“The Hounds Below lead singer Jason Stollsteimer brings the rough, fucked up times to light. He makes them seem healthy. These are the hangovers and the realizations that everything has some kind of expiration date. There is fun, while it lasts. There is light before it gets dark and vice versa. There’s always more vice than versa.”

Check out a session we recently did with Daytrotter featuring 4 songs from our debut album.

“The first thing I do when I get to a venue, like five hours before we play when nobody is there, is just go in the women’s bathroom and sit on a couch”.

Jason talks to Steady Magazine about the band, touring, covers and bathrooms.

On tonight’s episode of “American Idol,” a contestant will be performing a song written by Jason Stollsteimer. An audition hopeful will be performing “C’mon C’mon” that Jason wrote when The Von Bondies was active. The song, which reached #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2004, remained in the public eye for many years as the theme song to the FX Network TV series “Rescue me” (starring Dennis Leary). Tune in to FOX at 8pm EST/7pm CST tonight to see if the rendition is a hit with the judges.

Currently, Stollsteimer flexes his songwriting chops in The Hounds Below as the lead vocalist and guitarist. In addition to Stollsteimer, the Michigan based quartet includes Mathew Hofman (bass), Griffin Bastian (drums) and Skye Thrasher (guitar). The band has been supporting its debut full-length album, You Light Me Up In The Dark, released in late 2012 via Slimstyle Records (Local H, Ian Hunter).

The album won over media, including RCRD LBL, American Songwriter, Consequence Of Sound, MTV Buzzworthy, The A.V. Club, Zimbio (who named the group a Must See Act At CMJ for 2012), a cover feature from the Detroit Metro Times and All Music. The latter proclaimed that the band’s music was “a meeting point between The Cure, early U2, The Pixies and a number of other bands of similar vintage.” In addition, The Hounds Below made their national TV debut in early 2012 on “Last Call With Carson Daly.”

Their live prowess has helped them to cull a healthy fan base while touring and playing with such artists as The Cribs, The Heavy, Pacific Air, Savoir Adore and The Pomegranates. Look for the band at SXSW this year in addition to a European release and U.S. run shortly.

www.americanidol.com

We just wanted to take a minute to thank all of our wonderful fans for the amazing year we had. We’ve been on a steady build since we first started and 2012 was no different. We couldn’t have done it without the incredible support from all our fans, the Detroit and Midwest music community, and last but definitely not least Slimstyle Records. Here’s to even bigger and better things in 2013!

“The Hounds Below played a phenomenal set at The Loving Touch in Ferndale, MI. The venue was so packed that the fire marshal even had to show up!”

Check out Noize for some great photos from our recent show.

Jason was asked to guest curate a mixtape for The AV Club and chose to spotlight some of the best bands coming out of Michigan right now. Play it for yourself at www.avclub.com.

We’ve just updated our upcoming tour dates with Cincinnati’s own Pomegranates. We expect to lose a bit of our minds and voices along the way.  Check our tour dates section for more info.

-jason

The AV club has been gracious enough to post a full stream of our debut album. click the link below
HERE