SHARKS: James Mattock, Andrew Bayliss, Sam Lister, and Carl Murrihy
Hometown: Royal Leamington Spa, England
Genre: Punk/Rock
Label: Rise Records
UK sensation SHARKS have had a stellar year so far. In March they released a gem of an album No Gods and they just finished up a long successful tour that brought them to the States as the opening act for Social Distortion. A punk band that strives to broaden their musical style and lure you with not only their intensity but with their meaningful lyrics…the SHARKS are leaving their mark and are here to stay. I had the pleasure to catch up with SHARKS frontman James Mattock to talk shop.
Joey: What’s happening James?! Why don’t you go ahead and introduce yourself and tell us where home is and how long the bands been together?
James: Hello mate, I’m James and I play guitar and sing in Sharks. We live in the Midlands. We started playing music together in 2007 and since have been playing gigs, putting out EPs, 7 inches, a compilation of all those, and most recently a full length.
Joey: 2012 has brought lots of excitement. You recently released a new album No Gods and music video “Arcane Effigies.” Your music is being very well received, with a fan base growing rapidly. How are you guys feeling right now with your success?
James: Excited. We have a very modest yet very loyal following and I really like the kind of people I meet that like our band. Good people with good taste and there aren’t many of those types around. Probably the reason why we’ll remain a very small band. Whatever is happening right now is all we’ve ever done, we’re just getting better with more touring and more experience. If we can keep up the pace that’ll be fantastic.
Joey: Tell us more about your new album and what can fans expect from it?
James: It’s not a punk record. Which is something that people have come to expect from us. We love punk, it changed my life, I hold all the ideals dearly to me and I grew up on it. We’ve expanded the sound and have been more open minded. There’s punk influence on it, certainly, we’re just not strutting around saying that this is the punk album of 2012. But it’s a deep record and I really think that there’s a lot to get out of it, lots of things to keep coming back to and discovering, and hopefully lyrics that mean something to someone.
Joey: You guys have been touring tons and just finished gigging in North America. How was that experience and what was your favorite city?
James: It was a big life experience for everyone involved, I miss it. It was just one big adventure really, the shows were good and bad, just so much went on. We’ve been very lucky to have played some amazing cities- San Francisco, LA, New York, Chicago, San Diego… they’re all amazing.
Joey: What three words best describes your shows?
James: Awkward. Sweaty. Exhausting.
Joey: What’s the plan for the remainder of the year?
James: We’re hoping to be touring even more than last year. We managed to do 8 months last year and are quite fond of the thought of topping it. We’ll also be writing the next record ready for early next year.
Joey: James thanks again for your time. Any final words or shout outs
James: Thanks a lot man!
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