blog

The new SHYNE sound… Why?

Tue, 13 Oct 2015 11:50:05 +0100

Hi all, by now you know that SHYNE has changed course and is developing a new approach that includes both acoustic and digital sounds. Your first question might be “why?” We were on a really good tip with our purely acoustic sound, and we have a debut album that we are very proud of! (Btw you can find it here (hint hint J)). So why go in a new direction when we were already rocking?

Well, the answer will be somewhat intricate. Maybe a little opaque, even. We are, after all, artistes J. But here goes…

For us, going down the route of doing original music will, by definition, mean we are doing so to express an “inner voice”. It’s not just about the music, about playing in front of people, having punters party all night long, or even about having our faces on TV (YouTube, actually). We have a deeper reason and purpose to what we doing that drives our passion for the band. What might that be? Well you will forgive me when I answer opaquely… its a work in progress, unfolding with each song we produce. However it does involve words like inner truth, spirit, artistry, justice, reverence, passion, appreciation, emotional release, and uncovering angles on life that typically get ignored in pop music. The world at large is in the throws of massive change: exciting, scary, full of both danger and opportunity; and we are excited to be partaking in this global journey with our music.

Added to that: both Sims and I have a history and interest in a wide range of music. I grew up listening to Bob Dylan, Neil Young, local jazz and, a personal favourite of both of ours, Leonard Cohen, amongst a wide range of other music. And let’s not forget my stint in the electronic pop / dance band, Qkumba Zoo. On any given day Sims will be listening to Florence and the Machine, the National, Radiohead (in all their recent electronica shoe-gazing glory) and sexy house, amongst… a wide range of other music. So, we connect to music across the many streams of our modern (and not so modern) culture. And we want that auditory tapestry to reflect in our music because sound, in and of itself, has a “message”. It is a carrier wave of “purpose”.

So there we were a few months ago, two bemused souls peering into the basket that is our music in SHYNE, thinking and feeling about how we want it to “represent”. Exactly the sort of place that leads to big decisions. It became quite clear that the bottom line is we both feel driven to express the passion inside by using the broad musical lexicon that inspires us. And this lexicon includes both acoustic and digital sound. Well played acoustic music is raw and primitive, able to reach down into the dirt and up towards the heavens where emotional beauty is a siren call (whoa Owl… calm down on the poetic metaphors!). Digital sound has an extremely broad pallet and reach, allowing our imagination free reign when composing. Both Sims and I are composers at heart, so having access to the world’s sounds is inspirational (if not somewhat daunting).

Hence, after some serious soul searching we came to the conclusion to start on a new aural journey, which we welcome you on. With any luck my explanation makes sense to you, at some level. You will have hopefully heard our first steps down this road here and in my next blog I will describe the process we go through to make the music. Thanks for reading, and thanks for LISTENING!

THE WORD IS...PROUD

Fri, 18 Sep 2015 12:29:58 +0100

Heya! Happy Friday :) Might be a little late to chat about last weekend's events but we're still glowing from it. Also, we've officially shared our demo 'I Am' on Facebook for all to hear and the feedback has been phenomenal so far.

Last weekend, found SHYNE playing two charity gigs. A great way to start the journey, we think. With our message being Awakening to self and others, we found it inspiring to give a hand to helping out. A big thank you to Kammy from S.T.A.R Walk and Debbie from Bryanston Preprimary & CHOC for making the space for SHYNE to give a little light to the event.

Have you heard I Am yet? Take a listen and share, shout out, repeat...do what you gotta do, but please comment and get in touch. We'd love to hear from you!

OFF WE GO!

Thu, 10 Sep 2015 09:52:41 +0100

So as promised, we want to invite you along the new SHYNE journey. With that, we are happily proud ;-) to showcase our 2 newest demos. We also have our first 2 gigs set for this weekend. All in all, a good reason to celebrate, we think.

NEW DEMO for your listening pleasure
Both songs are demo-quality with a plan to get into studio in October with our producer, Keith Finney. A huge thanks to the long dedicated hours spent on Owl's account (the Ableton genius) and together with myself, we spent some long creative hours laying down delicate tracks. We'd love to hear from you! Send us a mail, leave us comments on Facebook...go mad!

I Am | to listen, click here
Quiet Display | to listen, click here

Weekend GIGS
Join us this Saturday for S.T.A.R walk at The Pirates Club, Johannesburg. The walk starts at 11am with SHYNE kicking in with our rad tunes at 12pm. S.T.A.R. Walk 2015 is an opportunity for all people fighting against the scourge of rape and sexual abuse. Pull in round 10am and add your spice to a good cause!

SO WHATS BEEN HAPPENING?

Fri, 18 Sep 2015 11:26:48 +0100

SHYNE went through quite a large shift. We found ourselves on tour last December, playing to our loyal fans in the Eastern Cape, when it hit us. We had become a pub band, doing mostly covers and not putting enough emphasis on our original sound.

As a band, we collectively agreed to stop gigging until we had something on offer, we truly felt proud of. As it happens, our very own, talented Andrew Proome also went his own way. He is now a brilliant solo musician and we're very proud of his courage and music. So with all these changes, it was best for SHYNE to take a short sabbatical from the industry.

Since January this year, Owl and I have been working incredibly hard. Discussing and laying down what our new sound should be. It had to be a sound that reflected our vision and love, which is to awaken people to the healing power of music. It's a sound that won't hit mainstream and we'd like to keep it that way. What we're creating is multi-layered, it asks deep attention from it's listeners and it pushes to lift spirits.

Where are we now? In studio. We have laid down 4 beautiful new songs. We have re-branded ourselves and are almost ready to showcase to the world what we're truly made of. Meanwhile, take a look at our website and give us your thoughts :)

The main point of this new journey is we want YOU to take it with us...what'dja'say?