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photos: Moe Horta

Do you like your hardcore mixed with melodic influences? Are you tired of buying simple band merch with basic designs? Do you proudly rep your hometown? If you answered yes to any of these questions then you should most definitely consider listening to emerging Pennsylvania act One Step Closer. 

Originating from the bustling Wilkes-Barre scene, home to bands like Title Fight, Tigers Jaw and more, the straight edge rockers One Step Closer are looking to make a name for themselves with their distinct brand of heavy and emotive music. 

Whether you are looking to stage dive or soak in the more somber moments, the talented trio provides the best of both worlds for all types of showgoers. 

With the band currently on their first-ever headline tour, The Noise had the chance to sit down with vocalist Ryan Savitski to discuss their jam-packed shows, their latest album All You Embrace, plus a potential clothing line for the DIY group.

To see what the outgoing frontman also had to say about mixing the hardcore space with the softer alternative world, being a gateway to the straight edge community, and more, be sure to read below. 

Afterward, don’t forget to see One Step Closer out on tour with support acts Bleed, World Of Pleasure, Footballhead and more - plus, maybe pick up a sweet pair of OSC jorts while you’re there.

This is One Step Closer’s first proper headline tour ever. How does it feel to finally reach this milestone and how has the tour been so far?

RYAN SAVITSKI: It feels awesome to finally be able to just do it properly and kind of experience something different than just a support tour. We've done headlining shows before and we kind of have a feel for doing them, but doing a full headliner is like an accomplishment, but it's also very scary because we want the shows to be super sick. So far, the tour has been amazing. 

Has the tour met or exceeded your expectations?

I think it's so far met and exceeded in certain places. California - I was very much expecting to be awesome, but that exceeded my expectations for sure. And a lot of the other shows have surprised me with how well the attendance has been, and just the show's vibes in general have been really great. And it makes me happy to see all the other bands also selling merch and having great sets as well. I think that's all I could really ask for.

Everybody wins. 

Exactly. That's what we want, you know? 

At your core, One Step Closer is a hardcore band, but you've intentionally started to incorporate more melodic elements into your music. The same can be said for the tours you book, and your headline tour is no exception. How do you balance the heavier side of your fanbase while trying to introduce fans of your softer side to the hardcore world?

It's interesting because I feel like doing bills like this, where it's kind of a little mix of everything, helps introduce new people to different kinds of music. And I think that's why we've also loved doing support tours because a lot of these kids that are coming to the shows now, we were their first hardcore band that they've ever heard, and now we’re transitioning kind of into having some softer songs in our sets and stuff like that.

I think it's been going over well because the hardcore fans still appreciate it, and the newer fans are already from the world that we're kind of going into. So, it helps the transition pretty easily. Some nights it's better than others too. Some nights, it's like strictly hardcore kids and the old songs really go off like crazy and the newer songs don't. 

But I think for the most part, the shows have such a nice mix of like, every song gets a sick reaction because people are there for just a little bit of everything, you know? 

Kind of touching on what you just mentioned, you guys are playing a lot of songs off your sophomore record, All You Embrace. How does it feel to look back on that release now a year later and what can fans expect from One Step Closer going forward?

I mean, looking back, it's kind of crazy just thinking about the experience of writing the record. I feel like we were in such a different mindset for this record of just trying to fully express ourselves as much as possible and be open to different ideas and trying new things. Like, we've been a band for a long time, since we were kids. 

At this point, I think we're trying to find what our band is and make our band like “this is the staple sound of what One Step Closer is.” And I think this was the first time of really trying to exceed that and approach that the right way. So yeah, what to expect? We're just going to keep doing our thing. Keep writing and do what feels natural for the band and keep doing what we did on All You Embrace, but better.

In a scene where it's the norm to hate your hometown, you guys have done the exact opposite and embraced being from the Wilkes-Barre area. Can you explain the roots of your local scene and how it feels to now be part of that history as well?

 Yeah, I mean, growing up, Wilkes-Barre was one of the hot spots of hardcore with bands like Title Fight, Cold World, Bad Seed, War Hungry and all these different artists. But also having bands like Tigers Jaw and even as big of a band like [how] Motionless In White is now. There are so many different genre-spanning artists in our area that have just gotten massive.

So it is really cool to have a piece of our history in that. I'm super prideful of our area and I know that people could sometimes talk badly about our area because it is like just a small-town kind of energy. And it's not a major city or anything like that.

 But our area has produced some of my personal favorite music of all time. And I think that says something about our area and I think it creates something special. There's just so much deep history there, that it's hard for me not to love where we come from. Everybody has their gripes with their areas that they live, but I'm super grateful for everything that I've learned there and the hardcore scene that I grew up with.

Yeah, there's definitely something in the water out there.

Yeah, it's super interesting. I don't know what it is, and I don't know if it's just pure depression from people. Honestly, there's not a super lot to do, so I think people flock to be very creative and just want to create. And I think for some reason it's just a hotbed for creation, you know?

