Static Dress is a post-hardcore four-piece from Leeds, United Kingdom, and they are paving the way for creating an immersive experience for their fans by creating video games, films and storylines connected through comics and videos. Static Dress has found a niche they have stuck with it since 2018.
Static Dress’s first singles include “Clean,” “DSC_301,” “Adaptive Taste,” “Safeword,” “for the attention of…” and “indecent_.” Frontman Olli Appleyard used these songs to dip his toes into songwriting independently. Before starting the band, he worked as a touring photographer before eventually helping with producing to broaden his portfolio. The first singles up to their first album “Rouge Carpet Disaster,” as well as music videos and production, were done in-house to keep creativity and money in the band. Appleyard has said before that keeping creativity in the band makes it harder for people in the industry to walk all over them.
“When artists have more control over what they want to do and actually show that, then they [become] more [of] what we’re seeing. Because not only do people respect them, but they respect the music,” senior Cody Jonas said.
When Static Dress released their first EP, they published a comic to accompany it in order to create a unique listening and reading experience. The comic follows a couple, Emile and Nancy, in a toxic relationship. Each track on the EP “Prologue…” follows the comic book. The vision is to read them while listening to the music.
Static Dress’s first album was “Rouge Carpet Disaster”, which followed the same themes and storylines as the comic book. The record gives more insight on Emile and Nancy’s relationship, and each track helps connect back to the storyline that fans were able to decipher.
Static Dress has also released multiple video games for the Gameboy Color. The first game, “Rouge Carpet Disaster: The Game” gives more insight about Emile. A recent game has been made exclusive to their recent shows, with little public information or promotion from the band on social media so far.
Static Dress is the type of band to plan their art and music in advance. They aren’t releasing things one after another like a lot of artists that are just in the industry for profit; they are forcing fans to stay patient and focus on the art.
Static Dress’s website will change every once in a while, giving hints to different pieces of the storyline. With how many tiny details are involved in this band, fans are more likely to stick around and stay up to date.
Every music video is connected, with each frame containing something to decode. Some clips have binary code or braille that have to be translated. For more in-depth information, Jack Walker of Boolin Tunes did a deep dive on the content leading up to the new album cycle.
With the pending release of their sophomore album, “Injury Episode”, there have been multiple music videos and a shortly run web game to play that give the viewer teasers about shows and release dates. From what fans know about “Injury Episode,” the story follows two new characters, Sarah and Maeve. The story about the twins is minimal, as there have only been three singles of the album released thus far. “Injury Episode” was released May 29, 2026.
When there are shows to promote, they go all out. Appleyard prints the poster before going back to their rehearsal space to set up in the style of the recent music video and takes all the photos to fit with the band’s image. A recent instance of this level of production was an announcement of European shows with Louisville, Kentucky based Hardcore band Knocked Loose.
Static Dress’s fanbase recognizes their dedication to their craft. Under almost every music video, there are comments about how impressed fans are.
Social media has always been based on visuals, but the increase of shortened attention spans and short-form content has proven this even more. In a time when a vast majority of people make opinions based on visual content, having an image is the most important. Having a brand can increase one’s social media presence drastically. If someone has an image that is specific to them, their audience can recognize them out of a crowd.
Appleyard has said before that while sticking to a niche can be hard at times as less people will see the art, the people that are searching for it will find it. An immersed experience like what Static Dress does creates a deeper connection from fans to artists, no matter what artist.
Static Dress wants fans to focus on the art rather than who is in the band. From the start, Appleyard decided that the band account on Instagram would never follow the members. While fans do keep up with the members through social media, everything within the band themselves is about the art.
