As the band release their fourth album 'Cutthroat', we talk about new horizons and plans for their 'Massive Monster Tour'.
Photos: Jamie Wdziekonski | Words: Donovan Livesey
Covers are a terrible way to know a book - or a band. For years, Shame have been introduced by the same shorthands: visceral punk, ferocious live shows, south London roots, comparisons to Fat White Family etc etc. But the group have long outgrown such easy categorisation, and their inventive new album 'Cutthroat' makes that abundantly clear.
Produced by Grammy-winner John Congleton, it's a fully realised, self-assured work that pushes the five-piece into new territory. It's the sound of a band expanding, rather than relying on the angst so often associated with modern post-punk groups. We sat down with guitarist Eddie Green and bassist Josh Finerty to chat about everything from the album's electronic experiments and yoga on tour to embarrassing teenage weed experiments.
"We were trying to cut the bullshit and streamline everything".
In the end, the title of the album revealed itself through the way the record was made. "It was quite a long writing process," guitarist Eddie Green explains. "Eventually, I think we got to a point where we wanted to start being quite cutthroat with how we were writing and then recording it. It just made sense - we were trying to cut the bullshit and streamline everything."
That instinct was sharpened by Congleton himself. Bassist Josh Finerty says the producer, "Just didn't let us overcomplicate anything. You could very much describe his approach to things as cutthroat – he would be brutally honest about literally everything we were doing. There wasn't the room to overcomplicate or overthink, which is something we're so guilty of when we're left to our own devices. It was very nice to have someone that just didn't let us indulge in any of those counterproductive instincts."
'Cutthroat' is Shame's fourth album, and Congleton is their fourth producer, with the band yet to repeat a collaborator in the studio. Is it because they've all been shit? Apparently not. "Even though we're four records in, we're very much aware there's still so much we've yet to explore in terms of production, songwriting, just everything we do really," Eddie explains. "So I don't think we're ready to stop exploring. Every producer we've ever worked with, we always say we'd love to make another record with them. But because we're hopefully going to do this for a very, very long time, we're still finding our feet with what it means to make a record, how best to do that, and what works for us as individuals, as songwriters, and as musicians. It's been a really fun journey of exploring these hugely contrasting methods."
"Machines never have too much to drink before a show."
That spirit of exploration stretches out into the touring schedule too. The band are about to head out on their longest run since 'Songs of Praise', with the aptly titled 'Massive Monster Tour', 40 gigs across 53 days in Europe. "We're really excited about it," Eddie says, "but we know it's going to be a bit of a crazy slog. We've been doing it for over a decade now, so you kind of make your mistakes early, get them out of the way. We've definitely got a better head on our shoulders now. Josh might do some yoga."
"Yeah, I'm gonna do some yoga," Josh confirms. He's excited for the Eastern European leg in particular: "We're going to Estonia on this run – are we? Yeah we are. We've done a run of Eastern Europe shows before and they were some of my favourites we've ever done, so I'm really excited to go back."
New horizons aren't limited to the stage. As an album, 'Cutthroat' pushes deeper into sonic experimentation than ever before. Both 'Quiet Life' and 'Spartak' carry an Americana lilt refracted through Shame's prism, while the brooding electronic textures of 'After Party' were born from at-home experiments by guitarist Sean Coyle-Smith. "We're wired into the mainframe now," Josh says, admitting that adapting to the electronic side took a bit of time. "It definitely took some getting used to, incorporating it into the live set. You've got to learn to play to the machine rather than just following whatever Charlie's doing on the drums."
"But then it's kind of nice because you feel like you're in a pair of safe hands", Eddie adds. "The machine's right. Machines never fail, you know? Machines never drop out of time or have too much to drink before a show."
Josh explains how this shift happened: "Sean had been writing a lot of the songs with electronic aspects. He'd at least have a loop of it on this little tracker machine he's got. That alone introduced a lot more instrumentation off the bat, rather than it just being bass, guitar, drums. We've always tried to mix genres, but because of the core instruments, they've all lived in a similar world. This album let them live in different worlds."
"It's a bit of effort thinking how can we make this stupid thing actually a song?"
Despite all the experimentation, the record still carries frontman Charlie Steen's trademark humour. From mocking "protein shake drinkers and gel-haired estate agents" on 'Cowards', to excoriating the ruling classes on closer 'Axis of Evil', Steen's deadpan wit cuts as sharp as ever. "It's almost a human default to write sad, emotional stuff," Josh says. "Humour is something we've always wanted to show, because it's part of who we are as people. It's probably harder to weave into finished songs – we have a lot of jams that are really funny, but then we're like, 'Oh, that won't be a real song'. So it's a bit of effort thinking how can we make this stupid thing actually a song? Because when we listen back to those jams we think, fuck, we should showcase some of this."
That playful streak also shows up in the band's recent 'Wall of Shame' project, an interactive collaboration with CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) launched alongside the album at Rough Trade East, where fans can anonymously pin an item sharing a vulnerable confession. "That was one of Charlie Steen's ideas," Josh says. "He's always wanted to hark back to the semantics of our band name, and we've long been supporters of CALM – I think they do amazing things and we've done fundraisers for them before, so it seemed like a perfect combination. He got the inspiration from a museum he went to in Zagreb, The Museum of Broken Relationships. He thought it'd be cool to do something like that, but relating to the band in some sort of interactive experience. We've had a lot of submissions already – I haven't been through them myself, but I'm told they're very moving."
What would they put on the Wall of Shame if it existed when they were teenagers? Eddie confesses: "Um…I would've written I can't smoke weed without whiteying. That was a constant source of embarrassment for me as a teenager. However hard I tried to overcome that, it just… yeah."
Josh laughs, "I can't stop turning blue when I drink too much."
Eddie grins at the memory, "Yeah, Josh did do that a bunch when we were kids. That will forever be cemented in my memory."
Nearly nine years on from their debut single 'Gold Hole', did Shame ever imagine they'd still be going? Eddie was confident. "As soon as things started going in a positive direction, I knew this would be something we'd be doing for a long time. It ceased to be a flash-in-the-pan moment and felt like the real deal."
Josh sees it from a different angle, "I didn't even think about it at the time. The idea it might last never crossed my mind – we'd all known each other too long for that."
Nine years in the future, what would Shame like to have achieved? Any bucket list aspirations? "There's loads and also none at the same time," Eddie says. "I'd be lying if I said a number one album wouldn't be amazing. Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury would be pretty cool as well, even if they give us 11.30 in the morning".
Josh is happy with things as they are. "I feel like even releasing this album – whenever we release an album – at that point I'm just like, that's awesome. I'm kind of happy with that." And maybe that's the point. After nine years, just being here, making records and doing it Shame's way, is enough to feel like a victory.
No comments:
Post a Comment