SHARKS ///

Sharks’ forthcoming album, No Gods, brandishes a dynamic diversity that’s bound to send shockwaves through rock ‘n’ roll.

The UK quartet walks a fine line between impressively infectious lyrical poetry a la The Smiths and intensely incisive punk hearkening back to The Clash. Frontman James Mattock infuses the songs with an erudite perspective that’s utterly refreshing, and his words hit just as hard as his riffs or Sam Lister’s bombastic beats. Sharks are going to take a big bite out of pop culture when No Gods drops March 20, and things may very well never be the same. That’s a damn good thing too…

Given how intelligent these lads are, ARTISTdirect.com editor in chief Rick Florino spoke to Mattock and Lister about their three favorite books!

Sam Lister’s Three Favorite Books:

Robert Louis Stevenson — Treasure Island

I think my favorite book is Treasure Island. I’ve always loved it since I was a kid. I’ve always loved boats and pirates. It’s just a classic story, isn’t it? It gets remade and retold, and it’s still so great.

Kurt Vonnegut — Slaughterhouse-Five

My second favorite book is Slaughterhouse-Five. It’s the first sci-fi I ever read, and I thought it was so cool and crazy how you can write a book that has no limits. I don’t even know whether most of it’s a dream or it’s conscious. It’s cool to have something totally limitless. You can do whatever you want in a book.

David Mitchell — Black Swan Green

My third favorite is Black Swan Green. It’s set in the mid-80s. It’s really nostalgic. It reminds me of being a child. It’s always nice when you can relate to stuff.

James Mattock’s Three Favorite Books:

Jack Kerouac — On the Road

Number one is probably On the Road. I read that on the road, and it’s amazing. The way Kerouac puts things and comes up with these lines is genius. It’s a classic.

Charles Bukowski — The Last Night of the Earth

In the same breath, Bukowski’s writing is really influential. I really like The Last Night of the Earth, his first collection of poems. That’s the one.

(San Francisco Foghorn, Amanda Rhoades)- Since their formation in 2007, a band called Sharks has exploded onto the punk scene. Hailing from England, their sound has been likened to that of punk-rock forefather The Clash, producing songs that are high energy and infinitely re-playable.Just shy of the one year anniversary of their first U.S. headline show at Berkeley, Sharks seems to be plunging headfirst into the music world and heading towards a bright future; they recently finished a run with Warped Tour and are currently touring with the legendary band Social Distortion. In addition, they’re releasing their latest album No Gods on March 20th.

Despite their success, it’s apparent Sharks possesses remarkable maturity not in just sound, but in the character of its members. When they sat down with me after a recent show at the Fox Theater in Oakland, I was pleasantly surprised by the down-to-earth nature of the entire group. This impression was solidified by drummer Sam Lister who noted, “Not one thing has changed in my personal life. I still have a job back home, and a girlfriend. I go home and get bored just like anyone else but it makes you appreciate all of it more.”

Singer and guitarist James Mattock, who provides uniquely rough but unclouded vocals and enthusiastic instrumentals, was rather soft spoken when discussing the band’s success but seemed incredibly optimistic, “[Over the past year], we’ve experienced Warped Tour and we’ve had a record. We went to Japan, that was cool, toured the U.S. and had a change in the lineup. It’s great now, it feels like we’re more complete and prepared.” Chemistry is exceptionally important to the Sharks, Mattock maintained “[guitarist Andrew Bayliss] will bring me a guitar part and that’s enough to inspire me to write [lyrics]. Our approach is difference, that’s what makes Sharks, the chemistry- we all have something different from each other”

Regarding their links to revolutionary punk bands, Mattock was exceptionally modest. On their current tour with Social Distortion, he said “It’s amazing, they’ve influenced us a lot, obviously, with their lyrics. It was incredible when we were asked to tour with them for the second time.” When Sharks’ constant comparisons to The Clash was mentioned, Mattock explained “We had this raw sound making music, scraping everything we had together to make our songs. I think that and our high energy is why people compare us so much to them.”

This high energy will continue to characterize Sharks’ upcoming album “No Gods” Mattock hinted, saying “We had a lot more time to really bring out the songs this time, we had five weeks in the studio, far more than what we’ve had before. We focused a lot more on the songwriting and let it really come together rather than just throwing in the energy but that will still be there.”

