Shiraz Lane
Recently Shiraz Lane was in town so the band stopped by for a hot cup of joe and a chat at my place. Well, everyone but guitarist Miki. We'll get to that story soon enough. After trying to figure out the appropriate way to pronounce the band's name we settle down to the nitty gritty.
Vince, Ääni Magazine: What's the most memorable thing to have happened to you during your times touring?
Shiraz Lane: The whole trip we did in Toronto. All five days of it. That trip last November had a bunch of memorable stuff.
V: How did you end up going to Toronto
SL: We entered a battle of the bands called Hard Rock Rising and the Finnish winners got to go to Canada. It was a cool prize, not like we just got a pair of sticks for the drummer. And the best thing about the trip was to be out in the world together - like a family. Just being in the same hotel room together. A hotel room that stunk like crap every day. Like we were just trying to see how shitty we could get it - everyday hanging the "no cleaning" sign on the door.
One incident happened just last week. We were at Merirock playing on a cruiser. Just as we got all our gear moved in some cleaner managed to somehow spill beer all over Miki's amp. Oh and someone also drove over his guitar. Right before the gig. Not the same time tho. But he is the guy who everything seems to happen to. Once someone came on stage and crashed his stack down. He's not here with us now, Mikko had to go to work.
V: So he did the show last night (in Tampere), went to work in the morning (in Helsinki) and will meet you in Lahti tonight?
SL: Yeah, he left at 5 in the morning. He went to sleep at the hotel and once we came in making all that noise he was still trying to get his final 45 minutes of rest. No such luck.
Being a musician doesn't necessarily mix well with regular hours. Most of the guys have decided to just focus on the band, although you do get the odd kindergarten teacher in the mix.
SL: It's not like being a musician isn't a full time job. We don't just sit around in sweatpants all day. There is so much to do all the time.
V: You just released a new video for Money Talks.
SL: Yeah, and next week we film the next one. We got three new songs coming up, one of those gets a video. There will be a new EP out in May. That will include Money Talks, Out There Somewhere and the new songs. Our fans have been asking for a physical record. After shows there's always those requests. It started building up, like "they really want something". And so do we. To hold your own record in your hand. It's a feeling we want.
In the modern era many bands opt to go the EP route instead of recording a full blown album. It's a monetary decision, a time decision and even an attention span decision. Bands and artists don't get the kind of outside backing they used to, say even 5 years ago. DIY has arrived, or should I say returned to music, and not just on a grassroots level but on every stage. Working on only a few songs means you get your songs out there faster than if you were doing 12 tracks.
SL: We do want to make a full blown album at some point. But where we are right now, it's not viable. We work with Sammy Aaltonen (Private Line) at Eastside Studios. Working with him is very pleasant. He really wants to put all his energy into us and this project. He understands our vision and is helping us bring it out.
V: So what is the Shiraz Lane-vision?
SL: To us the "Shiraz"-style is to make all kinds of music. If someone came up and said "This is a great song. Now make more of these", that's not us. We want to live in the Now, and what ever kind of feelings we're going through at said moment - that's the kind of sound that is going to come out. And diversity is good. Like this upcoming EP. It's just not 5 single-style songs. Or just one genre of music. What's a genre anyways? I mean yeah we are a rock-band but other than that? We just try to be natural. We'd rather try to capture our personalities in the songs than just work off some tried-and-true formula. Imperfection is perfection. Regarding the upcoming EP, it'll be slightly conceptual.
There's nothing wrong with writing those perfect, 3 minutes 40 seconds formulaic hit songs. They work for a reason. If you wake up and have a hit in you - write it. Just as well if there is a 10 minute blues coming out. Shiraz Lane will do it. And if they would happen to stumble on to some mogul sitting on a pile of cash, they would not change their approach.
SL: If the man with the money believes in us we are happy to work with him - but we won't sell our soul.
