Stir was founded in 1994 as a three piece band at the University of Missouri, and consisted of lead vocalist and guitarist Andy Schmidt, bassist Kevin Gagnepain, and drummer Brad Booker. Schmidt, Gagnepain and Booker had been in another band previous to Stir named “The Choice” and decided to form the band when that band’s lead singer, Rick Smith, decided to no longer pursue a career in music.
Flip through the gallery for 10 Things You Might Not Know About Stir!
Schmidt, Gagnepain and Booker had been in another band previous to Stir named "The Choice" and decided to form the band when that band's lead singer, Rick Smith, decided to no longer pursue a career in music
Stir was founded in 1994 as a three piece band at the University of Missouri, and consisted of lead vocalist and guitarist Andy Schmidt, bassist Kevin Gagnepain, and drummer Brad Booker
The band released a self-produced, independent LP titled "Until Now" in 1995 under its own label, Stir Music. Later that year, the band played at the South by Southwest festival. The band signed with the indie label Aware Records following the performance, and were label mates and friends with the band Train
Stir first performed live on KSHE for the first time in 1996 with Favazz. Many beers were consumed!
Stir started El Monstero in 1999 at Mississippi Nights
Stir would play Dark Side of the Moon at places like Boomer’s on the Landing under the name, “El Monstero y Los Masked Avengers”
Stir released two albums while signed to Capitol Records. The re-released self-titled “Stir” and their second record "Holy Dogs" in 2000
In 2002, the band entered a new song of theirs into the International Songwriting Competition, an annual contest typically receiving 15,000+ entries from bands and artists around the globe, featuring industry judges such as Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty. Their song, "Skeletons" won the grand prize out of all entries
In St. Louis on July 5, 2002, a newly reformed Stir appeared for the first time as a four piece including new drummer John Pessoni, formerly of The Urge
The band un-officially broke up in 2005, shortly after Andy and Kevin played an acoustic concert on November 26th at The Pageant. The band reformed in 2016 for the Delmar Hall Debut Show and An Encore Performance at The Pageant
