Jamtronica Pioneers STS9 Swing By To Discuss New Single 'Glass Z-13' & Upcoming Album [HIHF INTERVIEW]

This past Friday, jamtronica pioneers, STS9, unveiled the first single, “Glass Z-13,” off their upcoming new album. We don’t have a release date for the new album in the works. Still, we did have the opportunity to sit down with Zach Velmer (drums), Alana Rocklin (bass), Hunter Brown (guitar), David Phipps (keys), and Jeffree Lerner (percussion) to discuss this new body of work and get some insight into what STS9 means to them.

As a longtime fan and follower, I have had the pleasure of seeing them perform many times over the years at countless festivals and venues across the country. They never fail to surprise and astound me with their out-of-the-box approach toward live performances and flawless synchronization when sharing the stage. This new single is an unequivocal testament of the dedication these musicians put in to their craft.

Big sound tribe fans may recognize “Glass Z-13.” STS9 first debuted it at their East Of The Sun show in their old hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, back in 2022. This song is as catchy as the title is intriguing. Dawning with a groovy bassline and Velmer’s kicks and snares into a pristine homogenization as all members come into harmony, their instruments practically become an extension of their bodies. The single has a funky, jazzy vibe that plays so suavely. I love the twang that Hunter throws in with his guitar and how Phipps lays out the incredible groundwork that lets the song transition through its phases. I was fortunate to hear them play this live at their recent Brooklyn dates and can not wait to hear it again and the remainder of the album!

Please enjoy the interview below for an exciting look into their new album, inspirations, and personal lives!

HIHF: Well, first off let me say thank you so much for sitting down with me today. It is such an honor to chat with the band I love so much I’ve tattooed you on my body! I’m so excited for this new single! What can you tell us about this exciting first single of 2025?

Hunter: The new single is called “Glass Z-13.” It’s basically the name of the earliest and most distant galaxy we’ve ever discovered. It’s like thirteen and a half billion years old or something like that. So the idea is just kind of how incredible that is. You know, what it means for humans to be able to perceive something like that. We find that mind blowing and really inspiring. So that’s really the concept behind it. We’re so stoked. We feel like it’s a good kickoff for what’s to come.

HIHF: That is honestly so fascinating and I love the concept. With this being your first single off the upcoming album, how does this new album differ from Chromalight?

ZACH: The single and the album that’s coming out in 2025 is a studio album. Chromalight was a series of records that were curated for an event at Red Rocks and sharing those pieces of music that nobody’s ever heard for that particular event. The response and the feedback from the fans had us blown away at how it connected with our fans. We never really intended it to come out and then we multi-tracked it, and then actually mixed and released it to the masses. So it was kind of the fans that made it come out.

HUNTER: Chromalight and the album we’re working on now are both highly conceptual. But, in a completely different way where Chromalight, the production was a big part of the conceptualization. The music we were playing corresponded to the lights, the colors, the tempo, all these things that were specific to the show and the live performance itself. Like Zach said, it was something we didn’t plan at all to release. It was just this excitement and we hadn’t released something in a while. Let’s put this out, let’s share it. It really spurred the moment for us and was spontaneous, which we don’t always with things like that, which was really cool. But, you know, that’s one of the big differences that, Chromalight was really written for a performance. This is kind of a studio album and everything that that entails.

HIHF: Can you give me an idea of some other songs you’ve created for performance versus studio?

HUNTER: Well, that would be difficult to answer in certain ways, because I think that was for this specific performance purpose. Whereas we are always inspired by fans, the energy we’re getting back from fans, and that goes back into the studio, back into the music. So it’s always related in some sense, but Chromalight was a really special moment where it was custom fit for Red Rocks and that performance. We’ll do it again sometime, hopefully.

ZACH: I can speak to that, Hunter, because it was. But if you look at some of the song titles like “Sky World” and “Push The Sky” for a Red Rocks performance in a thematic way, those were prepped for more of a live thing that connects with a theme. And then furthermore, if we go back, we did something we’re inspired by in a level that way back in the day, we did kind of a show where we debuted, I think, twelve to sixteen to eighteen songs when we played two nights at the Fillmore in San Francisco. But as Hunter said, man, it’s like we write and record and play as well so much music that it’s hard to kind of pen down if this is for this or if it’s for that. It really does all go towards the greater good of STS9 in some way or fashion.