The energy and chemistry of the band’s members lends to the utter power of this band’s sound, which also features artful guitar riffs by Andrew Bayliss, dynamic drumming from Sam Lister and rather intricate but decidedly solid bass work courtesy of Tony Corrales, who also packs a punch of showmanship. In spite of their maturity and coveted status as an up-and-coming act, they were unabashedly excited about their excursion to San Francisco, which they were planning at the time of the interview. Bayliss mentioned “We love San Francisco, it’s great. I’m looking forward to visiting Alcatraz tomorrow. I hope it will be good.” It is indeed their grounded nature that sets their talent apart, giving them and their music a relatability that transcends their punk sound.


 by Amanda Rhoades(theroadbacktotipasa.tumblr.com) Published Feb. 16th 

http://sharks.userboard.net/

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Sharks have released their brand new video for ‘Arcane Effigies’ and here at DIY, we decided to dig a little deeper and find out exactly what it’s all about.

The track comes from the band’s forthcoming debut album ‘No Gods’, with the video being filmed recently in the band’s hometown of Leamington Spa.

“We weren’t looking into making a direct explanation of the song through visuals, but rather just making a fun and watchable video,” explains Sharks frontman James Mattock, when he spoke exclusively to DIY. “The initial idea was to basically follow a skinhead youth around being delinquent, with the spray paint of ‘No Gods’ being the main scene. 

“It’s pretty much the first thing that came into my head when I sat with the song and closed my eyes for video ideas, especially in the chorus; it’s like this Rudy character is being called out. The lyrics are somewhat descriptive in certain parts and we wanted to show lots of the town we lived in.

So, how did the original idea develop to include a group of four youths? “The idea of one character ended up being four kids that responded to this public application we put out. They all look great and were really up for doing whatever we wanted. One of the guys even came up from Kent and was getting trains since 5am that day.

“We took two days for the video, the second day being the performance scene and the first consisting of getting as much in of the boys as possible. A lot of what we did that day was completely off the cuff. Everyone, including the boys in the video, bounced ideas around all day. We ran off of a mix of instinct and the whatever we could do that remained with the original plan.

“The live shots of the band we set around this derelict area we found just outside of town, it was an open enough space for the drums not to be heard. All I remember from that day was doing each shot as quickly as we could, and trying to keep my eyes from falling out from the cold.”

And, as ever, the small details are an important part of Sharks’ visual representations: “There’s another ‘Rudy’ reference in the scene where Jake picks up The Specials LP from the charity shop. Referencing stuff like that close to the heart is really important for us to get across.

The video was directed by Ryan Mackfall of Crashburn Media - who also recently shot Polar Bear Club’s video for ‘Killin’ It’ - and we managed to have a catch up about his latest work.

“I think we approached this video in the knowledge that we really had to make sure our third collaborative work was something we could all be proud of. The last two videos went down extremely well. So much so I had people at their New York show, coming up to me and shaking my hand because they loved the ‘It All Relates’ video so much. Funny because we shot that for £250.

“Myself and the guys have always been creatively close and we’ve spent a lot of time together on and off the road. I think Sharks represent a different breed of band in the UK. I had the opportunity to listen to the new album and it is simply incredible. It goes without saying then as a filmmaker and director you want your works to represent the genius of the people crafting the songs. You want them to walk away feeling proud of what has grown visually from an album of songs that probably have a lot of personal meaning. 

“This video was a two day stint of working solidly in the cold and damp of Royal Leamington Spa. By the end of it we were all exhausted, but ultimately very proud of what we had achieved. I think both myself and the band stem from the same belief that our work is very much a part of our soul. Therefore nothing can be done by halves, ever. Special mentions need to go out to the four lads who starred in the video as our young punks. They were some of the best actors I’ve worked with and they will always be in my gratitude forever. There were no questions asked, they just did as they were told. A directors dream.”

Sharks release their debut album - which was recorded in Baltimore with Brian McTernan - ‘No Gods’ on the 19th March.


watch the video here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb6YCz_MS5I

http://soundcloud.com/yesitskatiep/sharks-lifes-a-gas