Ev explains the many ways fans can help Shaimus get to the next level. He was also nice enough to make a whole page dedicated to the subject at shaimus.com/help.
February 3, 2010
Life vs. Rock Music. What?
After playing with Shaimus for over 4 years, the music naturally starts to feel different. I am no longer fretting [pun intended] about which note comes next, trying not to forget chords, or estimating where to place my next note so it will gracefully line up with Cam. In songs like “Left To Dry” and “All Of This”, these elements have long ago been committed to muscle memory and are at this point so ingrained that they have actually become a part of my persona.
I love playing this music. In fact, with years of repetition comes a level of confidence and comfort that has literally changed and developed me from “that guy that plays jazz piano but is okay on bass” to “the bass player in Shaimus”. On some level I always wanted to be a “rock star” but I was never sure how to accomplish that as a studio engineer or jazz keyboard player. Coincidentally, Shaimus took me on this crazy ride.
I don’t have tattoos, shoot heroin, drive motorcycles down hotel hallways or sleep with hundreds of women, as the “traditional” rock star label would suggest. I do, however, refuse to accept the realities that most 27-year olds take comfort in, or have at least made peace with by now: Financial stability, health insurance, 401Ks, raises, promotions, building their careers, etc. In short, performing with gusto in the “grind” or “rat race” in the hopes at the end of the corporate rainbow lies a pot of gold that will free us of the shackles of the day job and allow our spirits to truly soar. (Read: retire rich and play golf all day)
And what’s not to love? It’s comforting to be comfortable, so I gave this alternate reality an honest shot: For 2 years I worked full-time in a fairly creative and challenging position. The company builds websites for clients wishing to sell goods or services on the internet. This has always been a hobby of mine so I learned more than I can imagine about the technology, and at times it was very interesting and even exciting. My co-workers were wonderful, my superiors were respectable and inspiring, my salary was decent, the opportunities for growth were plentiful.
Then I quit. (For reference, this was a little over a year ago.)
I had started to see myself in 10-15 years sitting at a similar desk, driving a much nicer car and perhaps owning a house, but the thought of submitting to this reality was absolutely terrifying. Whether this qualifies me as a “rock star” or just a disillusioned moron is not for me to decide. But I do believe that the path of Shaimus, however murky and hidden it can seem at times, is most certainly a more interesting way for me to live my life. And what can we do besides keep ourselves interested? Isn’t that what it’s all about?
Things that are truly worth doing take thousands of hours and years of hard work, but who knows, you might actually have fun while doing them! For whatever reason, I’ll take that over financial stability. Luckily, I don’t have children.
Photos: Mike Tabolsky and BlankLogo Photography, respectively.
January 27, 2010
Help you help us
I like helpful people. In fact, I might go so far as saying that helpful people are just about my favorite kind of people out there. I don’t think that’s too wild a statement. Flora Edwards once said,
“In helping others, we shall help ourselves, for whatever good we give out completes the circle and comes back to us.”
Let me stop you before you ask me who Flora Edwards is. I have no idea. I just found that line when browsing the Internet for quotes about helping. Although a quick Googling of her name reveals a page that claims she is a “South-African born industrialist.” How enlightening.
But I digress.
My original point, meandering though it may have been, had to do with the many virtues of helping. Just look at this picture of some dude helping some other dude and tell me it doesn’t make you somewhat vaguely warm and fuzzy inside:
And with that we bring you a new page here on the official Shaimus website: How You Can Help Shaimus.
Why the bloody hell would you want to help Shaimus, you ask? You might not want to at all, to be honest. That’s OK. But in case you’re curious, we’ve laid out in reasonable detail on that page many little things that you could do that might help get our little band’s name in the minds and hearts of a precious few more people out there in the world. Luckily, none of our suggestions involve your dropping spare change into a mug and mailing it to us. Though that’s not the worst idea I’ve ever come up with (you don’t want to know the worst).
The thing is, going back to Ms. Edwards’ words of wisdom, that the more the fans help us pry our way into the collective consciousness, the more likely it will be for us to continue playing, recording, touring to a town near you, and so on in that fashion. See? Completing the circle, indeed.
Of course, it’s good to keep in mind the wise words of Andrew Carnegie:
“There is no use whatever trying to help people who do not help themselves. You cannot push anyone up a ladder unless he is willing to climb himself.”
So let me be the first to assure you: we are, in fact, going to great lengths to climb the ladder. The greatest lengths in our power, to be precise. So you don’t have to feel at all dirty inside if you so choose to throw a bit of help our way.
January 20, 2010
A Year In Review
2009 was some year. Big negatives lead to huge positives. For Shaimus, it was our most productive and successful year to date. The entirety of ‘08 was spent recording, mixing, and producing our 2nd record, The Sad Thing Is, We Like It Here. So by the time ‘09 rolled around, it was time to get out of the damn studio and back onstage. We set some lofty goals for ourselves in Aught Nine and we somehow managed to surpass them all. Here is a look at some of our top moments from last year.
(I know it’s way late for a TOP 5 OF ‘09 LIST, but hey, screw you.)
5. WEST COAST TOUR
- Going on tour is pretty much the reason why people start bands. That and getting laid. Either way, we were lucky enough to get back on the road this year. Though the trip wasn’t exactly long, it made life worth living. San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and San Diego are amazing spots to play. We plan on doing much, much more of this in the near future. Click HERE and HERE for some blogs and photos from our Fall tour.
4. ALBUM RELEASE PARTY
- Though our album technically came out in ‘08, we threw an album release party at The Mint right here in LA. It was a sold out show and I feel sorry for anyone who wasn’t there to witness such musical brilliance. I wrote a blog about it awhile back which you can read HERE
3. SHAIMUS HEADLINES THE TROUBADOUR
- A dream come to fruition. This was also Lou’s first show with the band, that lucky little SOB. Evan wrote about this boner inducing experience HERE
2. THE ROOMMATE
- For those of you who haven’t heard, we shot a movie this year. We not only have two songs placed in the film, but we’re actually in the damn thing, too. This one put ‘09 over the top. Such an amazingly random experience that none of us will ever forget. We documented our time on set extensively and can be seen in these three videos:
1. LOU JOINS THE BAND
- Last year, we faced out biggest obstacle to date. When guitarist Dave Middleton decided to leave the band, we thought, well, that was fun. Time to pack it in, boys. Little did we know, the perfect replacement for his spot was someone who had been there all along. To me, Lou was always just Phil’s younger brother, but now, he’s my brother, too. I know the rest of the guys feel the same way, and we are so fortunate to have him as a true addition to the band. He stepped up to the challenge of entering a fully functioning dysfunctional family and did it with smile on his face. Lou is not a replacement, he is what makes Shaimus….Shaimus.
Get to know Lou better HERE and HERE.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
- “Like A Fool” music video. We’re so proud of this thing. If you haven’t seen THIS VIDEO yet, WTF, bro?
- Getting “Left To Dry” placed on an episode of One Tree Hill. That was fun.
To all the fans out there, thank you for making 2009 our best year yet. We owe it all to you. So please, keep listening, keep commenting, and keep spreading the Gospel of Shaimus to everyone you see.
Cheers.