Alumnus creates art through design and music

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Matt Stansberry blends the talents of design and musical performance to establish two thriving local endeavors: his graphic design company, Nominee Design Studio, and Matt Stansberry and The Romance

Stansberry founded his studio in 2010 as a freelance design business. Nominee focuses on print, audio and digital branding for small businesses and bands as well as established national artists and organizations that want something new.

“I started [Nominee Design] in 2010 to focus more on music projects and branding projects,” Stansberry said. “But we also work with some corporate clients too. Heard on Hurd [a food truck festival in downtown Edmond] is a good example of getting the opportunity to use our music knowledge and skills to help Citizens Bank, who’s our client.”

The team consists of Stansberry, Tim Giddens, also an Oklahoma Christian alumnus, and Natalie Kent, who work together to produce creative content for clients locally and nationally.

“Right now, there are just three of us, which is cool but it would be ideal to have four or five probably,” Stansberry said. “Everybody wears multiple hats because we’re small and that’s a good thing. You don’t want to be spread thin, but you don’t want to be under-utilized either.”

Stansberry said he doesn’t plan on growing his team much bigger than four or five members at a time.

“I don’t want it to be a big company,” Stansberry said. “That’s just not my goal because I work on other stuff too.”

Stansberry graduated from Oklahoma Christian in 2004 and immediately started working as a designer for Saxum, a public relations firm, while producing music with his self-titled band on the side. Stansberry released a solo project in 2009, after the disbanding of The Matt Stansberry Band in 2008, ultimately leading to the creation of Matt Stansberry and The Romance in 2011.

“I was just missing something, so The Romance just kind of organically happened,” Stansberry said. “I really wasn’t pursuing it; I was just writing songs and they sounded more old school, so I thought it would be fun to do something like that. Then, next thing you know, we have a 10-piece band.”

The Romance consists of Jeff Hall (drums), Raul Alfonso (bass), Chanda Graham and Myra Beasley (vocals), Dan Walker (keys), Garrison Brown (trumpet), Heath Jones (saxophone), John Fletcher (trombone) and Joe Stansberry (vocals/guitar).

Stansberry studied music under Fletcher and Jones at Oklahoma Christian. According to Fletcher, professor of music at Oklahoma Christian, getting involved in the band has allowed him to grow personally as a musician.

“It’s allowed me to go in some different directions musically than I had been going for many years,” Fletcher said. “Musically, it’s very satisfying and the people in the group are very enjoyable to spend time with. It’s been an invigorating sort of thing for me to be involved in the group and to play with them.”

While the 10-piece band functions much like a family, according to Fletcher, the environment extends to Stansberry’s immediate family with the contribution of his brother, Joe.

“Playing music with my brother is seriously like a dream come true,” Stansberry said. “I started working on this Romance thing right after he moved back to Oklahoma City and it was a natural fit to have him in the band singing and playing guitar. It’s brought us closer together on all levels. I really look up to him and we have a great relationship.”

Family and music have always gone hand-in-hand for the Stansberry’s, according to cousin Alexandra Autrey, a junior at Oklahoma Christian.

“He has always had a lot of talent,” Autrey said. “And I know as a young kid his dad played the guitar with him, like, every day, and him and his brother both really got in to the guitar. Once he started The Romance, they just skyrocketed and have gotten really a lot of shows and have done really well over the past few years.”

With the new release of their second album, “Crash Landing,” The Romance has gotten the opportunity to perform in various places over the last few months, including the Center of the Universe Festival in Tulsa, Oklahoma during the summer.

Oklahoma Christian seniors Kelcy Nash and Dakota Enriquez attended The Romance’s concert at the festival during the summer and said they were impressed by the band’s dynamic and sound.

“Everyone in the band is not limited,” Enriquez said. “Especially in ‘She’s Got It,’ they all went down the line of instruments and had their own solo that blew people away.”

The band’s Motown-inspired sound sets them apart from more popular music, according to Nash.

“He has good beats and it’s definitely catchy,” Nash said. “It makes you want to groove.”

Stansberry integrated all of his passions into two businesses that have thrived because of the passion he puts into them and encourages current students to do the same.

“If you really love something, put all your energies in there while you can; while you’re young and don’t worry about a backup plan,” Stansberry said. “Don’t allow yourself to have a back up plan. … If you really believe that you have a talent and a gift and something to offer, I would encourage anybody to just go for it. What do you really have to loose?”

Matt Stansberry and The Romance have multiple performances coming up in the Edmond and Oklahoma City areas, including a benefit concert on Oct. 11 at Oklahoma Christian Academy.

“Amy Carnagey has stage four cancer and so we’re trying to, hopefully, raise money for her and her family,” Stansberry said. “Summer Singers, us, and Erick Alexander are doing a benefit concert for the Carnagey family.”