HIHF: Your trajectory has just been absolutely incredible. When I first discovered you guys, it seemed like I was so late to the game. It feels like it was just yesterday. I’ve been subscribed to Bandcamp for years now. I love listening to everything that you guys have to offer and follow along. It’s almost like feeling like I’m part of the family, getting to be able to listen to all of your sets and hear your progression and how you switch things up and create these personal experiences for everybody at these special shows. I think that’s so cool.

ZACH: Man, thanks for saying so and thank you so much for supporting us. It means a lot. That means the world to us.

HIHF: It’s a small price to pay. Honestly, I feel like I’m getting more out of it!

HUNTER: We’re going to use this as a commercial, for real. Thank you.

HIHF: Oh, God. Just don’t use my face!

HUNTER: No, that’s the best part! Come on!

JEFFREE: (jokingly) “Starting video recording.”

HIHF: Do you guys have any curated events or shows that you have in the works for 2025 that you can tell us about?

ZACH: We have a lot of things coming up and announcing, obviously, we just announced a single, so it’s all happening, man. We’re super excited about 2025, but you know, it’s all going to reveal itself in the time that it’s supposed to reveal itself, but yeah, we have a lot of exciting moments for our music and some things that we’ve wanted to do in the live and with production as well as venues that we never played and venues that we haven’t played in a while. So we’re incredibly excited for what’s to come.

HIHF: So I have a question for David regarding his “modular” songs. Do you incorporate that into your albums or releases? I know that’s very much in the moment, but I have always been curious how that works.

DAVID: Yeah, man, the Modular comes up. It’s just like another instrument of the keyboards and synthesizers and electric pianos that I use. It’s an instrument made up of many smaller instruments called modules. So the modules add together to make a custom combination of sound sources, sound modifiers, effects, boring stuff, and exciting stuff that can be changed and configured in endless ways over and over. So over the years, It’s like anything in STS9, has evolved from something completely in the moment and random to now more fully integrated and timed with some of the songs in a more cohesive or repeatable way. At least the beginning where we start off in a modular part of a live song, is somewhat conceived and then it can be improv from there. But it’s absolutely all over the studio tracks, it’s all over a lot of the songs that we play live, even if I’m not playing the modular in real time there might be some modular stuff going on that’s been part of the song already. The modular synth doesn’t always have to be alien soundscapes. You can create classic synthesizer sounds all the way up to new new alien sounds. So I’m really, really fond of that instrument and carry it with me almost everywhere. Maybe Jam Cruise, does the Jam Cruise open deck seawater get the modular or not? It’s still a tough question to say yes or no, to not have it. It’s like, if we can’t have it, and we need it, I’ve made a secondary modular that doesn’t require the whole briefcase of stuff. It’s a little easier to carry around. It’s kind of the imaginary modular.

HIHF: You guys should create a little video of it to put on your YouTube or something. I feel like so many people would love to watch the breakdown of that.

DAVID: That’s a great idea, man. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

HIHF: It always fascinates me, like when you do that in a set and seeing what song you choose. When I covered your Brooklyn shows, hearing you play a modular “Click Lang Echo,” I was absolutely losing my mind as thats always been one of my favorite songs of yours. What kind of thought do you guys put into when curating a set for the night? I remember night one at Brooklyn you played “Muir Soul.” I know you guys hadn’t played that in I don’t even know how many years and it was awesome seeing the reactions from people that have been following you for so long and knew the magnitude of that.

ZACH: I think that’s the point. You nailed it. There’s a lot of curation and permutations and how the evenings and two-night runs compared to the one nights. If we’re in a particular region, the last time we were in the region, or the night before. And then, looking at the whole catalog, we have a lot of songs, and “Muir Soul” was kind of on a request. We have a lot of things on the back burner that we look at and that could make sense to either reveal again, rework, or put some kind of new modernization love into it. So with that particular one, we debuted it again in, I believe it was 2022 or 2023 at a fan-requested show. We just had so much fun playing it that it got into the repertoire. So I think that that is one thing that we’ve strived, you know, night in or night out, it’s just going through the whole catalog and loving all the music that we’ve ever created and playing in a way that we can play it night after night and make it fun.

HIHF: It must be so gratifying giving “Muir Soul” new life, a song that’s very much a part of the early days of STS9, and seeing the response from the crowd and the love felt from that.

ZACH: It’s super fun, man, to say the least, it’s super fun. And then equally, we kind of align with what’s fun for us as well. You know, so that combination makes for a pretty magical and fun night of music.

