9+1 Q&A with The Dead Shakers

Answered by The Dead Shakers’ frontman Kevin Bloom

What inspired you to first start making music? And how did you come to be in your current incarnation? Or if you prefer, a brief bio about you.

I started writing songs when I was four years old by singing all the parts and keeping track of it in my head. I didn’t start playing guitar and recording songs until I was 12 though, and seriously began playing music in my late teens. I think I’ve always been inspired by the sounds I hear in my head and trying to say something about my life through the lyrics– cryptic and direct. Here’s our band bio:

The Dead Shakers are an acid washed vegan rock band from Burlington, VT led by Kevin Bloom. Floating in form as a collective, the group appears in a variety of formats, from a traditional effectron-rock band, to an exploded view ambient potluck. Their first album “All Circles Vanish” was released in 2018 followed bv their second album “Some Shapes Reappear”, which was released on September 23, 2022.

The Dead Shakers have performed with the following artists: Kikagaku Moyo, Mdou Moctar, Xiu Xiu, Overhand Sam, Carinae, Blvck Hippie, Bleach Day, Sessa, Ivamae, Splish, Remember Sports, Deakin, Bee Bee Sea, James Forest, Lily Seabird, and Del Water Gap

Provide us with some info about your latest release…

The Second Full-Length Studio Album “Some Shapes Reappear”.

Which ones would you consider your main influences both music-wise & non-music-wise?

In all honesty, I’d say I’m pretty influenced by my synesthesia and smoking pot. I love growing cannabis and I think it’s a fun and easy thing to do! Musically speaking, I really love the bands Broadcast, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, and Animal Collective.

In what way does your sound differ from the rest genre-related artists/bands and why should we listen to your music? In other words, how would you describe your sound?

Our sound blends the past and the future with the sounds that live inside my head and tones of my dreams. Sometimes I hear reverse tape rewinding sounds while I’m trying to fall asleep at night. There’s a lot of bands out there and we don’t really sound like any of them. We prioritize our individuality and are artists interested in making art over playing the copycat game which only offers rewards from the tree of low hanging fruits. Every song on our album has a different drum sound because we wanted to “sing the song” with each of the 250-350 tracks on every song. I’m not trying to say that our music is better or worse than anyone else’s, but if I had to make the case for someone to listen I’d say that our music offers a different way of experiencing time and the listener might be offered a new way of looking at their life and surroundings.

Please name your 3 desert islands albums, movies & books…

Here’s the books I would bring:

– Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Volume 1, 3rd Edition by Brad Lancaster

– Growing Food in a Hotter, Drier Land Lessons from Desert Farmers on Adapting to Climate Uncertainty by Gary Paul Nabhan

– How to Build a Wooden Boat by David C. McIntosh

Do you prefer studio or performing live and why?

I love playing live shows! It’s a great way to hang out with my best friends (aka fellow shakers in the band) and connect with strangers over a fun time. That being said– I really do prefer the studio. I like to take my time (it took 3.5 years to make this last album!) and craft an experience for the listener that will outlive me. It’s my change to say “my thing” with my life– a way to speak to people in the future who might want to get to know who I am and what I was about. I feel like the studio offers a unique opportunity to create something meaningful and be sheltered from outside influences.

Is there any funny-unique story you would like to share with us, always in relation to your music ‘career’?

Well– I always bring a Deltalab Effectron II ADM1024 antique digital delay unit to shows to sing through and I grew so tired of lazy/control freak sound engineers asking me to “scale back for tonight” that I got a tattoo of an Effectron on my left forearm to illustrate that it is in fact important to me that I control my vocal processing! It’s kind of funny to explain the weird studio rack unit tat on my arm to normal folks in my daily life– so I suppose this is just one big joke on me!

Which track of your own would you point out as the most unique and why?

Paine’s Celery Compound is a song that switches both time signatures, but also switches tonality and harmonic gravity as it goes between and overlays 22 equal divisions of the octave (microtonal tuning system) as well as the traditional western 12 divisions of the octave.

It’s hard to rank them though since we actively try to make each song unique since we’re allergic to formulaic writing tricks.

Would you like to share with our readers your future plans?

Who knows what the future holds?! A global climate catastrophe and societal collapse? Possibly– looking more likely every day actually. In the meantime, while we still can, readers can find out more about our touring schedule via our instagram @deadshakers.

Free question!!! (Ask yourself a question) you wish to answer and haven’t been given the opportunity…

What was the first concert you ever attended?

I went to see The Grateful Dead in utero! I’d like to think the spacy tones have been with my since even before day one!

Curated by: Christos Doukakis

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