The weekend was made for rock ‘n’ roll. You can kick back all week but once Saturday gets here and the heat outside will probably hit 100 for the 2nd day in a row you gotta cut loose and kick out the jams. Shake Before Us are a perfect way to start your weekend party. Rock ‘n’ Roll… it’s not rocket science but when it’s done right it makes you smile, smirk and move, and Shake Before Us are killing it . If your fans of The Love Me Nots you are going to dig the shit out of these guys. I’m thinking these guys are a perfect fit for my friends at Hidden Volume Records. Time for some music kids
TURN IT UP!!
Hi our name is….
Shake Before Us
our sound is……
Noisy, rocking, freakbeat, mod, garage, mayhem, sci fi dance music
We are….
Jesse Pryor, Will A Lerner, John Falk, Fonda
We are from…….
San Diego, CA
Who are some that have an influence on you
The Animals, The Sonics, The Kinks, The Who, Music Machine, James
Brown, The Stones, The Stranglers, King Khan & the Shrines, The Hives
How old were all of you when you started to play and who plays what in the band
We’ve all played music all our lives; it is our lives. Jesse plays
guitar and lead vocals, Will plays keys and lead vocals, John plays
bass and backing vocals, Fonda plays drums and backing vocals
Can you tell us about the process you use, from writing the songs all
the way through getting the songs out
We write as a band, both music and lyrics. We spend awhile writing and
arranging, there are four bosses so we gotta make sure we are all
happy! Usually one of us, most often Jesse or Will, comes in with a
few riffs or a melody line, and we shape it from there. We all go back
and forth with lyric ideas, sometimes one person will have the chorus
and another will write the verses. And we look for special moments,
where we’re all locked in together and elevating the main riff,
expanding on it in a cool way. We try different vocal melodies out,
and work on those spots where gang vocals or harmonies would sound
rad. Then we try the songs out live, and still often we find room to
improve them.
what are some of the challenges you face as musicians and how have
you overcome those challenges
I guess the same challenges every working musician faces. Balancing
day jobs, family, whatever responsibilities you have as an individual
with life as a musician. Also you wanna play the best gigs, get on the
road, create great recordings. It’s a never ending process that you
have to love in order to keep motivated.
1st concert you went to and age….
I don’t know the first concerts my bandmates went too. When we get
together we work on our songs and the stuff we have coming up, and we
crack jokes and make fun of each other some times. For me, it was Deep
Purple and I was a young’in. You can guess which one of us answered
that. 🙂
coolest band t-shirt you ever bought…
We buy t shirts of bands we like and bands we want to support. They’re all cool.
the most insane concert you ever went to or were a part of….
In May we played the Cosmic Trip Festival in Bourges, France. Two sets
on the side stage. It was insane. Totally packed with sweaty dancing
revelers. Just a true rock and roll night. Plus we got paid well, had
great time slots, and they put us up and fed us. If only the US
treated bands as well as Europe does. On par with that, we got a
chance to open for the Hives twice in 2013. Both shows were sold out,
obviously. It was a true learning experience, those guys are master
performers, true rock n roll showmen. We definitely got master classes
from those gents those nights.
If you could open for any Band right now who would that be and why?
To tour with the Who circa 1967. Otherwise, opening for any passionate
rock and roll lovers would be great. Give Jack White our phone number.
🙂
My youngest son is 13 and in a Band, what advice would you offer him…
Don’t get trapped in your own ego, know you can always get better, and
listen to feedback, not just the positive stuff but the negative too.
Don’t be afraid to try new things and get out of your comfort zone.
Use rejection as fuel for your desire, don’t get discouraged even
though you’re gonna hear “no” a lot. Trust your bandmates, they’re
your brothers/sisters. And if you can’t trust them, split and find
people you can. Practice as much as you can, write as much as you can,
learn as many classic songs as you can. Learning from artists and
bands you admire will only make your own craft stronger.
your thoughts on the state of music in 2015…..
Very, very, very oversaturated. Cluttered with a lot of mediocrity.
But of course there are still great bands out there. And in one sense
it’s cool that artists have a lot of different ways to get their music
out there. But you gotta have something special to offer people. As a
fan, why should I listen to your stuff? How are you gonna make me
listen? It’s unfortunate that there are so many bandwagon jumpers, so
many people using lame gimmicks, without having the songs to back it
up. And the industry itself has become a very confusing and confused
place. If you’re a true artist you just have to have conviction and
find a way to get out of the herd and get yourself heard!
Our plans for the rest of 2015…..
Rock n roll, baby! Our last record came out Aug 31, 2014, so we’re
busy writing new material for the next one. We’ve got four killer new
songs that have been going over great at shows, and a couple more that
are almost there. It’d be great to get back in the studio before the
end of the year. We may go back on the road in the fall, northern Cali
and the Pacific Northwest. We have some very cool shows coming up,
including in LA at the Silverlake Lounge on 6/19, and at our favorite
venue in SD, the Casbah, on 7/11.
and now, give this all a listen..buy/support/follow