HIHF: I’ve never had a bad time at a Tribe show, I’ll tell you that! I’ve done a lot of traveling to see you guys, you know, as much as I can of course. One of my favorite sets, I think just for how momentous it was to see you perform there was at Wakaan Festival. I was in my own world as all these attendees had just left the stage but all the true Tribe fans were still there and I just danced at the rail air drumming my heart out and dancing my ass off. Such a truly monumental show.

ZACH: Oh man that’s super rad. Yeah, we were backstage in rattling trailers from the bass for like an hour and a half, we’re like, whoa, this is crazy!

ALANA: We had pyro! That was crazy!

JEFFREE: I’d love to reiterate a couple of thoughts that were expressed, because I think it’s really important. I think that we as a band right now are having fun, man. We are loving what we’re doing. We love the feedback we get from dedicated fans like yourself and the energy that goes back and forth. This year, what we have in store of music to share, art, creativity, and special shows, has my hair standing on my arms right now. It’s gonna be a big year. It’s all about sharing art and something that we’re so excited to express.

HIHF: It shows, honestly, within your performances, and even in your social media posts, they’re always so entertaining to watch! They’re always comical and you can feel that excitement. I’ve been in the music scene for a long time and I would argue that you guys have one of the best fanbases. It feels very much like Zach says, “love, love, love, love, love.”

HUNTER: You know, it definitely does. We are just astounded all the time and so incredibly grateful and lucky to have this community and get the support that we do. It’s just something that we give thanks for literally every single day multiple times a day and we’re just so grateful and fulfilled by it. So thank you for being a part of it.

HIHF: What are some other things that you find bring the band inspiration and help contribute to your music? You guys often talk about storytelling when creating a new album so I’m curious what outside of music influences or stimulates that creativity.

HUNTER: We’ve always been inspired by nature, music, and life. Speaking personally, art has always been there. It’s always something I go back to. It’s always something I’m doing on my off time and I put a lot of work into that and studying music as well. I’ve been on an art history kick for the past few years, so that’s something I’m really inspired by. I’ve also been doing bonsai for a while and taken lessons and classes. So, you know, fully nerded up on it, but it’s just incredible. It’s something I’ve always been interested in. I grew up doing landscaping and worked in the botanical gardens and doing all that kind of stuff. So it’s like my connection to that still.

HIHF: That’s awesome! I had one for thirteen years before it died.

HUNTER: That’s good. That’s a good run. Do you know what kind? Was it a nice one? You know what I mean?

HIHF: I have no idea. It was like a ficus, but, it was a decent size. It had root rot and I just didn’t know how to save it unfortunately.

HUNTER: Sometimes it’s just their time to go. There’s a real true art and mastery to it. The guy that I learned from, the guy that I’ve been taking lessons from for a long time is a master in horticulture, and then went over to Japan and lived there with a bonsai master for six years and did the whole apprenticeship, and then came back, started this whole kind of American bonsai with American trees, American soil, things that are native to here because it’s all about the native species and how that contributes to the health of the overall environment. So there’s a lot of cool stuff that comes with that whole culture.

HIHF: So I have a question for Alana that I’ve always been curious about. Could you tell me about your experience joining the band and taking on the role of the new bassist, bringing your own spin and life into STS9? I know you and your husband have been friends with them for a long time and to join the band must have been such a surreal moment. I would love to hear a little bit about how that came to be and how you took it and made it your own.

ALANA: Oh, wow. Let’s see. Well, of course, we’ve been friends for such a long time. STS9 was like my favorite band, so getting to play in the band was a huge honor and moment and created a whole wave of emotions surrounding that opportunity. It was fun to be able to play music that I loved already and dive into it differently, you know, learning it and playing it. Everybody in the band made it so easy for me to do that. It was fun for everybody. We started to play together and work on songs and it was a bit all over the place in terms of how we approached it with the songs. We just kind of played the songs that we wanted to play. Then we started to write songs together and that was all happening before our first show together. So by the time we got to that moment walking on stage together for the first time and playing the first song, “New Dawn New Day,” which was the first song we wrote together, Hunter had that concept, but we got in there together and figured out like, oh, let’s do this drum and bass vibe to it and, and worked out the melodies. That was an exciting moment but I also felt like I was going to fall over the whole time! But I kept, you know, catching together. But yeah, it was just super fun and magical.

HIHF: I love that. Thank you for sharing that. I also didn’t realize “New Dawn New Day” was the first song you guys wrote together! Do you guys have any certain songs that hold a particularly special meaning?

