Hard-Rock Outfit 'Stays in Vegas' Breaks the Silence
A conversation with frontman, Christopher Fulmer
When the COVID-19 pandemic made landfall in the United States in 2020, its impact was felt in communities large and small. New health guidelines and orders from the World Health Organization made it difficult to enjoy what we once took for granted: seeing family, visiting your favorite restaurant, and even hearing your favorite band live. While we’re thankful that these precautions saved lives, we can’t help but wonder what we missed out on in the world of music in the middle of all the noise.
Little Rock, hard-rock band Stays in Vegas is rising from the ashes of a global pandemic as well as greasing the hinges in preparation for a 4th studio album. We sat down with lead singer, guitarist, and frontman of Stays in Vegas Christopher Fulmer to talk about that pandemic hiatus, as well as his passion for music, and the future of the band.
“COVID was a nice break.”
Sitting in the corner of Vino’s Brewpub in Little Rock, beer-in-hand – Christopher recounts a hustling and bustling 2018-19, “It was nice just to stop and write songs. I was playing so much, and working so much.” You see, Stays in Vegas has been around for a long time. Kickstarted as a “90’s to now” cover band, the band released its first original single in 2014. Since then, the band has seen success in opening for L.A. rock band Badflower, playing every venue in Little Rock, bringing their sound outside of state lines, and playing our very own state fair in 2021. With 3 albums under their belt across 9 years, it’s an understatement calling them ‘seasoned.’ Christopher made a point about his experience with the band saying, “There for a while we were Road Warriors. We would play any show, every show – it didn’t matter where it was. [If somebody was looking for a band] it was, ‘We’ll play.’” With this constant ‘go-go-go’ attitude in a hard-rock, punk band as 3 guys balancing full-time jobs – having the world stand still for a year was a blessing. This blessing, however, didn’t result in complete hibernation for Stays in Vegas. Christopher grabbed his phone and waved it in the air, “Nothing but Stays in Vegas & solo songs… My phone was getting full! Everyday I’d pick up my guitar and write something.” On the flipside of this very productive break, Christopher found himself feeling stagnant. He went on to say that “[the band was] tired of sitting at home. We’re tired of not being on stage. It gets in your bones.”
“I kinda rushed the last album… I didn’t wanna do that on this album. That’s why it’s taking so long.”
With the band gearing up for a rebrand and promotion of their 4th studio album, there was no question that Christopher was excited. But, just to make sure, we decided to ask him how he was feeling going into the release… “Stressed. There’s a lot on me. We started the album a year ago.” With an archive of song ideas scribbled into his phone, Christopher struggled with putting 2-and-2 together, saying, “I wrote all that stuff before. I had pages and pages of lyrics. I just couldn’t mesh anything together, I couldn’t put lyrics [with] melody. So it sat for a year.” Not only was writer’s block creeping in the dark corners of Christopher’s mind, so was his perfectionism. He described a general distaste for some of his older songs, even cringing a bit at the mention of them. He assured us that he wasn’t going to let himself release something he didn’t like, even if that meant a slightly longer production cycle of the new album. With so many years under his belt as the soul of the band, the content of his writing changed with age and experience. As a matter of fact, Christopher claimed that his influences never really changed. He told us that he found himself “[writing about] Love and loss. Some revenge, lyrically. There’s a lot of hate. There’s a few songs that are stupid, about nothing… Absolutely nothing.”
“We all click. We’re to the point now where… [we share the same brain]… Yeah, which is cool. We’ve huddled together in a cold Walmart parking lot many times, so we're stuck together now.”
Going on nearly a decade of hard-rock, punk, and grunge – it can’t help but beg the question: Where do you go from here? Christopher found himself asking that same question to his band. He went on to explain that “[the band has] talked about [their future together], cos I’m getting older… There’s a lifespan of hard-rock, punk bands. You don’t wanna be the Rolling Stones, 85 years old, playing a punk song and stage-diving. I’m not that.” And he’s right. Christopher has more than proved he has staying power outside of Stays in Vegas with his solo run. With a 2019 album and debut 2015 single, he’s exploring a sound that takes a different approach from Stays and he goes on to say that he likes it that way. He highlighted that his solo stuff is “an outlet for what all is in my head.” As Christopher orders another beer from the waitress, he goes on to state that he likes keeping his two sounds separate, saying that selfishly he likes to keep some songs to himself. As for those worried about the end of Stays, we don’t believe you have any reason to worry as Christopher mentions that “[the band] sat down and had that heart-to-heart of ‘What are we gonna do? Do we really wanna do this?’ and my drummer’s like, ‘I’m playing drums,’ and my bass-player’s like, ‘just make us famous so we can quit our day-jobs!’ So it’s like, we’re all-in.” Although there may be a clock ticking on Stays, the three musicians will likely be collaborating on a new project as Christopher says, “I have to have music as an outlet. If I’m not writing it [or] singing it, then I’m watching shows and going to shows and helping other bands.”
“I’ve been playing music since I was 15. My grandfather was a musician – bluegrass/gospel. I grew up hearing him play guitar and piano.”
With Stays in Vegas anticipating a long awaited new release, Christopher plans to also release his first solo single in 6 years this fall. There doesn’t really seem to be an end for the singer/songwriter. Christopher is not one to rest on laurels either as he sets his sights even higher. He excitedly discloses that he’s in the process of putting together a tour that will run from October to January. He explains that “for [my] solo [run, I want to] play in every state. I have it mapped out. That’s my plan starting this fall; I have a spot in every state.” As for the band Stays in Vegas, fans can expect the 4th studio album, ‘The Ramen Conspiracy’ out Fall/Winter 2023. As a treat for longtime listeners and fresh newcomers alike, the lead single, ‘Nevermore’ will be release on July 21st, 2023.
“Our big thing is just trying to mend the music community. Every show we do, we try to get a new band to open or play with us that we haven’t before… We’re a band of music fans.”