Guesting with Knotfest’s Colin Young, One Step Closer's Ryan Savitski sat down to chop it up about the trajectory of the band, their distinct sound, and how they couldn't be more happy to be out on the road and playing shows nightly
Discussing the band’s Run for Cover Records debut, This Place You Know, the musician spoke about wanting to put on for the Northeast hardcore scene and pushing themselves creatively both onstage and in the studio.
Ryan spoke with pride about his Wilkes-Barre, PA roots and how his core community, steeped in skateboarding and hardcore music, ultimately nurtured his creative path. Forging familial bonds early on as a young skater, the same people that he would ride with would eventually take him to his first show, introduce him to new music and spark his love for the sound.
As for the influences that drive One Step Closer, particularly frontman Ryan Savitski, he cites hometown heroes like Title Fight among his more important muses. Referencing the band's album Shed and the plethora of nods to Pennsylvania throughout, he explains how that band will always resonate with him. As for the lineage that One Step Closer comes from, Savitski includes Jersey youth crew specialists Turning Point as the band really started things for him.
At all of 22 years old, Savitski talked about how six weeks deep into their current tour he still is completely enamored with the kind of life he is leading on the road. Not jaded to living out of a bag and spending long nights driving from city to city, the frontman kept it simple when it came to long term goals - explaining that his priorities right now are to skate and play as many shows as he can. It's that kind of genuinely enthusiasm that has resonated well with fans, propelling This Place You Know to really become an important album in the landscape of modern hardcore.
Forecasting the rest of the year, Savitski laid out One Step Closer's itinerary for the remainder of 2022 explaining that the band's dance card includes a run overseas for summer festival season, a handful of festival plays back stateside and another U.S. run later this fall that will see the band supporting another band that he couldn't yet reveal - however seemed very excited about.
The conversation would touch on which pizza in PA is better, some real comparison between Sheetz and Wawa, and how Wilkes-Barre does a great job of putting on for the next generation - which is all Savitski is trying to do.
Stream the full interview with Colin Young and Ryan Savitski of One Step Closer below.
