During SXSW this past spring, DJ Hippiestank and DJ Swirly had the chance to talk to a local student band, In The Shade, right before they played an unofficial SXSW Battle of the Bands set at Hole in The Wall. This is a transcription from our live on air interview; here's what they had to say!
DJ Swirly: “Welcome back, you’re tuned into KVRX 91.7FM and right now we have a very special guest in the booth… today we have In The Shade! Would y’all like to introduce yourselves?”
Sofia: “I’m Sofia, I play guitar.”
Paul: ”I’m Paul I play bass”
Ben: ”I’m Ben I sing and play guitar
Peyton: ”I’m Peyton, I’m their manager.”
SW:”And I’m DJ Swirly, and I’m also joined with…”
HS:”I’m DJ Hippiestank, hello hello!”
SW: “Alright, it’s your first time here at KVRX, is that right?”
B: ”Yea!”
SW: ”Have yall been to the Longhorn Latenight?”
B: ”We did, yea, we played that a few months ago.”
SW: ”How was that?”
B: ”It was awesome! Anything through UT is always a good time.”
HS: ”Are you guys UT Students?”
S: “I am not, everyone else here is. I go to Texas State.”
HS: ”Oh cool! Scratch ‘em, cats, right?”
S: ”Yes! Wait– No, I don’t think that’s it. It’s like ‘Get ‘em’ or–”
HP: ”Eat ‘em up!”
S: ”Eat ‘em up! That’s what it is.”
PY: ”Scratch ‘em cats is Sam Houston.”
HS: ”There’s too many cat mascots in Texas.”
SW: ”We’ve got a little icebreaker for y’all. What’s your favorite appetizer and why?”
S: ”Like, in food?”
HS: “Or any other things! If you can think of another type of appetizer.”
S: ”You go, Peyton.”
PY: ”Actually, anything that involves fried cheese. Like mozzarella sticks or the fried Mac n’ Cheese balls at Cheesecake Factory.
HS: “Those are gooood.”
S: “That does sound yummy.”
B: “I’d say, I think for me ceviche probably. I kinda love ceviche.”
S: “He won’t sh– stop talking about it.”
B: ”You can say shut up!”
S: "He won’t shut up about it.”
P: “I like rice paper springrolls!”
S: “I like fried pickles or chips and salsa—but it has to be a really good salsa.”
SW: “Do you like Chili’s salsa?”
S: “I’ve had it! I like. I don’t hate, but I like.”
B: “You—Everytime we’re like, gonna do a band run or something. Sofia’s always like, ‘Chili’s, anyone?”
S: “And no one wants to!”
B: “I had never been and we went awhile back and it was terrible.”
SW: “Did you go to the one on 45th and Lamar?”
B: “No I don’t think so,”
HS: “Man, that’s your problem.”
HS: ”Alright, so how did you guys meet? How did ‘In The Shade’ form?”
B: “Me and Paul met when we were like infants. Yea we’ve known each other our whole lives and have been playing music together for a long time.”
HS: “Aww, that’s sweet. How did you guys meet Sofia?”
B: “I was selling an amp on Facebook Marketplace. Or–she had an amp I wanted.”
S: ”And he still has it! I sold yours. We traded amps.”
B: “Yea we traded and then we just–”
S: “Became besties. Or, I dunno. We did a practice or jam one time and it was fun so I stuck around. And here we are five or six months later, I think.”
HS: “So when did you guys form?”
B: “The first iteration of the band was about a year ago, but it was a completely different lineup, different style of music. I wouldn’t say we were actually In The Shade until Sofia joined.”
S: “Half in the shade. In the semi-shade.”
HS: “So, for our listeners who haven’t heard y’all before, how would you describe your sound?”
S: Heavy. Cool. Awesome. Fun. And melodic sometimes. And ambient sometimes.”
HS: These are great adjectives.
SW: Have you seen them live?
