The Blue Stones are an emerging rock duo with a big 2020 in front of them. Years after the release of their debut studio album Black Holes, vocalist and guitarist Tarek Jafar and drummer Justin Tessier are preparing to head out on the road for their first headlining tour, followed by the release of a second studio album.

Jafar recently spoke with Loudwire Nights about their beginnings, and what it's like to be in a duo as opposed to a full band. The advantages, according to the frontman, come with the simplicity of touring and have a small, tight-knit crew.

"The disadvantage, well there's just less people to do the jobs. Justin and I have usually been pretty hands-on with everything, especially in our indie days," Jafar explains. "It would've been nice to have a couple of extra hands a couple of extra minds for setting up the stage... These are just things we've always had to do ourselves 50/50. Even things behind the scenes like emailing, setting things up and advancing shows."

Luckily, the pair get along well and tend to see eye to eye on most things, so there are rarely split battles between them. However, they acknowledge when someone's perspective may hold more weight over the other — like if a decision is pertaining to guitar rather than drums.

Drawing inspiration from Mutemath, the Blue Stones recruited frontman Paul Meany, who assisted with the production of Twenty One Pilots' highly successful 2018 album Trench, for their upcoming sophomore album. "It had always been a dream of ours to work with somebody like Paul," the singer says. "Turns out, Paul had gotten a link to watching us play a live session on YouTube, and he loved it and he was in. We couldn't really believe it."

To hear more about the Blue Stones' background and upcoming album, listen to the full interview above. Check out their 2020 headlining tour dates here. Listen to their latest single "Shakin' Off the Rust" below.

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