Interview By Rich Quinlan
Photos by David A. Smith, dsmithimages.com
I had the recent pleasure to review Sound
and Shape’s new CD, and the even greater
pleasure to have the band answer a few of
my inane questions for an email interview.
This Nashville trio is one of the most dynamic
acts I have heard in along time, and their
new release, The Love Electric, is a thrilling
collection of intricate guitar work and unique
musical visions. If you have not yet had your
life enhanced by Sound and Shape, be sure
to check them out soon!
Q: I would like a little background on how
the band came together, and the current state
of musical affairs in Nashville for a band
such as yourselves.
Jerry: Sound & Shape was formed in late
2005. Ryan (guitar/vocals) and I (Jerry -
drums) played in 2 different local bands that
often played shows with each other. When their
drummer left, I came in. When that band came
to an end, we decided to keep going and that's
when Sound & Shape was created. We met
David (bass) at a show in Birmingham, Al in
2006. We kept in touch and when we needed
a bass player, he came through. This is definitely
by far the best lineup we have ever had. We
all work really well together and we're all
there for the music. As for Nashville, it's
a tough town for rock and roll. We play locally
every so often. We spend most of our time
on tour so we just incorporate our local shows
as tour kick-offs or come-home shows.
Q: Was there a conscious decision to formulate
a theme throughout Machines, or did
the songwriting organically take you in that
direction?
Ryan: I had written a couple sets of lyrics
and noticed a theme running throughout, I
guess it was just because of the place I was
in my life, and out of that the whole story
line kind of fell into place. I don't like
to get too explanatory about the lyrics because
I like to leave the listener his or her own
space to identify with and relate to the words.
On The Love Electric, the lyrics
are actually even more linear and interconnected.
With the new stuff we're writing I am making
a conscious effort to refine my lyrical ideas
to span the length of a song instead of developing
the ideas and themes over the whole album.
Q: What is your songwriting process like
- how many riffs/ideas are introduced by different
members, and what about lyric responsibilities?
Dave: Musically, Sound&Shape is a place
of equal opportunity. I know it sounds very
elementary but we take turns presenting ideas.
One of us could come up with a sole riff or
a nearly completed song with chord progressions
for verses, chorus and bridge sections. At
this point we just play around with the ideas
and they seem to always just naturally evolve
into something bigger. We are very trusting
of each others talents and creativity, so
unless we come into a writing situation with
specific parts or rhythms in mind, we don't
tread on each other. We'll just jam the song
ideas, trying different things here and there
until it feels comfortable to us. We are very
respecting of what each other is presenting,
and this is what I think really helps to diversify
our sound because musically, we all come from
such different places. When it comes to vocals,
it's all Ryan. In the material being written
post TLE, Jerry and I are writing more of
our own harmony parts but we're following
a foundation laid out by Ryan. He's got a
great knack for lyrics and vocal melody and
he delivers them with a big bowl of emotion.
Q: How does The Love Electric compare
with Machines in terms of musical
scope and complexity?
Jerry: I feel that The Love Electric
is a mature step in the right direction. The
musicianship and song writing is much better,
but it's still raw and aggressive!
Q: Do you feel a pressure to continually
become more complex with your song structures
because of the work you have already created?
Dave: When we write, we really try to work
in the present. I don't think there has ever
been a conscious effort to rehash previous
emotions or ideas. Maybe an unused riff will
come up once in a while. It would be foolish
to compare what we are doing currently to
previous work, and I think a lot of bands
get themselves in a muck when they try to
go back and recreate something they've already
done in an effort to prolong success. It's
at that point that a band will stop evolving
as a creative unit and the music tends to
become stale and forced. In our writings currently,
I'd venture to say that we're focusing more
on the groove element, even in the more technical
sections. Feel is everything! There is no
pressure to become more complex with what
we do. If greater complexity and technicality
are displayed in what we are writing currently,
it's because we as individuals are continually
developing as musicians and are building more
facility and technicality, not because we
are trying to best ourselves. However, it
is important to remember that speed and complexity
don't always have to be present to have great
musical moments.
Q: How difficult is it to recreate this music
in a live setting and describe the reactions
you have received.
Jerry: It's a fun challenge.
We are doing the harmonies and back up vocals
so it's really just different. The audiences
seem to be pretty receptive. I think it's
refreshing and that's what people want to
see.
Q: I believe it was Ryan who said that "music
was our only outlet for emotional expression".
Could you please give some context to that
statement as it relates to each of you and
is that still true?
Ryan: I can't speak for the rest of the guys
but for me, my parents divorced when I was
really young and I spent a vast majority of
my time going back and forth between the 2
all over the country. My only solace and escape
was my Walkman and my Beatles tapes. I used
to take the train from southern California
up to the Bay Area, or fly home to my family
in New York, and I would wear those tapes
out on the trip. When I was 12 I got an Epiphone
Les Paul and in the case was a copy of Led
Zeppelin IV so my path was pretty much set
then and there. Instead of a walkman at that
point it was me sitting in my room listening
to records and picking out how to play them.
No matter where I was I at least always had
music there. And it is very much still true
to this day. No matter where I am I always
have a notebook with me and I keep a guitar
next to my bed at all times.
Q: You have an appearance by Jim Horn on
your new EP, a man who once worked with the
Beatles. What was that experience like and
how did you hook up with him?
Ryan: I was working at a restaurant in an
upscale neighborhood in Nashville and a lot
of industry people would come in on a regular
basis. I ended up becoming pretty good buddies
with the guy who wrote Jenny 867-5309 actually
haha. Jim's wife came in all the time and
we just got to talking and she told me about
her husband and when it came to that part
in the song I was pretty adamant about having
a sax solo so I asked him and he was into
it. He actually did the solo in a separate
studio from where we were tracking and sent
it over, and we all got a little tear in our
eye when we heard it in the track for the
first time. He is an amazing player with an
amazing history and we feel very honored and
humbled to have been able to work with him.
Q: With whom are you hitting the road and
where will you be headed. Are you able to
go to new places in the States and abroad
this time around?
Jerry: We did a tour earlier in the year
in pre-support of The Love Electric
with our best friend band, Baak Gwai. Ha.
At the moment, we are working to find the
right tours. So we probably won't be hitting
the road too hard until April.
Q: Feel free to offer any additional insight
or information I should to help me round out
an article about the band.
This is what we do. This is all we want to
do. We are passionate about what we do. We
pursue excellence in what we do. It doesn't
even feel like we're driven by fame or fortune,
but simply the desire to play music. We just
want to share what we do with as many people
as we can. There's not a thing in this world
that I would love to do more than jump in
a van and criss-cross the country playing
music night after night. The experiences gained,
the friendships made, and the stories we wind
up telling are priceless.