HS: Yea! A couple times. I’m trying to remember the first time I saw you guys–I ran into y’all at The Porch in San Marcos one time. That was a really great show.”
S: That was my favorite show besides playing 21st (Street Co-op)
SW: I saw y’all at 21st, that was really good!”
HS: “Let’s talk about that show! What was it for?”
S: “Our drummer, Ridley, she’s not here right now. But she lives there and she was able to get us a spot because I think some DJs dropped out and they were like panicking ‘what are we gonna do!?’ and so yea. It was my favorite show ever, besides The Porch.”
SW: “People were movin’! I will say that.”
HS: ”So, what’s been some of the biggest influence on y’all’s sound? What do you listen to personally?”
B: “I wouldn’t like, say I’m super into a few bands or a few genres. I kind of–I mean, we all kind of–try to listen to a lot of stuff.”
P: “Big music fans.”
S: “We like music!”
B: ”In my free time I listen to a lot of Crystal Castles, Book of Love, weird 80s dance music and I feel like—you don’t hear it directly in our music, but that’s what I’m listening to.”
S: “Some melodic parts remind me of that.”
B:Also i’m a big metal fan, so it’s like–how do you mix that with this weird melodic stuff.
SW: I like when bands have different taste from what they’re playing, I think it kind of makes it into their music. Speaking of–do y’all have anything out on any platforms?”
S: “Funny question–Well, it’s not funny. Thank you for asking! We just got back from recording in studio, an EP, we’re going back on Sunday to finish it out. We hope to release it sometime in April.
B: “Ya, we’ll have a single–”
P: “Debut”
B: "Yea, a single debut and we’ll have an EP in the near future.”
HS: "Thats so exciting! Whats the name of the single? Or–is that confidential?”
P: “Classified!”
B: “We’re still kicking ideas around.”
S: "Can I say?"
B: "Sure."
S: "DJ 2014"
ALL: "Oooooh!"
P: "Oh, that’s the name of the EP, not the single!
HP: Can we talk about the EP, or is that also confidential?”
SW: "How was the experience recording that?”
S: "It was fun. It was my first time—Well, I had actually been in a studio before, but many years ago. But it was my first time recording with people that I like. Not that I didn’t like the people in the past, but I feel a connection with these guys."
HS: "Thats wonderful!"
S: "It was very fun!"
HS: "Okay, I’ve got a question about your song writing process. What’re the stages? Hows it happen?”
S: "Ben in the mastermind—regarding guitar."
B: "Y’know I’ll just kinda have an idea for a song, I guess. But it’s like, very much a skeleton. And then I show everybody and we all kinda bring it to life. I dunno, I feel like I have the easy part, just kinda making something simple and then everybody adds on and we move things around."
P: “We cook some things.”
HS: “Do you guys have a favorite song to play live?”
S: “We have a song called Popcorn Lung and it’s my favorite song. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s like a swing–with like nu metal."
SW: "Swing-metal!"
S: "New genre by In The Shade."
P: "Popcorn lung is probably also my favorite to play."
B: "I feel like the most recent song we’ve made tends to be the favorite, because its like, we’re so used to playing–”
S: "The other ones. Yea it’s something new."
B: “Yea, and it’s like. This is nice, this is refreshing, this is awesome.”
SW: "Do you ever get sick of playing the old ones?"
S: "Yea."
P: "Your ears can definitely get tired of the same song, especially cause like you hear it so much playing it. You’ve gotta take a break for a few days and it’s like, oh, I actually do like this song. I forgot!”
SW: “Will we be hearing Popcorn Lung at Battle of the Bands tonight?”
S: If we make it to the second round, yes! I wanna play it so bad, I’m excited.”
HS: "Alright, so I know we already heard what you guys play in this lineup, but do you play any other instruments?"
S: "I play the banjo sometimes, but I’m not that good!"
PY: "You play the harmonica!"
S: "Oh, barely! Paul can play, actually. He’s really good."
P: "Thank you!"
HP: "How’d you start playing harmonica, Paul?"
