Lucinda Albers

In the spring of 1998, three men created Strong Men Stoop. The band now includes bassist Nick Sittig, drummer Kyle Wigg and guitarist Jordan Ochocki, all providing vocals.

So far, the Sioux Falls native band has released four CD’s, and on January 15th, they will be releasing their fifth CD Movin’ To Malyalsia.

Their amusing punk beat may remind you of a Christian, Bowling for Soup sound. They’ve opened for Ghoti Hook, MU330, Alkaline Trio, Bleach, Angel Dean and Skillet. They have also been featured in Sioux Falls’ own Lifelight.

Their shows include humorous and energetic songs and the members have a bond that is easily sensed by the viewer. Plus, it’s not hard to relate to their music.

“I think the reason why people like us is we make the audience a part of the show. We like to interact with the crowd and make them laugh. Also we have a fun, punk rock sound that just makes you want to get up and move.” Sittig says.

While some Christian bands may give you a feeling of pushing the Lord into you, SMS goes with a Switchfoot approach, relating everyday experiences into their lyrics and letting the listener decide.

“Making music is very important for us because it is our way of communicating. And one of the ideas that we like to communicate is that you don’t have to be a boring, squarish person to be a Christian. You can have fun and still have a relationship with God,” Sittig says. “We don’t force this on people at our shows. But we want to show them by our actions and our lyrics that we are Christians and we are not boring.”