The Shivers are playing Fifth & Vine LIVE on Fountain Square this Saturday with White Denim and Blood Chill! We were thrilled to get to know this amazing band prior to the show!
Tell us how The Shivers came to be…
Back in 2016, Justin made a post on social media wondering who might be interested in starting a new band that aimed to sound something like a cross-between...well I can't recall all three influences he cited, except that one was Rammstein. This piqued the interest of a handful of wayward, in-between-bands dudes. Myself? I jumped at the opportunity to work with Justin. Erik responded as well. Wait, did we just land a killer drummer that's currently in zero bands? That doesn't happen! Another guitarist buddy of ours was into it and brought along a bassist and the five of us had a now-infamous first meeting on the roof of Erik's apartment building. We quickly got a practice space and we went to work. Some great stuff happened right away. But our five schedules were very tricky to line up, and that incarnation of the band did not ultimately take root. But Justin, Erik and myself eventually decided to pick up where we had left off, this time with me playing rhythm guitar in addition to vocals. We started slowly, methodically finding our chemistry and refining our song-writing process. Once we had a handful of songs, we started a long search for a bassist. Finally, one day a friend recommended Mike. He was a perfect fit from day one, and we had our first show as a full band in late 2018. (It didn't, and doesn't sound anything like Rammstein, but we're pretty happy with it.)
What can one expect from a live The Shivers show?
We strive to have enough variety in our songs to make our set feel a little more like a journey we take with the audience, alternating between songs with heavier riffs, slower, more contemplative songs, and songs to get your booty movin'.
What has been your most memorable experience as a band thus far?
I think I would have to say Iron Fest at The Southgate House Revival. To us, and many others, it's the best local weekend of original music. We had our debut there in 2018, and have felt very fortunate to have played each year since. Personally, I feel I owe a lot to John Gerhardt and Morrella Raleigh for their support over the years. I encourage every local music lover to come out for the next one in November. It's one hell of a party!
What is next for The Shivers?
We spent most of quarantine recording our debut album, Dreadfully Distinct (now available on Spotify and all other major platforms). That was a major milestone for us. Now we're enjoying taking our time writing new songs, in new directions. We'll more than likely release an EP next rather than having to wait until we have another whole album's worth of songs to record again.
*** The Shivers are Sean Garner, Justin Smith, Erik Olsen and Mike Ross