P: "I bought one."
All: [laughter]
HS: "Woooah, that’s how it all starts, huh?"
P: "The thing about harmonicas, for anyone listening at home. Harmonicas are just in a key. So so long as you’re playing in that key, you can’t hit a wrong note. So it’s all about your taste. If you have good music taste but maybe not good technical instrument abilities—like me—harmonica is good."
SW: "Will we see the harmonica tonight at Battle of the Bands?"
S: "That’s your walkout song!"
P: "One day, we’ll cover The Wizard."
B: "Paul also plays the sampler. It sounds funny, but it’s like a new addition to the band. But I think it adds a lot.”
S: “A lot of aura.”
B: “I feel like it adds a lot to the music, but also to the way the energy flows in shows in general.”
HS: "When did the sampler get added in?"
P: "We’ve only had it for one live show–the 21st show."
HP: "Are we gonna see it tonight?”
P: "Yes."
HP & SW: "Yay!"
HS: "Ok, follow up question on the instrument thing. If you could wake up tomorrow and have like, mastery over any instrument—what would it be?"
S: "Drums!"
HS: "That would be cool."
S: "I try, I do not succeed."
P: "Bass."
All: [laughter]
P: "Actually no, banjo would be pretty cool.
B: Definitely drums. But I think having limitations, like y’know, gives you a lot of inspiration."
HS: "That’s beautiful!"
B: "I dunno, I think if I could like perfectly play guitar it would get boring."
P: "You gotta work with the tools you have."
S: "Inspiring In The Shade moment."
SW: "Do we have time for a few more questions?"
PY: "Yea!"
HS: "OK. We’ll ask you the heavy hitters now–what your bands mission, you guys. What do you wanna do?"
B: "Make beautiful music!"
S: "Play the big stages. I wanna play in front of thousands of people."
HS: "What would be your dream stage to play on, anywhere, ever?"
P: "The moon!"
All [laughter]
S: "I dunno I’d love to play like Bonnaroo or some really cool festival. And I’m gonna get there!"
HS: "Can’t wait to see you guys there!"
B: "I think for me, like, I’ve seen people play at Pompeii, that would be pretty cool. But honestly, we haven’t played in our hometown. Or, me and Paul’s hometown, Port A before. I think that would be pretty cool."
S: "Oooh yea, on the beach!"
PY: "That is in the works, actually."
S: "Spring break?"
HS: "Spring break, In the shade, Port A, on the beach, that would be such a show! You’d be In The Sand"
S: We’ll have to change our name periodically.
HS: "Ok–this is kinda just a random question, but how do you guys feels about physical media vs. streaming?"
S: "Love!"
HP: "Do you have a favorite kind of physical media?"
S: "I’ve started a record collection! I need to get a record player, I’ve been borrowing my dad’s. That’s probably by favorite, or CDs. I started collecting those."
P: "I could not live without streaming. Like every song ever is there. I need it."
HS: "It is really convenient."
B: "I agree. I think streaming–just the way music is now. It allows for music to spread way more quickly. It’s like, you don’t have to go to the store and be like ‘hey do you have this’. You’re just hearing new music constantly. Just hearing stuff from social media and it’s like, wow this is amazing. Twenty years ago that just couldn’t have happened. I just wouldnt have found that music. So, I just kinda feel like streaming bursts the bubble of what you can find."
HP: "Totally! That makes sense. I’ve got one more question for you guys–and it’s an intense one. What would your DJ name be?”
P: "DJ Paul."
S: "Probably like… DJ Fifi"
B: "Mine would probably be DJ 2014 (with broken wings)"
P: "Two random ones–Either DJ Kitty or DJ Mango Honey"
HP: "Those are so cute! Well, thank you guys so much for joining us. This has been In The Shade and they’re gonna be playing over at Hole In The Wall tonight at 10, so if you’re in the area and want to check them out, that’s where they’ll be. Thanks for coming in!”