Interview: Shadow Thieves

Shadow Thieves are an alternative rock band known for their eclectic style and scene shows. They’re based on Gold Coast, Australia and are releasing their long-awaited debut EP “Space Between” on August 24.

They won the last week’s ‘artist of the week’ on Reputation Label, and are signed to Lungata Records.

How and when did Shadow Thieves form?

Well… it was at a mates 18th birthday party. Joey and I were both friends with the birthday boy but didnt really know each other. I was playin’ an acoustic show around the traps with my original tunes on the streets of the Gold Coast in Queensland. Jack (bass player) and i went to school together but didnt really hang out beside’s parties where we would get drunk and talk nothing but music. There was another two members for this particular show, I wonder what happened to them…?. It’s funny thinking back, it was our 1st ever show as a group of musicians before we were ever really musicians. All we wanted to do was jump around and go nuts! T’was one of the coolest things i’d ever done. It is this particular moment in time that keeps me here (in this industry) today. The party was a pirates party and we were called Captain Clam and the Bearded Oysters.. Hahaha..haaa, thats how we came up with Shadow Thieves… ppl were dressed as Peter Pan and Captain Hook, It was a crazy fun party.  A year later we came back to have a jam but it was only the 3 of us that rocked up..  We were originaly gunna get a guitarist and i was just gunna sing but it didnt happen and i learnt to play guitar. We learnt alot over the years playin together after that party, We named ourselves ‘Enacio’ and played under that name for 2 and a half years until we met our yet to be manager whom let us know Enacio was the name of our pizza delivery guy. . It got to a point where we felt like a change.. A new direction, I think we basically realised that people really liked what we did. We met up with Cassidy Wilson, a great key board player on the coast, whom slipped in like a hand in a glove and changed the name to Shadow Thieves, the original name of the band, Well,….. we could call ourselves the Bearded Clams.

What does each and everyone of your bring into the band?

The great thing that i enjoy about this band is the difference of personalities within the band. We all like diffrent music to each other and the songs that we write and the way we craft things tend to change alot because we all have a individual heavy influences within the creation itself. Sometimes the song will sound nothing like it started out to be, but i think thats cool.

What’s your musical background?

I’ve had a few different singing teachers over the years,  and Jack and Joey have also had bass teachers and drum teachers. The Cassman is the teacher… Hahaa Cass can do everything pretty much and has gone to uni (University) for music and played on ships and all sorts of stuff. A true pirate.

What can we expect from your live shows?

Our live show.. the exciting part   …With our songs we like to jam them out with real cool intro’s or outro’s or longer extended breakdowns. Stuff you would like to do with your songs on a record but unfortunally 3.5 min songs r what radio want these days. Our manager tells us thats what they have always wanted but we weren’t alive back then so how would we know…. We need to get on that radio! ha.  We have always been a really energetic band on stage and our live shows r what the fans really fuel off. Demand attention is what we do and it normally works.

You’re soon releasing your debut EP “Space Between”, what can you tell us about it?

We are! ‘Space Between’ is a 6 track cd that we put toghter over a yr and a half. As I said earlier.. we have learnt alot about writing and recording songs. We use to write songs that would go for nine  minutes with about 13 diffrent riffs…..  I’m very proud of space between. I can hear alot of growth in the cd from the 1st track we recorded to the last. I am glad we did what we did, there are alot of parts in that cd that i love and froth on but there is also a few bits I’d probly change.. but im glad we got those 6 songs down on cd othewise knowing me they would never get finished. Haha. If there was to be a favourite song on the disc, for me it would be Never Seen Today. That song for me shows how far this band has grown and it gets me excited that this is just the beginning.

What is the best piece of praise you have received so far?

Best praise… haha well i was luckly enough to get 4 singing lessons with a lovely lady by the name of Venetta Fields (Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones). She has sung with the best of the best. I showed her some of the songs and she loved them! To see a person who you look up to love the tunes you write is a great feeling!

What’s your song writing/recording session like?

They’re great! Some days nothing but crap cums out… but you get that. We r always writing and the stuff we have been coming up with gets me hard. We are only just launching our 6 track ep and I already cant wait to record the full length we have under our sleeve. The sessions in progress.

How do you promote your music?

We hav been hitting the websites and social networks pretty crazy. We also have our manager Darrel goin insane everyday. He’s picking up a lot of street press and some radio outside of Australia. Crazy things like Reputation Label and Nervecast radio in the UK, KACV College radio in Texas and CJSW in Calgary Canada.. The more we put in the more we will get out.

If you could tour with another band, who would it be and why?

Temper Trap… I feel the audience they have captured is perfect for The Thieves

How would you describe your music?

“A  duck with a whistle in his beak”

What are your plans now?

get to the party, get to the party, get to the party, get to the party
parcel to parcel, parcel to parcel, parcel to parcel, parcel to parcel
when you seize…..you’ll protest. work work work…. quack quack quack….

Follow them on MySpace, Triple j Unearthed and Facebook.