Panic On The Streets Of Dublin
Fresh from releasing their first full-length album Panic Slowly, Edwin McFee catches up with guitarist Scott Maher from The Shoos to hear about the making of their debut and he also tells him why major label heart-breaks have only made the Arthur’s Day-bound bunch stronger.
Edwin McFee, 02 Oct 2012
A few weeks ago Dublin-based rock heroes The Shoos unveiled their debut album Panic Slowly to the masses at a launch gig in Whelan’s. The product of five years of blood, sweat and tears which saw the band weather more than a few storms (most notably their parting of ways with major label Universal and their move to the States not quite going to plan) it’s a loud and proud testament to the group’s passion and belief in what they do. When Hot Press caught up with guitarist Scott Maher recently, the musician tells us that despite the odd hardship, he never lost faith in his work and sees it all as part of the song-writing process.
“No, I never felt disillusioned with music after all that happened,” he explains. “Disillusioned with people though? Yes, but then that’s what people do – they fuck things up, us included. We’re all guilty of our own downfall and success at times. This isn’t a big sob story. We had a great opportunity that turned into an unbelievable opportunity that just fell at the last hurdle because the money pulled out. It wasn’t our fault and there wasn’t anything we could’ve done directly. We got some great songs from the experience and that’s the main thing.”
Birthed in the Bunker in Tallaght (with the help of studio wizard Keith Farrell) their debut album was recorded live and was initially intended to be a five-track EP. Scott informs us the band were having far too much fun to quit and ended up making a
full-length offering.
“When we started recording everything felt very easy and things flowed naturally,” he explains. “It didn’t break our hearts recording the music – whereas previously it would have. We wanted to get out of that cycle where you’d be writing for five months then gigging for five months and you end up hating the songs by the time you’re done.
“The reason we adopted this approach was mostly to cater for Texas, who sings with a very raspy, emotive voice,” he continues. “When he sings you get the feeling that he means it and we wanted to capture that spark. We’re the kind of people who get bored easily, so doing 50 to 60 takes got on our nerves. That way’s too mathematical for us and I think you lose something every time you do it. We should have recorded live years ago, but you never know if something works until you do it yourself. It’s like some aul’ lad giving you advice and ignoring it, but then you do it and you go – ‘shit, he was right.’”
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