Hi there! How do you personally define your musical style, and what influences have shaped this distinctive sound?
We've always considered ourselves to be a punk band at heart but there is an undeniable metal influence in our music, we like to let the listener decide for themselves what genre we fall into as the lines between them can get quite blurry. Our influences consist of all the music we listen to, some notable acts include Jack Off Jill, Acid Bath, Whores, Chat Pile, Black Sabbath, I Am Duckeye, Babes in Toyland, JaJaTao, Nirvana, Japanese Voyeurs, Mr. Bungle, Tool, Deftones, NoMeansNo. And so many more I can't think of right now.
Can you talk about the themes and experiences that inspired the songs on "Teratoma"?
It's all about life really, I think everyone goes through moments of anger, resentment, frustration, confusion and a sense of feeling trapped. These are things that we certainly deal with and these songs are our cathartic outlet when faced with such things.
The combination of heavy distortion and contrasting slow and fast-paced songs is a hallmark of your music. How do you find the balance between these elements, and what do you believe these contrasts add to the overall listening experience?
It happens naturally really, we don't set out to write songs at a particular speed or anything like that. It more has to do with how we're feeling at the time we write the individual songs. I think the contrasts serve the album well, it has ebb and flow which gives the overall product nice dynamics. It's not an album filled with 10 songs that all sound the same.
Could you share insights into your creative process? How do you approach songwriting, and how does collaboration work within the band?
We have two approaches to songwriting, either I will come up with something in my own time and take it to the band and we'll expand on it or we'll all just be messing around together playing random stuff and we'll stumble onto something we think sounds good and work from there.
What kind of emotions do you aim to evoke in your listeners, and how do you achieve this through your vocal delivery?
We're not really trying to evoke any particular emotions in our listeners, everyone will take something a little different from each song and whatever it is that resonates with them will affect them in their own way, and that's the way we like it.
Can you describe the journey of creating this album, from the initial concept to the final recording, and how it feels now that it's out in the world?
We've been wanting to do an album for a while now and it's been great to actually get it done, as far as initial concepts go there wasn't much of one apart from we wanted to get our music out there and we're really happy we achieved that goal.
The band members each bring unique elements to The Shy's sound. How do your individual musical backgrounds and personal experiences influence the collaborative process and the final outcome of your music?
Although there is a bunch of crossover between the stuff we listen to we also listen to some wildly different music from each other, I think those influences coming together in subtle ways probably have a much larger effect on the overall composition of our songs than even we realise.
Your band's name, "The Shy"... Does it have a specific meaning or story behind it? How does it reflect the essence of your music and band identity?
Honestly we're just very shy people, we use this music as a way to come out of our shells and really express ourselves despite that.
"Teratoma" is described as a testament to your versatility and creativity. How do you challenge yourselves creatively, and what do you believe sets your music apart from other artists in the industry?
I wouldn't say we challenge ourselves to be more creative, it's a more natural process through experience and experimentation as well as broadening the scope of what we listen to which results in more creativity. As for what sets us apart I'm not sure if that's for us as the artists to answer. That shit's all in the eye of the beholder.
Can you discuss the concept behind the artwork and how it relates to the themes explored in the music?
The artwork was done by a close friend of mine (who you can find most places online under the name EndlessCrust) and I just thought it was fucking wicked, the chaotic and somewhat grotesque nature really resonated with me and the band. I think it looks like how the music sounds.
Your music has been noted for its raw, unfiltered emotions. How do you maintain authenticity in your music, and why is it important for you to convey genuine emotions to your audience?
How do we maintain authenticity? By being ourselves of course. I think it's important to be genuine in all aspects of life but especially in art, that's the whole point isn't it?
How do you adapt your studio recordings for live shows, and how do you engage with your audience during performances?
All the songs on the album are played how we play them live, probably due to the fact they were recorded live. How do we engage with the audience? We play really loud music and scream at them.
How do you navigate the challenge of reaching a wider audience while staying true to your artistic vision?
We do the typical social media nonsense "hey we released an album!" and "come to our show!" but past that, we have no idea what the fuck we're doing. We just play our music and hope that the people who do hear it like it enough to show their friends, and we do it unapologetically.
Looking ahead, what can fans expect from The Shy in the future? Are there any upcoming projects, collaborations, or new directions that you're excited to explore?
Right now the plan is to play as many shows as possible in as many places as we can get to, we hope to get some more material recorded and released sometime next year but who knows what the future holds.