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A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
It's Friday - time for StoryCorps. In 2015, Stewart Billie moved his family from the city back to their tribal land in the Navajo Nation. Billie's teenage sons found the lack of noise unnerving until their dad replaced the peace and quiet with heavy metal.
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MARTÍNEZ: They started a family band called Narbona. Billie came to StoryCorps with his eldest son, Lestat Standing Bear.
LESTAT STANDING BEAR: When did you first find out that you'd be a parent? How did you feel?
STEWART BILLIE: I was very scared. I was your age when I had you. I was 21 years old, so it was very difficult. I heard you first. You let out a scream. It was so loud even the doctors and nurses were freaked out.
STANDING BEAR: Yeah, just like a banshee.
BILLIE: Yeah. And when you were a little child, I was traveling across the country, selling Navajo jewelry. I used to come off the road, and I used to get home about 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning when everybody is asleep, but you'd wake up, and you'd sit there with me - nobody else. It was you. And it was moments like that that reminded me that I need you as much as you need me.
STANDING BEAR: Did you think that metal was going to be a big factor in our life?
BILLIE: No, until you and your brother became teenagers. That's when I saw you getting into my type of music. And during the pandemic, on the reservation was this fear of all the deaths that were happening. I had to find a way to take your focus away from that.
STANDING BEAR: Yeah.
BILLIE: So we started the band Narbona trying to find peace in our family through this chaotic type of music, and we sing about our people. You know, I grew up in a time when it wasn't really a good thing to be Navajo, but I wanted you to be proud of who you are. And seeing you come from this very shy individual...
STANDING BEAR: Yeah.
BILLIE: ...To become this leader of our band - it's the greatest feeling in the world watching your son going on stage, singing our song so powerfully. I'm in awe.
STANDING BEAR: I really appreciate that. And being on stage with you, it made me respect you more than I already did because you showed me that if you put your mind to something that you really believe in, it can be done.
BILLIE: And that's the whole point. You know, you and your brother, I brought you into this world, and shame on me if I'm not going to see you through this and guide you to be strong men. You're my firstborn. We grew together. I have a tattoo of your name over my heart because that's how much you mean to me. I'm so proud to be your father.
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MARTÍNEZ: That was Stewart Billie and Lestat Standing Bear for StoryCorps. Their album, "War Path," comes out next month. This interview is archived at the Library of Congress. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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