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Interview The Shakes Ed (vox, synths, harmonica) 1. When and how did The Shakes start out? Ed: Gaz and John are brothers, I met them at school and we started out playing 12-bar blues round and round in circles for ages. Must have been a shame for anyone listening. We met Tim at a jam night in a pub in South East London. We got him down for one rehearsal to fill in and he's been with us ever since. He can never leave. 2. How would you describe your music to people who haven't heard it before? Gaz: Catchy electronic indie tunes. It's got pop melodies but it's also a bit seedy. 3. How does the song writing process go? Who does what? Where does it start? John: It's different every time but it always starts from the same kind of place. Someone has a little spark of an idea. It could be a guitar lick or it could be a line of lyrics. Then it's like natural selection, the stuff that gets written is normally the stuff we're most excited about. Ed does most of the lyrics, but we all have ideas for what songs are about. Ed: We're not the kind of band who write ‘yeah, yeah, come-on, come-on' songs. Not because they're not good songs, but because we're shit at them. For us, our songs have to be about something. Something that makes you want to listen to the next verse to know what happens. 4. Is there a certain message you'd like to bring across or is it mostly about expressing feelings and thoughts? Ed: A lot of our songs are stories, or the thoughts of a character. I end up writing a lot of characters in songs. I reckon it's because I don't want to say some of the things that they do, so I make them say it for me. A lot of our songs are about sinister or bad things – even though they sound upbeat and chirpy. Like our song ‘Janine'. It's got a groove, but it's about taking advantage of a girl really badly and just expecting her to come back and being amazed when she doesn't. That's a mild one. 5. What inspires you when making music ? Ed: Great production. Phil Spector with the Ronettes, Stephen Street with Blur and The Kaisers, Mirwais with Madonna. I love it when a song and a producer come together and it all makes sense. 6. Are there any bands that have influenced you in one way or another? Ed: It doesn't really show in our music, but I remember the first time I heard Homework by Daft Punk it totally changed how I thought about music. Lyrically I love bands that make you think, like The Smiths. Arctic Monkeys lyrics always make a point and make you smile. Gaz: Kings of Leon for guitar sounds. Tim: The Police. 3 ½ minute songs at their best. And Stuart Copeland is amazing. 7. What, in your opinion, makes you guys stand out from the rest? John: We're funnier and better looking. 8. Give us 5 words that you think describes The Shakes best. Gaz: Catchy. Lively. I've done it in 2 words. 9. Which The Shakes song means the most to you, and why? Ed: A Brilliant Man. It'll be on the album and it's about a friend who forgot how amazing he was when he met someone who wasn't. 10. Name a song, by another artist, that you'd wish you'd written. Why this song? Gaz: I wish I'd written ‘I Heard it Through the Grapevine'. It's perfect. All the parts just slot in together. It's stripped back but it's full. And Marvin's vocal gives me goose bumps every time. Ed: It's embarrassing, but I love big 80s ballads and wish I'd written something like ‘Against all Odds', ‘Eternal Flame' or ‘I'll Stand by You.' John: Pistol of Fire by Kings of Leon . It's so raw. 11. What's your worst experience as a band? Tim: Finding out we'd left a £500 synthesiser on the side of the road outside a gig. We were playing in Hoxton and were in a rush getting back and didn't think. Got back to the studio and all just looked at each other like ‘could we have been that stupid?' We had been. Ed: Either that, or breaking down 4 times last year on the way to gigs. We have bad luck with cars, 12. What's your best experience as a band? Gaz: Reading Festival was amazing. So was our last single launch at The Borderline. 300 people all singing our songs back at us. Nothing better. 13. What music/bands are you currently into and why? Ed: I really like New Young Pony Club, crunchy electro-y and cool. And I love the production. Gaz: Ed's got me into old-school New Orleans piano music. It's amazing, just makes you want to dance. And the musicians have great names, like Professor Longhair. 14. Where do you hope to be in five years with the band? Tim: Touring the world, 3 best-selling albums, all the usual rock and roll dreams. |
