Finding their rhythm

Behind every band, there’s a story. 

For local Mountain Brook band Riverbend, named for the street they practice on, their story started when the band members brought their talents together in 2013. 

“Max and I met in elementary school,” said Stanton Langley, lead singer, song writer and guitarist. Max Simon is also a guitarist in the band, plays the keyboard and helps write songs. Both are juniors at Mountain Brook High School. 

“When we were really young, we kind of hated each other,” Langley said, adding it was because they both played guitar. 

“As a fellow musician, Stanton has been my greatest enemy and greatest friend,” added Simon.

But eventually they came together and reined in Price Pewitt, also a junior at MBHS, who plays bass and provides backup vocals for the band. 

“We were friends [at the time], but we weren’t that tight,” Pewitt said.

Fast forward a few years to February 2016, and Sims Ruffino, currently a senior at Vestavia Hills High School, auditioned as the band’s new drummer. He was welcomed into the band that night. 

“Once Sims came in, that’s when it locked in together. That’s when we really got it,” Pewitt said. 

“It’s been a moving train ever since,” Ruffino added.

Together, they take their inspiration from the music they grew up with to and still listen to in order to make their self-proclaimed genre: southern alternative power pop. “It’s a blend of a lot of things that we like and a lot of things we’ve come to love all in just this big pot,” Simon said. 

From their inspiration, Langley works on the lyrics while Simon works on the music itself. “Really, it’s Max starting the process, and me kind of finishing it up with the lyrics,” Langley said. He said he pulls inspiration from older music he knows, such as Tom Petty, Pearl Jam and Led Zeppelin, while Simon tries to convey images and emotions through the chords and melodies of the music.

“Since I don’t sing, I want to force myself into the music as much as possible,” Simon said. He described each song as being a different investment of expression. 

“It’s like we build a new building every time,” agreed Ruffino, but instead of houses, they’re working to make music that people can relate to.

Now, nearly a year and a half later and still practicing every day, they have the opportunity to pause for a breath. 

“We’re at a point now where we’re like, ‘All right, let’s sit down for a second,’” Pewitt said. They aren’t just trying to grab on to opportunities — they’ve got hold recognition in Birmingham and beyond.

“We play anything we can downtown [Birmingham],” Pewitt said. Recently, they’ve played at Mountain Brook’s 75th anniversary kick-off party, Trim Tab Brewery, Saturn and WorkPlay. 

Tuscaloosa, Auburn, Mobile, Huntsville, Atlanta and Nashville have also heard their music, and their first big show, where they were the headline act, was at the Syndicate Lounge in downtown Birmingham in September 2016.

Whether the crowd is local and familiar with their music can make a difference, too. “The energy changes, at least for me … it’s scary, but also really exciting,” Ruffino said.

“One thing I’ve found interesting is sometimes, I feel like we perform better in front of crowds we don’t know,” Simon said. “It’s like we’re playing for ourselves.”

And this year, they got to play for both familiar and unknown crowds at their biggest venue yet: the 2017 Sloss Music and Arts Festival.

“This is definitely the biggest step we’ve taken as a band,” Ruffino said before the festival. Riverbend was first thrust into the Sloss scene when tagged in a post that read, “Comment who you want to see at Sloss,” and through local recognition, they received an email confirming they would perform at the festival. 

Ruffino received the email and said he even kept it a little bit of a secret from his fellow band members since the lineup hadn’t been released yet. 

“When we heard we were in, we’re kinda like, ‘Thank God’ … and I just kinda re-realized the weight of it when the lineup came out [later],” Pewitt said, and Langley said he only learned they were in after seeing their name on the lineup from a Sloss Fest Instagram post. While there, they played alongside popular artists such as Alabama Shakes, Widespread Panic, Judah and the Lion and NeedtoBreathe.

“I got more texts for recognition of Sloss Fest than I did my birthday,” said Simon.

Sloss Fest was especially significant because it’s in their hometown, too. “It’s great to be playing on a stage that we were watching people play on [in 2016],” said Langley before the festival.

While the weekend of the Sloss Fest saw some storms, Riverbend’s experience was great. “I really had no idea what to expect,” Simon said. “This was the first time we’ve played a festival of this size, and I couldn’t be happier with the response we got.” The crowd enjoyed their performance, eliciting fans to sing along, and everyone enjoyed a selection of their new music, too.

“Playing in front of a crowd that big brought a new energy to the set. It kind of makes you feel like you’re doing something right,” Langley said. 

And even though Sloss 2017 is over and they’re all moving through high school, they’re still working on new music and planning on staying true to their course.

“We’re all best friends, we’re all brothers. But I think we want to make music people can relate to,” Langley said.

“There’s no blueprint from where to go from here,” Pewitt said. “We’ve all kinda decided that wherever this goes, we’re just gonna keep on keeping on.”