Interview: Shvpes

“We were always going to turn some heads in a good way and turn some heads away, but that’s good because we’re following our sound”

Since transitioning from Cytota to Shvpes in early 2015, the Birmingham group have gradually been building a following through various support slots and festival spots. Now in the midst of their first UK headline tour, front man Griffin Dickinson spoke to Already Heard about their debut full-length; ‘Pain. Joy. Ecstasy. Despair.’

“The feedback has been great. It’s so encouraging to see because we knew we were doing something a bit different compared to the last stuff that Shvpes/Cytota had released, it was very different. We were always going to turn some heads in a good way and turn some heads away, but that’s good because we’re following our sound, so if people don’t want to look at it, then that’s fair enough.”

It is no doubt Griffin, along with drummer Harry Jennings and guitarists Ryan Hamilton and Youssef Ashraf, have confidence in the record; “I’m very proud of what we have created. There is always that thought at the back of your mind ‘what if this blows’ and we become like a band like The Hunna who have just bought out their debut album and they’ve now sold out the O2 Forum in London.

In some respect, I’m gutted it hasn’t but at the same time I think in terms of the longevity of this band, that is the healthiest thing that could have happened. I would have been so worried writing the next album, trying to make it sound as good as this one or be as close to this one as possible.”

The element of longevity and organically growing is something that plays on the band’s conscious. Nevertheless, it’s clear the quartet have patience having begun the writing for ‘Pain. Joy. Ecstasy. Despair.’ in early 2015, while the album itself has been finished since April.

“We’ve had the album back since April, so I’ve realised how things should have been. I know the direction I want to go, I know exactly how we need to improve,” states Griffin. However, when it comes to naturally growing as a band, Dickinson agrees it’s the best way for Shvpes; “It’s honest. I look at videos of me when I first joined the band and they’re embarrassing but you need to do that. You need to bump into those walls and that’s what we did with writing 30 songs. We now have an album we’re happy with. Now we’re going to whittle that down and try and get to where we want to be.”

As for the album itself, ‘Pain. Joy. Ecstasy. Despair.’ has allowed the quartet to hone their sound as they shed the metalcore skin they had been tarnished with. While the writing process served as a major learning curve with producers Carl Bown and Jim Pinder playing a key part in shaping the record.

“Working with them was an absolute eye opener. For a load of amateur musicians such as ourselves, to go in and just learn about songwriting was great. You go in with Carl and Jim, and they’ve got so much knowledge of songwriting, they would be like ‘what the fuck is this?’ and then restructure a song. I reckon I came out ten times the musician, probably more than when I walked in.”

Although their sound is rooted in melodic metal and rock, songs such as ‘False Teeth’ and ‘Skin & Bones’ sees the band’s hip-hop and nu-metal influence seep their way through, subtly expanding the band’s musical pallet.

“We’re all just big hip-hop fans. I remember having one of those six CD changers and having ‘Chocolate Starfish’ and ‘The Eminem Show’ and just playing them on repeat,” recollects Dickinson. “I think that solidified what I wanted from music. I like that aggression and that groovy beat. I think that how it transpired into the music.”

“It has been a real eye opener and it helped us to grow to where we want to be. Before those shows, we would always talk out a strategy; ‘how are we going to absolutely smash this show?’”

Another learning curve for Shvpes has been the stream of supporting and festival appearances they’ve made over the past 18 months. Having shared the stage with Bring Me The Horizon, Asking Alexandria, Fightstar and 36 Crazyfists, Shvpes have naturally learnt lessons from every opportunity.

“It has been a real eye opener and it helped us to grow to where we want to be. Before those shows, we would always talk out a strategy; ‘how are we going to absolutely smash this show?’”

says Griffin of the band’s intent on stage. “With the shows where you’re playing a little festival stage and there’s only five people, a lot of time if you go and just play your set pitch perfect, people still won’t give a shit. Those shows are, sometimes, about ‘how can outrageous as possible?’ You go and do stupid shit and come out of the other side and people think ‘that was pretty good.’”

Nevertheless, now they’re playing headline shows and are simply having fun doing it. “We just go out and play our hearts out and go mental. We were quite apprehensive coming out because we’ve never done a headline tour,” admits Griffin, “we didn’t know how many people were going to show up. This is a chance for us to calibrate how many people are going to turn up to our shows, and how well we’ve touched base with the music scene. We’ve only ever done support shows before this, everyone who’s there, apart from some of the support bands, are there to see us. There might be 25 people in the crowd but every single one of them are singing the lyrics back to me. It’s an experience we’ve never had before. Headline shows are the way to go!”

With an expansive sound and growing fan base, it’s clear that Shvpes are moving in the right direction to the point where headlining shows will soon become a second home.

‘Pain. Joy. Ecstasy. Despair.’ by SHVPES is out now on Search and Destroy/Spinefarm Records.

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