STNNNG (pronounced 'Stunning') formed in early 2002 with the first lineup of Chris Besinger, Nate Nelson, Jeremy Michael Ward and Adam Burt. They started playing on April 5, 2003, at Big V's in St. Paul, MN, opening for Sicbay, Cheer-Accident, and Oh, Beast!. The first live performance consisted of 5 songs and clocked in under 12 minutes. In November 2003, they recorded for the first time with David Storberg (Signal To Trust/Misfires) at IPR in Minneapolis.
Four tracks were recorded: "An Idiot for Tits," "How to Avoid an Assassination," "I felt it; for an instant, I knew what it was...and then it was vanished," and "We Keep it Dark." The latter two songs found their way onto the reverse side of a split 7" with Ohio's The Means (released by Nodak Records out of Chicago), while the former two enjoyed brief airplay on local radio station, Radio K, after the band submitted all four songs as a demo package. This demo was nominated for 'Best Punk Recording' by the Minnesota Music Academy in 2004. July 2004 found the band back in the studio, this time in Chicago at Mike Lust's 'Phantom Manor'. The three day session resulted in STNNNG's first full-length release, Dignified Sissy. Modern Radio released the CD while the band put out the LP themselves.
STNNNG integrated a bass player, Jesse Kwakenat, into the band in January 2005. Dignified Sissy was released in April 2005. A follow-up album was recorded, again with Mike Lust in two sessions, September, 2005 and May, 2006. The 2nd full length album, Fake Fake was released by Modern Radio on CD and vinyl in November 2006. STNNNG toured the East coast in the Fall of 2006 and continue to circle the Middle West. In the Fall of 2009, Ben Ivascu (Signal To Trust, Private Dancer, Building Better Bombs, P.O.S., etc.) joined STNNNG as their new drummer. STNNNG's 3rd full-length album, The Smoke of My Will, was relesased in October 2010 and was recorded in a number of different places between 2008-2010 including STNNNG's practice space, Old Blackberry Way in Minneapolis and Flatblack Studios in Iowa City.
STNNNG's latest album, 2013's Empire Inward, was recorded at Steve Albini's Electrical Audio in Chicago and mastered at London's Abbey Road studios.