JEFFREE: I think they all do in their own ways, right? I think some is in the creation, some is in performance, or some is just what you feel from the song. So absolutely.

HUNTER: There are specific stories and all different kinds of things. I mean, there are stories, homages, prayers, or meditations, they all represent different feelings. Some are just fun, some are just who knows, but you don’t really quite understand where they come from or why. Some of them come from a deep place of experience where it feels like the only way to express such a deep feeling is through that song, through the music, through that act of creation together. So, like Jeffrey said, they all have a really specific meaning. That’s the beautiful part about this, that you can express yourself in this way and find people to harmonize these sounds in ways that do things that you can’t quite understand but they work and they make you feel better. They heal things that you’ve gone through. Music is medicine in the realest sense and that’s what it is.

HIHF: I couldn’t agree more with that. I believe one can get so much out of it the more in tune you are with your emotions and other people’s emotions. I know I get very emotional seeing you guys play. You have such a compelling way of evoking those emotions through your instruments. You can feel the emotion that was poured into the song when it was created as well as when it’s being played live. Sometimes it can be overwhelming and I might find myself crying in the middle of a set and then the rest of the time my face hurts cause I’m smiling so hard. It’s really awesome. It can be intense but also captivating, meditative, and healing. It feels like it’s meant for everybody to get their own thing from it and receive it the way it’s meant to be received. I think that’s so genuinely special and powerful. That’s part of what sets you guys apart.

JEFFREE: I think that’s an important point that you just brought up, the individual, right? Any piece of art or music can mean a million different things to a million different people when we’re touched like that by any form. It allows us to touch ourselves in a deep way like that, right?

HIHF: So, today I actually watched your Artifact anniversary performance movie from Red Rocks on YouTube. Surprisingly, I’d never watched it before, but do you guys plan on doing something like that again?

HUNTER: We definitely want to do that again, for sure. We’ve been talking about it. I don’t know if we can really talk about it, but that’s something we absolutely want to do again. There’s an anniversary coming up pretty soon for Artifact and so we want to honor that. We put in so much time and it was so rewarding in a creative way to perform Artifact the way it was meant to be played. I think the first time when we first made the album, there was a kind of a gulf between the album and what we could actually perform live. Given the restraints and how the album was made, it was really a studio project where we went all in with no constraints on our ideas. We never thought about how we would play any of this music, we just went into it with a complete creative openness. I think through the years of playing music like this and finally reconnecting with that album, bringing it back, and being at a place where we could perform it in a new way that we never could before. That was such an incredible experience and really rewarding. We had a lot of fun doing it and I think it came through and is something we want to continue to do.

HIHF: Do you guys plan on doing more Wave Spell sets? I have been trying to catch one of those for years now! I’ve listened to all of them, who knows how many times and I find them mind-blowing.

EVERYBODY: Of course!

HUNTER: It’s like hanging on by the seat of our pants for sure. It’s a great kind of exercise, we’ve always improvised, but that’s something that we started doing with Alana in the studio here in Santa Cruz. It actually started on Jeffree’s birthday. Jeffree, do you remember that?

JEFFREE: I do remember that. I think it kind of ties into a couple of the questions that came before. I’m going to lead this back into what this year has to come. I mean, Alana joining the band, our relationship as a band, the conversations we had, the inspiration; these four other individuals inspire me daily. As we grow, mature, and deepen our relationship, music becomes like a conversation. We listen and trust each other, and that experience allows us to explore the moment together. I think that’s what the Wave Spell experience was about. It’s been such a gift to our music and how we’ve created this album. What people are bringing to the table musically is just a new thing. Again, just super excited to share this because it’s all together in the pot. We can do a Wave Spell set, but it can exist in any song in its own way, in the way and freedom we offer each other to be expressive and speak our voice, so it’s an incredible experience.

HIHF: I imagine it must feel kind of liberating, almost like a naked feeling of just doing something completely new, especially if it’s done outside of the studio in front of a live crowd. You don’t quite know what the reactions will be from your fans and that takes a lot of balls.

JEFREE: Well, I think ultimately at the end of the day, we play the music we love. If someone else can appreciate it, then that’s great.

