Von Shakes were the most recent band to take part in the SU Sessions at NUIG. I caught up with them afterwards and asked them a few questions J
First off, the name of the band – Where did that come from?
Paddy: We actually always get this question. One morning after a gig we weren’t feeling the best having breakfast, we all had the shakes from the night out and we thought ‘The Shakes’ would be a good name, but then we thought there are so many bands with ‘the’ like The Strokes, The Thrills, and then Masty (Aaron) said why don’t we put ‘Von’ in front and we said yeah. No big mystery to it! Mind you, we’d been struggling with a name for a year.
Hugh: And we weren’t even sure of it but then one of our friends who is pretty big in Germany offered us a chance to come over and play a gig with him and when we saw the name on the site, ‘Von Shakes’ we thought it looked really cool. It’s stuck ever since!
You’re all from Dublin. How did the band get started in the first place?
Hugh: We all went to the same school. The two lads (Paddy and Aaron) were the year ahead of us (Hugh and Killian).
Killian: We started jamming when we were younger.
Hugh: Then we all finished school and we’ve been serious for the last two years or so.
Do you all come from musical backgrounds?
Killian: I think so yeah. All the classics, The Eagles and Hendrix and everyone were kind of bred into us when we were kids, and we kind of moved on from there. All our parents would have played an instrument at some stage as well.
Paddy: Yeah, it’s the same with myself, and Masty’s dad was a drummer.
Aaron: Yeah, I stole his drum kit and there we go. The rest is history!
Paddy: My mum is a singer as well so that’s where we get it from.
Hugh: His uncle is also our manager; he used to be in a big band back in the eighties, toured with U2 and stuff.
Paddy: Google him. He’s still bigger than we are! 20 years later.
And since you’ve started the band, where has been the best place you’ve played?
Unison: Galway! Obviously!
Paddy: All of them.
Hugh: The best venue in my opinion is The Academy up in Dublin. I love playing that.
Killian: We played in Russia a bit and it is absolutely nuts over there, the people are absolutely crazy.
Getting gigs in Ireland – Easy or hard?
Aaron: Easy to get gigs, hard to get good ones!
Killian: Yeah, there are so many gigs and so many bands going around but to get good slots is tough.
Hugh: Last year when we had the album out we did something like fifty gigs, and about thirty to thirty-five of them were absolutely shite. Then there were some that were absolutely unbelievable and a few in-between that were great as well. This year then we’re kind of picking and choosing much better. We’ve done a lot of good gigs.
Killian: At the start, it was any way to get our name out there and now its stop doing shit gigs basically!
That album, ‘The Routine’ was released last year.
Paddy: Yeah, this time last year.
And do you have anything new coming up?
Killian: We just released the single last Wednesday, ‘My Side’. It’s on iTunes, and it’s a completely new direction.
Paddy: Not a completely new direction but we’ve kind of honed in on a certain area because the album was a load of different influences.
Hugh: A scattered album! Our new set now is kind of a little more to the point.
Killian: It’s gone triple platinum in a week so you can’t complain!
Hugh: It’s got more of a distinct sound to it we think anyway so hopefully everybody else thinks the same.
How did you find the whole process of being in a studio recording?
Hugh: I found there was a lot of sleeping going on. That couch!
Killian: Yeah, we were spending maybe twelve to fourteen hours a day in the studio sometimes.
Paddy: I found it kind of stressful, it’s expensive, and we tried to rush an album in two weeks and kind of felt that time was always limited. That was always in the back of my mind.
Hugh: We had to make sure to get this certain part done on this day and we were compromising you know?
Paddy: There’s not much improvisation in the album at all, it’s all parts really.
Killian: We didn’t have time really to put anything extra in it.
I also saw on your YouTube account that you held a mystery tour for your fans. How did that come about?
Paddy: We basically wanted to pay back all the people who had been good to us over the year and kind of supported us. So we hired a bus, loaded it with booze and sent the first 50 people to email us on a mystery tour! Out to Johnny Fox’s then back into town followed by an after party. It was just wild.
Hugh: It was mental.
Now for a few quick questions!
Any of you give something up for Lent?
Killian: Same thing as I gave up last year… Nothing!
Favorite song on the radio right now?
Paddy: That Marmaduke song. I’m lovin’ it.
Hugh: That was out last year wasn’t it?
Paddy: Was it?
Killian: The new Strokes tune is good.
Paddy: Yeah, ‘Machu Picchu’.
Killian: Whenever that comes on, brilliant.
Paddy: I like that tune by Royseven as well, ‘We Should Be Lovers’.
Killian: ‘My Side’ by Von Shakes. It gets me every time!
The first, and the last album you bought?
Killian: First album I bought, embarrassingly enough, was Will Smith.
Hugh: The first album I bought, I think, was Jimmy Hendrix, ‘BBC Sessions’ and the last album I bought was The Foals, ‘Total Life Forever’. Great album! It’s probably one of my favorite albums.
Paddy: Craig David was the first I bought. It’s actually a great album. The last I bought would be The Strokes new album, which is great as well.
Killian: Yeah, that’s a great album.
Aaron: My first one was like Sum 41 or something like that, and my last one was Kanye West.
Cat or Dog?
Unison: DOG.
Aaron: Cats are creepy.
Hugh: We’re a loyal family!
Maltesers or Minstrels?
Hugh: Maltesers.
Killian: Maltesers I think, yeah.
Hugh: Maltesers or popcorn!
Aaron: Maltesers are mainstream whereas Minstrels are more of a guilty pleasure!
Killian: Listen to this guy!
Paddy: Yeah, Minstrels if you really want to impress the girl at the cinema. It’s all about the Minstrels! As long as she bought the tickets…
Finally, what is up next for Von Shakes?
Aaron: We’ve got the Button Factory on the 18th then we’re playing a charity gig on the 28th at The Village.
Killian: We’ve also got Vantastival on April 30th.
Paddy: Then we’re moving to America! For three months, leaving on June 1st.
Hugh: Yeah, New York. Can’t wait for that.
Extra Question: Any advice for musicians just starting out, looking for gigs etc.?
Paddy: Gig as much as you can.
Killian: Yeah, gig as much as you can and don’t let shit gigs stop you! Everyone starting off plays bad gigs.
Hugh: Never give up. Just keep going. A ninety thousand seated arena, think of the big picture.
Paddy: If you’re playing to two people, close your eyes and imagine you’re on stage at Oxegen. I had to do that a lot.
Aaron: Oxegen main stage!
Paddy: With every gig you do, you grow tighter, you gain confidence, and you’re going to learn what works live… There’s so many things to actual gigging, so many more positives than negatives.
Check out the band’s website for more info: http://www.vonshakes.com/
‘My Side’ is available to buy on iTunes right now!
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