After decades of the ongoing evolution of the classic rock genres, there are still thousands of noteworthy DIY bands that celebrate the prototype of more experimental subgenres that we cover on IDIOTEQ on daily basis. With ther riff-powered debut EP, recently released new single ‘Mess Around’, and energetic live shows, Annapolis, Maryland’s grungy garage rock trio SHADY LADY are most definitely ones to watch. We caught up with them to learn more about the band, their local scene, inspirations and the evolution of music media.
Hey Dylan, hey guys! Finally catching some downtime, I’m glad we can finally talk. How are you? Where are you at the moment?
Hey Karol, we are just at our house in Annapolis Maryland. So glad we can finally talk
And we are great, currently working on some home demos and gunna head to the studio to cut s new single soon!
Nice!
Let’s start off with some details on your closest area. How do you see the alt rock rock / indie / punk rock scene in your neighbourhood? Are you heavy gig-goers?
Well in our home town of Annapolis, there are a couple places to play, that our really cool venues. In Annapolis we stick out more then other bands, cause Annapolis is mostly a Reggae sceen. Most locals call it “white boy reggae”, but we love it lol. There are couple other Alt/indie bands we know who can definitely lay down some raw rock. We would say the music scene is getting better, people love to see a band going crazy on stage, true entertainment lol. We try to play out 2-3 times a month since we are still a small upcoming band. We find ourselves drifting to Baltimore’s music scene more often now.
Any cool venues and local artists you’d like to recommend?
Oh yeah!! Shout out to the bands 3RD GRADE FRIENDS and WILDMAN, true rock/punk rock bands. The singer of 3RD GRADE venues also books metropolitan he has done so much for the music scene down here, his name is Joe Martin.
Ok, so let’s learn some details on SHADY LADY. What prompted you to form this band and why did you want to bring back some good old grungy garage rock tunes?
Well we love SUBLIME and NIRVANA, kinda wanted to get a combination of the two. I think our punk rock had mixed well with the Annapolis reggae Scene to make a cool sound, high energy rock with some melody, our Newest songs however coming out this January, is a bit more classic rock mixed with BLACK KEYS. My brother and I started the band way back when, in my uncles garage, (four years ago) later at a house party show (one year ago) we found be our bass player Jackup, and ever since then we have been playing together.
How did your debut record come about? How was the recording process?
Yeah the song mess around was record at UMBC college by our friend Rhett, our new single is currently being record there too! The new single is called “Fake It”, they have an awesome studio and Rhett is a great producer. He does a lot with local bands in Annapolis.
Have you been in other bands before SHADY LADY? Was recordings a new experience for you?
Last January 2015 we record a studio demo, we didn’t care about the sound quality we just needed songs recorded to get some gigs, this experience though was totally new, trying to get the perfect sound and all around feel of the song was tough but very fun! Our studio demo is also online for free streaming. It really helped us move forward as a band and now have a great idea to capture a new sound.
SHADY LADY has been renamed many times. Example (THE WEATHERMEN, TWISTEDLY ACTIVE), but my first and only band.
At this point, thinking about your future tracks, do you know what you want SHADY LADY to sound like on your next releases?
We want it to sound grungy but also smooth and groovy it’s hard to put words to it.
Both music-wise and in other areas of art or just life, who or what are your biggest influences when it comes to your creativity?
Nature, life experiences, love, fun nights out on the town. There’s nothing like putting some good music on sitting out side on a beautiful day, you feel so at peace. My friends also really inspire me too, I’ll take things they say all the time and put it in songs, I’m not that creative, just good at re-wording.
What’s your musical guilty pleasure?
Seeing Jack White live lol.
How was it?
The first time I saw him, I was blown away, I was probably 15 at the time, and it was litterly magical, I have never seen anyone so passionate about the music, he was there hitting ever note and feeling it and ripping the song pouring out ever thing he had. I also saw him 2 years ago and he was just as good a real musician! He entertain the whole crowd but even more then that, you could see that Jack really loved doing this. He was out here to do that.
Considering the modern digitalized times we live in, do you see a decrease in shows attendance lately? Also, being a 90s rock influenced band, how do you feel about the evolution of modern music with streaming services, apps and other digital solutions taking a greater role in the whole scheme?
I see a lot of great bands, but people won’t give them the time of day, and that makes me sad. People pay 150$ to watch some person sing along to a pre-recorded track, but won’t pay 5$ to a great local LIVE band. We have played shows that the venue was completely packed and we have played shows of 7 people there. I think it depends on the bands playing and the day of the week. See in this digital age, only if you get “x” amount of likes will other people like you, cause now your “trending”. I don’t want my band to ever be trending I’d rather have few loyal fans then people who just like us cause other people like us. In concusion, I think venues need to make doors free and make the money back in beer cause local bands can bring WAY more people out of it’s a free show.
Oh yeah, and now the ‘trending’-a-like features will boots this market off the roof with the new Google Play Music app and its context-based recommendations systems. Have you heard about it? What streaming services do you currently use?
Currently – bandcamp, SoundCloud. Next will be Spotify.
And no I have. It heard of that, technology is moving so fast, it’s hard to keep up with.
Alright, so I guess we’re good here. Thanks a lot for the chat! Anything else before we sign off?
Nope! Thanks so much it was super fun, and stay tuned for our new single “Fake It”
Thanks! Cheers from Warsaw!
SHADY LADY live appearances:
Dec 14 – 8×10 (Baltimore, MD)
Dec 16 – UMBC (track single)
Dec 27 – Joe square (Baltimore, MD)
Jan 12 – Metro Gallery (Baltimore, MD)