ZACH: We let the music kind of guide us. No one says by doing the same thing over and over again, that growth happens; growth happens by going through, growth happens by putting yourself in situations that push the art, that push new and uncomfortable, and change your trajectory in crazy ways. As artists, music keeps giving back to us and I think that we honor that and let the music guide that and we have a lot of respect for that. Not only are we giving back but the music gives back and it’s the same thing it is with the fans equally. It’s that win-win, we do what we love and how we share and the fans give back of how they receive it and respond to it. So it is this symbiotic circular thing that when you leave yourself open for those moments, that’s when the magic really presents itself and allows itself to come through when we get out of our own way, equally on the dance floor and on the instruments. From my perspective, that’s the whole fucking point; to forget what you know and play. A lot of my inspiration comes from a lot of activities. And within those activities, if it’s surfing, mountain biking, golfing, working out or anything, if I’m thinking, I’m not growing, because I’m just in the same thing. So it’s like letting go and allowing the space to be what it’s going to be. That’s when you do things that you never thought that you could, or you take a left turn that you maybe didn’t think about in the music and you’ve ended up in this crazy place and you’re there for twenty minutes playing music with the people that you love to play music with and that’s a lot of the Wave Spell. That’s a lot of stuff within STS9’s music, between structure and form. We get to play music and it’s a gift.

HIHF: You and Jeffree both nailed it. I think that’s really inspiring. It’s a large part of what makes you guys who you are. You’re not only pioneering jamtronica, but also this sensational and astonishing style of music that is solely your own. I’ve been a journalist for almost four years now and a lot of people ask me what this job means to me and the best way I can describe it is that it almost feels like going to church, the sense of community, a sense of something bigger than just yourself. STS9 does that in an incredible way and that’s part of the reason why you have been one of my favorite bands ever since my first show.

JEFFREE: That’s a high compliment. Thank you.

ZACH: Yeah, I read something the other day and somebody was asking, so what kind of music do you make? That question is the bane of every musician’s existence because it shrinks it down to this very narrow scope of what creativity is. We get to play music and when we get out of our own way, that’s what comes through. Obviously, there are notes and rhythms and all that, but a lot of this comes through us. If we can open ourselves for that source to come through, then it’s just music. I don’t know why people want to put it in a box or put it here or there, but it’s really about being creative. That quintessential realm is our natural birthright to be creative. As we grow we get put into more and more boxes. So to continuously remain present with that moment of what’s coming through and listening, that’s the end all be all, in all realms.

HIHF: I think it’s part of what makes us human, getting to self-express, do things outside of the box, and trying new things. Life is about being vulnerable and taking chances. You don’t know what you’re capable of unless you do that. I believe that’s a significant component as to why you guys continue to be at the top. It can be difficult to grow and adapt, especially in the music industry. Not that you’re really competing, but there are so many other talented bands out there that are also crushing shows and tours, but making something that’s entirely your own is really damn cool.

ZACH: Hell yeah, it is fucking cool man.

JEFFREE: It’s the human dream man, the human dream.

HIHF: Your music has changed my life in such a profound way and it means so much to me to be able to have the opportunity to tell you that.

ZACH: Just know it’s changed our life as well, there is that reflection right back, it never gets old because it is such a thing, and such a beautiful relationship with the fans and the musicians and what we’re doing and how we’re doing it and that collective that is beyond what is even possible. So it is not taken lightly. We see you and we thank you and we thank all of our fans. We definitely couldn’t do this without you guys, seriously. All the love and passion that you guys exude and share by creating, it’s so rad.

HIHF: My writing feels like an art in itself. I do it because I love it and I believe in it. I believe in my contribution to helping artists grow in their careers and helping them get the exposure they need which helps a lot of these small acts. It’s really cool. I love to talk about music. I never thought I’d be doing it almost four years later. The opportunities it’s opened up for me, and the experiences I’ve had, all have lead up to an interview with one of my favorite bands, which I deeply love and hold a special place in my heart. It makes me truly grateful.

EVERYBODY: Thank you so much for spending your energy, and your time to come and see us and share in the vibe. It’s not taken lightly and we’re so in gratitude right back at you. So hopefully we’ll see you along the way and we’ll connect sooner than later.

HIHF: Thank you all for giving HIHF the exclusive opportunity to sit and chat with you all. To be able to pick the brains of a band I have treasured for many years has been a true highlight of my writing career. I appreciate all that you do for your fans and can’t wait to hear the new album!!

For fans who want to show their full support for STS9, be sure to follow this link to subscribe to their Bandcamp! They upload every show and sometimes offer Bandcamp subscribers first dibs on ticket sales! For just ten dollars a month, it is the gift that keeps on giving and helps these talented musicians continue to provide you with incredible music and live performances!