Stan Cartright

Ask Stan Cartright when he started playing bass and he'll tell you he "hatched with a tiny bass in his hand." The truer version: he grew up watching his favorite bands on MTV and VH1, and what made him actually pick up the instrument was the mighty Steve Harris. The first albums he ever owned were KISS's Love Gun and Alive II, and his first concert was KISS on the Creatures of the Night tour at the Richfield Coliseum outside Cleveland.

By 16, Stan was cutting his teeth in the local music scene, playing bars around Youngstown, Ohio in a cover band alongside his stepdad. As his tastes grew heavier he moved into original metal, most notably Kerruption, Caldera, and SmackAlice. After relocating to Erie, Pennsylvania, he stepped away from performing for eight years; around 2018 he picked the bass back up, and he's been known as "The Animal" for his playing style and stage presence ever since.

His influences: Steve Harris, Billy Sheehan, and Geezer Butler. His approach is all service. "I listen to the guitar parts and drum parts being done and build my bassline around that. I look to see whatever serves the song." His favorite album of all time is Mr. Big's debut ("absolutely killer"), and right now he's listening to Billy Sheehan's solo work, Battle Chapel, and plenty of Storms Within.

The best shows he's been to: Pantera with Slayer, and his second OzFest. His biggest concert regret is still the 1996 KISS Alive Worldwide tour, the one he missed because he was getting married to his first wife. His uncle offered him $500 and tickets to bail on the wedding. "It was a killer set list, too." The bands he never got to see: Rancid, Bad Religion, and NOFX. Off stage he's a township working foreman, and when he's not working he's practicing or listening to music. Something people wouldn't expect: he has a huge collection of shoes. No pre-show ritual, either. He just looks forward to getting on stage.

The best shows he's ever played are opening for Black Label Society in Detroit and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He can't pick one favorite Storms Within song to play live, so he has four: "Fallen," "For You," "Revenge Tastes Sweet," and "Not So Easy." His dream bill would put Storms Within alongside Halestorm, Epica, Black Label Society again, and The Fell, Billy Sheehan's new band; the dream rooms are Madison Square Garden, Jacob's Pavilion, and the big festivals in Europe or the US. What the band means to him: "An awful lot. It's truly one of the first bands that I've been in that I felt extremely comfortable in. It's home." And to the fans: "I can't thank you enough from the bottom of my heart. I look forward to seeing and meeting you all out at our shows."