole, who's song "Poet" was recently picked as one of
 MP3.COM's "Hot new MP3s."
     "Poet" and "You Don't Know" appeared last week on the MP3 front page,
 producing over 8,000 hits on its mp3.com/stand page and over 4,800 downloads.
 "All Right Now" cracked MP3.COM's Alternative Charts Top 10, resulting in
 ample sales of their debut CD, STAND (Abhainn Records).
     The band's success has also caught the ear of college radio stations and
 music journalists.  "STAND immediately established itself as the most
 powerful, idiosyncratic and compelling new band to appear in the last year.
 Original compositions such as 'Underground Station,' 'Don't Talk to Me,' 'I
 Heard it on the Radio,' 'Room of Memories,' and 'I Can't Come Down' combine
 poignant, often touching lyrics with irresistible melodies that are framed by
 tout, driven musicianship and brilliant offsetting guitars," says Ric Gentry,
 freelance writer for Rolling Stone and Musician Magazine.
     "You've gone too far this time, you've gone where everyone's afraid to
 go... it's over now," from "Alright Now" hits home for songwriter O'Toole,
 explaining "it's about a friend who ended her life as a result of a drug
 overdose on the streets of London."  Lyrics from "I Heard it on the Radio"
 were developed from childhood memories of O'Toole's Ireland:  "It was 1969...
 I held my father's hand and I felt him shaking" recalling the political
 battles.
     "Not an alternative band, their music is much more mainstream -- updated
 Gin Blossom (song 'Indians,' for example) with more edge (Irish edge a la
 U2 -- O'Toole and Quinn are from Ireland)... but you can still sing along.  A
 highlight is 'Poet' -- 'If I was a singer, I'd sing a song to change your
 world' -- nice stuff."   Teri Danz, LA.COM.
     As a result, STAND has received thousands of visits to their own website
 http://www.standband.com.  "Downloads, like traditional sales, reflect the
 audience's attraction to the artist or song," O'Toole adds.  "If the music is
 good, consumers will respond.  I think our success online speaks highly of our
 work."
 
 

SOURCE  STAND