Sometimes fame in the most unexpected of places can sneak up on you. Just ask Jason Stollsteimer, the singer-songwriter-guitarist of Michigan-based alternative rock band The Von Bondies.
Stollsteimer never dreamed about being a rock star. Instead, he was looking to become a teacher one day. That is, until one day in the late '90s he got together with friends and tested out his singing abilities. Backed up by his friends' compliments and others he met, he discovered he had something there.
"Normally, it's pure gut feeling," he says of his songwriting today. "It either feels right or it doesn't. It's instantaneous, it's not something (where) I sit down and spend weeks on a song. Nine out of 10 times it's instantaneously a good song."
Shortly after playing solo and with various members, he invited his friend Don Blum to drum for him and The Von Bondies moniker came soon after in 2000.
The band found an expansive audience thanks to touring globally and a few high-profile TV spots, including "Late Night with David Letterman" and "Last Call With Carson Daly, " not to mention its song "C'mon C'mon" becoming the theme song for Denis Leary's FX TV series "Rescue Me."
Stollsteimer is certainly on a new path, but in a way, he's found a different type of teaching. School kids are replaced by concert goers hungry for energy-infused guitar-driven rock music. And in return, he and Blum have learned valuable lessons about life.
"Every day is an up and a down. It's like having a boyfriend or girlfriend, a relationship," says Stollsteimer of the band. "Some days you have a flat tire and you're kind of screwed. Some days you find a hotel with a pool and a slide and that makes your day all better. It's about the simple things."
From the beginning the band has kept it simple, two guys and two girls. Stollsteimer handles guitar and bass in studio, while Blum played keyboards on the last two albums in addition to drumming. Leann Banks and Christy Hunt join the band live handing vocals, bass and rhythm guitars.
"One of the big things that we get told is that we have call-and-response male and female vocals, which is different as most bands are all male or have a girl singer, which is common nowadays," says Stollsteimer. "Having the dueling male and female vocals is interesting for people. Even if the tone of the music has changed, that's still there."
The Von Bondies latest, "Love, Hate and Then There's You," (its debut on the Majorodomo label) sees Blum contributing songwriting for the first time in the band's decade long history
This compared to the first two albums -- 2001's "Lack of Communication" and 2004's hit album "Pawn Shoppe Heart" (the latter produced by Jerry Harrison of the Talking Heads) -- which Stollsteimer says veered closer to solo records in how they were written. The band wanted to show what it had learned and didn't want to write the same song over and over.
"The songs on the new one are better written and better performed. A band can't stand still, we've been together for 10 years," says Stollsteimer, who worked with producers Butch Walker (Hot Hot Heat, The Donnas, All-American Rejects) and Rick Parker (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club). "Hopefully, like anything in life, you learn and just get better at any job you do, especially if you enjoy doing it."
When the time comes for a tour and the chance to get out in front of new and old fans alike, The Von Bondies don't hesitate. This band thrives on touring.
"It's like every year is one long weekend for us as a band," says Stollsteimer. "A lot of sweat and jumping around, a lot of bad jokes on stage and loud guitars. We are not a stand still band. We break a sweat within two or three songs."
This attitude has gotten them attention around the nation and world, playing at large festivals such as South by Southwest in Austin, Tx., and landing TV spots.
"It's not something that you can work towards, it either happens or it doesn't. If you work hard enough hopefully people will give you these kind of offers," says Stollsteimer. "We were lucky to do a lot of them and really appreciate them. And being from the Midwest you appreciate it more. Going to New York or L.A. isn't as exciting for people who live in big cities as it is for someone in middle America."
The band makes a Midwest visit Saturday, June 20, headlining the west stage of the East Side's Summer Soulstice Music Festival at 9:30 p.m. Julia Evans, the coordinator for the festival says that the Von Bondies "balance perfectly against east stage headliners, and Milwaukee favorites, Fever Marlene."
"The chance to have The Von Bondies headline the Summer Soulstice west stage lineup was something we quickly jumped on," says Evans. "Their music is original, edgy and insanely likable. In addition to bringing high energy to the festival, they also bring thoughtful lyrics, and an obvious high caliber of musical talent."
The band has experienced quite a bit, with big festivals with 20 thousand people, and has played alongside a number of notable bands like Franz Ferdinand, The Donnas, the Stooges and Sonic Youth. But for Stollsteimer, his best moments are when the band is having a great show.
"I just have an extremely good time at a show even if it's at a small club," says Stollsteimer. "It's not a contest of who we've played with. Yes, we've played with the Stooges and Sonic Youth and bands like that but that wasn't one of my highlights."
The band plans to continue onwards, through tough times and good ones. This isn't what Stollsteimer dreamed of, so he's taken everything with stride and enjoyed the unexpected surprises. And don't expect him to gloat over being a rock star as he doesn't think he's much different from everyone else.
"It's the same thing, we do it on tour instead of being home working in an office job, where you have ups and downs," says Stollsteimer. "I don't think being in a band is any different, besides being in magazines and being on stage and everyone gets to see our ups and downs."
Milwaukee, prepare for an electric lesson in rock and roll by your teachers, The Von Bondies.