And the sense of community that goes hand in hand with creating. 

Yeah. Not only is there such a vast music scene, [but] there's so many amazing artists and people that are doing such cool artistic stuff outside of music in our area that I feel like sometimes gets overlooked. But yeah, we have a lot of creative people in our area and I think that people should be a little bit more, I guess, loving towards our scene, you know?

Especially when there’s the cliche pop-punk feeling of “I hate my hometown.” And you guys had those feelings maybe when you were younger, but as you've grown and realized how important those roots are to you, you’ve done a complete 180° on that and embrace it now.

I think when you're young and you want to experience things and you feel like you're trapped a little bit, and then you kind of get out and you know... Honestly, touring has changed my perspective of pretty much the entire world, you know? It made me realize how special our little neck of the woods is in Northeast PA. It's a very cool place and I have yet to find a place in the entire country that is like that.

In addition to being part of the Wilkes-Barre and hardcore communities, you're also a staple in the straight edge community as well. Even when Google searching the band, pretty much every bio proudly displays that One Step Closer is a straight edge melodic hardcore band. Why is it so important for you as a band to brand yourself with that label and how has being straight edge positively impacted you guys?

I've been straight edge since I was 14 years old and I think that when we started this band, we wanted to start as a straight edge band because that's what we were, that's what we still are, and that's what we want to represent. And as much as we don't really talk about it in the music, I think it's just still something that holds weight to us. And I don't think that will ever really change.

 But yeah, I mean, it's just one of those things that we don't really think about as often anymore like, “Oh, we need to X our hands every show” or do anything like that. But I think it's just a crucial part of our identity as a band and I don't think that will ever go away.

Yeah I think that's how fans can also embrace the community as well, where it's not so abrasive. Granted, there's nothing wrong with that, but for fans that are new to the community, you could be the gateway into that world for them.

Yeah and I think there's a place for bands that are very much like, “This is what we are. We are a straightedge band. This is what we talk about.” Honestly, a great example is World of Pleasure, they talk about veganism and straight edge in almost every single song and that is their thing. Where for us, I feel like we kind of take a different path of the way we want to display that.

But I hope that kids are able to find our music and see like, “Oh, what is straight edge?” And then they just go down the pipeline of what I did when I was 14, you know what I mean? And discovering it for the first time and stuff. So, you know, that's all we really want. We just want to make a positive impact on people and hope that they start bands and continue to keep the hardcore scene alive. 

Switching gears here: As a band you've been very hands on with the merch you release in a way that mirrors a streetwear clothing line but with a DIY approach. Can you explain why it's important to be so involved in that process and some of your fashion inspirations? 

I think it just kind of helps us put more of ourselves into the band because we all really love that kind of fashion and we've been into fashion and have wanted to make clothing brands and do stuff like that in the past. So I think being able to design our own stuff and having Ross [Thompson, guitarist] have a crazy artistic mind when it comes to creation and stuff like that.

It's helped us really just be like, “Yeah, like, I would wear this stuff every day and I want to see other people wearing it,” you know what I mean? So it just helps us connect even deeper into the band in a way.

I mean, we've recently talked about actually starting our own clothing brand and doing something kind of adjacent that's still involved with the music stuff but has its own identity and stuff. We're actually going to go home and work on that more after this tour. So something cool to look forward to. 

But I would say fashion inspiration for the most part, at least with our merch right now, is like all like 90s skateboarding stuff. Birdhouse, World Industries, Hook-Ups, you know? All these different brands that were doing really cool graphics, but also placing them in cool ways and doing unique garments and different things like that. And we all like streetwear. We like Supreme and ALD and all these different things. But I think for the most part, our inspiration definitely comes from the skateboarding community and growing up as skateboarders.

What is the one One Step Closer song you'd recommend to someone checking out the band for the first time?

I would say “Giant’s Despair” or “Leap Years” would be the two because I think “Giant’s Despair,” if you are a music listener and not so much a hardcore person or [are] even remotely aware of what this is, I think most people who just enjoy alternative music would like that song. 

Where I think “Leap Years” is a little bit more aggressive but that song feels like it's catchy, you know? And I feel like if you like a little bit more aggressive kind of stuff, you would probably like that song. So, I would say one of those two, and if not one of those two, maybe “Orange Leaf” just because I feel like that's a good middle ground between the two as well. So yeah, something off the new record, I would say would be the easiest. And then, you know, for people that really are more fans of heavy stuff, we would show them something older for sure.

Any final words as we wrap up?

I think I say this pretty much every time, but learn an instrument, start a band. It changed my life, you know? And I think it changed myself and our guitar player’s life for the better. And we've gotten to see a lot of really cool things and meet a lot of amazing people. And yeah, I wouldn't trade it for the world and I just hope that other people can experience this and do it too.