Exclusive Interview
We talk with hard rock band, .end of story!
We talk with hard rock band, .end of story!
For people just discovering you, who are .end of story? A hard rock trio from Wichita Kansas. Skot Reed - guitar and lead vocals, Dave Eichman - bass and backing vocals, currently in search of a drummer.
How has living in Wichita shaped your music and work ethic? Wichita is merely our location. Our music is shaped by life experience and work ethic was instilled by great parents.
Your band name is striking, what’s the meaning behind “.end of story,” and how does it reflect your mindset as a group? We were trying to come up with a band name at rehearsal and started throwing out commonly used phrases. Skot suggested .end of story and it was originally not a big hit. After seeing people in a dream wearing .end of story t-shirts, Skot shared this with the band and it was decided that it was meant to be. No real meaning behind it. The mindset it reflects is that, this is who we are and what we do, PERIOD, end of story.
Hard rock thrives on emotion and intensity. What themes do you find yourselves returning to most in your songwriting? All the songs come from life experiences. Unfortunately, a lot of bad relationship songs in the early days, but the themes have shifted in a more positive direction, somewhat.
Can you walk us through your creative process, does a song usually start with a riff, a lyric, or pure frustration? Skot is the songwriter and almost always comes up with a guitar riff first, then a vocal melody line. Sometimes lyrics come right away and sometimes he has to take a few showers. That's generally where the lyrics come to him. The original ideas are then developed either at rehearsals or in the studio.
Which bands or artists had the biggest impact on your sound, both classic and modern? We don't generally name "influences" as people expect you to sound like those bands. Bands that have inspired us over the years range from old-school Rush and Black Sabbath to King's X and Karnivool.
Your track “Revolving Door” has a heavy emotional pull. What inspired that song, and what were you trying to communicate? In our case the song is about the struggle to find and keep a drummer. However, the lyrics can be interpreted a million different ways. Whatever YOU hear in the song, that relates to you, is what really matters. Skot's lyrics generally have a vagueness to them, leaving room for you to paint your own picture.
What challenges have you faced building a hard rock band in today’s music landscape, especially as an independent act? Finding a like-minded drummer has been difficult. The music industry is geared toward the independent artist, now more than ever. The days of striving for that major label deal are over. Indie labels and self contained operations, like we are, have endless avenues for promotion via the internet. Marketing is definitely the hardest part and can easily be a full-time job.
How does playing live factor into who you are as a band, and what can fans expect from a .end of story show? Currently it doesn't, as we are without a drummer to complete the trio. That said, we have been playing live for years and what you get at an .end of story show is an "event" every time. We approach every show as a "concert" even if it's just an hour set in a club. We bring the "A" game and with years of experience, a professionalism that's a rare thing. The short time on stage is what we live for and we want everybody in the room to know it.
What’s next for .end of story? New releases, touring plans, or a bigger chapter waiting to be written? 2026 brings a new approach to releasing music for us. We've generally strived to put out full-length records, but the time involved is crazy. It may be a year or two (or four) between releases and that's no good for the fans. This year we are releasing a single every two months, starting with Revolving Door this month. There's never a shortage of songs and Skot is a recording engineer and producer, aside from his musical duties. Everything is done in-house. So, working on our own schedule we can keep music releasing and developing simultaneously. We're looking forward to putting out more music and with any luck, returning to the stage in 2026.