Interview with The Sheds!

-Alright, well The Sheds are a very unique band, first off, how did you guys come up with the name?

TS: When we first started about 4 years ago me and my brothers were stupid kids trying to be "punk rock" so we wanted to call ourselves "The Shitheads". Our parents wouldn't allow us to perform as that so we compressed it into "The Sheds".

-Haha, that sounds legit. So what do The Sheds have under their belt, what can you guys BRAG about? haha.

TS: Haha well I don't really like to brag much, but we were very privileged to play on a date of the Vans Warped Tour last summer. That was a dream come true for me since i've been attending Warped since '03. We've also gotten to play with some of my favorite bands (Comeback Kid, Defeater, Strung Out, The Aquabats) which has been amazing. We're currently working on a new 7" that will be our first label release (can't tell you who yet) and it's being produced by El Hefe (NOFX) and Jordan Burns (Strung Out). We've been super fortunate to have so many people who have been willing to help us out.

-That sounds great man! What do you think has been the best show for The Sheds?

TS: It's really hard to say what our best show has been and really define our "best show" but some of the most fun shows have been when we played with Comeback Kid, or when we played our holiday show this past December and we all wore costumes. This past week we played a really fun show with our friends The Wonder Years and Second to Last and that was also super fun.

-That sounds very impressive :] When someone asks "What does your band sound like?" What would be your response? I think you guys have a very unique sound and I'm sure you guys deserve a lot of respect for creating the kind of sound you guys make.

TS: Well thank you very much. We do our best to have our own sound and not rip anyone else off too much haha. For the most part we just fuse Ska and Hardcore together and try to do it fluidly. We just try to play music that makes us happy and keeps it interesting for us. I think we've developed a sound where you can definitely tell where our influences lie but there isn't really one band that covers our sound. You can listen to us and definitely hear the influence from 90's Ska acts like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones or The Suicide Machines, from modern Hardcore bands such as Have Heart and Verse, or even older punk bands like Bad Religion and NOFX but we don't actually sound like any of them.

-What do members of The Sheds love listening to in the car or when they're sitting at home?

TS: I personally love a wide variety of music. I love fast melodic hardcore like Go It Alone, Have Heart, Comeback Kid.. you know the type. I also love all the older punk and ska I grew up on. Lately i've been really into Folky, acoustic stuff and 90's emo and screamo. Niki, our drummer, is really into metal and darker, heavier hardcore and original screamo. Morgan, our guitarist, is all about Ska and punk. He's starting to get more into hardcore too. Evan, our bassist, is pretty much into all that into anything you'd associate neon colors with or that you could buy at Hot Topic. Stephen, our trumpet player, is into pretty much anything with synth and pop punk. He can get into pretty much anything though. As a whole we have a totally eclectic taste haha.

-That's insane haha, How do you guys go about writing material? Because it looks like you have a lot to work with.

TS: Usually Morgan will come up with a cool idea on guitar and i'll write a basic drum part for so that there is a basic form to the song. Then Niki will make the drum part much more complicated and groovier. Then in no particular order we'll have the others add bass and trumpet and eventually when i'm done being lazy i'll put the vocals to it

-Haha that sounds exactly how my band does it. Is there any big plans for you guys coming up? Summer tour? New record?

TS: We're currently recording a new 7" record which I mentioned before. There is no release date planned yet but it should be out by Summer. We'll be touring a ton to support it once it's out but our current priority is getting that done. We should have a label announcement in the next couple of months too.

-Nice. So of the Sheds who is the most funniest? shyest? tallest? shortest? laziest? Who is the chick magnet? Random member fun facts haha.

TS: Well we all as a whole can get pretty funny in my opinion but i think
Niki might be the funniest cause he's the most sarcastic and deadpan.
Evan is the shyest depending on the situation and who it's with. Me
and Niki are about tied for tallest i think. Morgan is about 3 feet
tall. I'm probably the laziest depending on the situation but Morgan
could easily tie me as well. As a band we're just one giant chick
magnet. Girls just can't keep their clothes on at our shows... it's
kinda weird.

-HAHA that sounds awesome! What do you mainly base your lyrics on?

TS: Lately I've been writing a ton about changes. It's kind of an ongoing
theme in my life right now, especially with the age i'm at. Growing up
really gets to me at times. Sometimes it kills to be stuck in the
bubble I live in. All my friends went away to college, while i'm here
pursuing my dreams. People change a lot and i'm realizing that. I'm
sure i've changed too but it's harder for me to notice it. I just
write honest lyrics about what i'm seeing/experiencing. Hopefully soon
the lyrics won't all sound so bummed haha.

-Thanks for the interview! Last words?

TS: Haha yeah it was fun! Yeah, I do: listen to The Braces, buy The Wonder Years' new record, and support California Hardcore, Punk, Ska, and Straight Edge.

Check them out at: myspace