Interview: Shark?
You probably haven't heard much about New York band Shark? but this is very likely to change in 2011. They’ve just released their first 7 inch (in the UK) and are putting the finishing touches to their first full album.
So who is Shark? “We're a four piece from Brooklyn, NY" says frontman Kevin Diamond. "We play a lot of shows and record a lot. We're recording our first full alum with Tony Maimone, the bassist for the art-punk masters Pere Ubu. We enjoy dressing cats up in trousers and colourful socks!"
For the record, Shark? are: Kevin (Kevins from Nantucket and moved to Brooklyn to make paper mache pigeon sculptures), who then went on to meet Andy Kinsey at the pants store. "He was searching for pants with a true waist, but never found them”. Kevin and Andy then stumbled upon Swerdlow (on the beach), asking girls "where to find good Chinese food." Finally Chris Mulligan was left "in a basket on our doorstep". He was completely naked except for a guitar that conveniently covered his privates”. - Quite a story!
Shark? have a rich sound, its very humble and down to earth. The four piece have recorded and released 3 EP’s and they’ve all been completed from Kevin's apartment. “A lot of those songs were written and recorded in one 4 or 5 hour period on my own, playing all the instruments."
"The better ones become part of our live shows, and some of those will be re-recorded on our album."
"I also wrote 5 or 6 new songs just for this album, and our bassist, Kinsey, also wrote a tune for it. Swerdlow wrote our best song, but it's only 47 seconds long and none of us know how to play it.”
The band cite influences from the 60's to the late 70's, through the 80's and up till the early 90's. “Garage rock (The Troggs, The Monks), post punk (Pere Ubu, XTC), 80's indie (Husker Du, The Minutemen), and the classic 90's bands that everyone our age loved - Weezer and Pavement and The Pixies” Im not sure what era the “Johnny Two-Dicks and the Chuck N' Fucks” come from. Answers on a postcard please.
Living in New York seems to be paying dividends for the boys, who live and play in the borough of Brooklyn. “We get to see some of the best bands in the world right now: The Beets, Sisters, Total Slacker, Sundelles”.
Admiration for their peers doesn't stop in New York either: “We also love a lot of the San Francisco bands that are big right now. My personal favourite is probably Ty Segall. All of his records are killer."
"I also really love Sonny and the Sunsets and The Soft Pack. Also Kurt Vile is awesome.”
Admiration for their peers doesn't stop in New York either: “We also love a lot of the San Francisco bands that are big right now. My personal favourite is probably Ty Segall. All of his records are killer."
"I also really love Sonny and the Sunsets and The Soft Pack. Also Kurt Vile is awesome.”
So whats Shark?'s plan of attack for 2011?
“We're gonna release our first album, play SXSW, and hopefully play some shows around the country and maybe the UK. I think Kinsey needs some more pants too.”
Here's a live version of an upcoming track from the new album...
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