Who all makes up the project Shaved Fish and who contributes what to the band?
Troy Whaley, Greg Neth. Troy Whaley plays keyboards, electronic and acoustic drums, bass, guitar and creates sequences, while I (Greg Neth) write the lyric and play guitar, bass and keyboards. Our old Phosphene band mates, Mike Williams (guitar, piano, outro bass), Bruce Brint (backing vox) and Steve Morton (bass), joined us on this album and played on a couple of tracks, as did old friend Steve Norman (Obscene Jester, HippiePotomus), with the lead on “Did You See It”.
How do you go about the writing process?
Most times the music comes first, with Troy composing the music. It’s usually a fairly fleshed out idea or demo and then we’ll build from that. Even as electronic as we are, they often start out organically on just guitar or keys. Somewhere along the line lyrics come in if the song seems like it needs them. A good hook or an interesting melody can inspire them as well.
How many years have you been together?
We started playing together in Phosphene in around ‘84. We disbanded in ‘92 and after a few years off, started jamming with James Ryle (Therapy) in what would become the first version of Shaved Fish. Several of the songs from that era are on our first cd, Think. The current two piece line up has been together since 2000.
What bands would you say help influence what you do now?
Tangerine Dream, Peter Gabriel, Genesis, Talk Talk, Eric Prydz and of course, The Beatles. Garbage is always right there where I think rock should be and Jean-Michel Jarre has just released several great albums. I also think you can learn a lot about how you’d like to sound by actually taking time to listen to things you might not like. I’m not a big rap fan, but I hear things on the production end that are sometimes interesting. Lyrically, Lennon, Donovan and Bernie Taupin have always been favorites and I learned to appreciate arranging early on from my mom’s Burt Bacharach albums.
Where did you record the album?
We recorded and produced it ourselves as we’ve always done at Troy’s home studio, Whaley Sound Labs, using Apple’s Logic as our main DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), iXotope for mastering and countless other plugins.
Tell us a little about the album?
The album is called Faith because the songs all have to do with that experience. Not just the spiritual connotation but faith in your fellow human beings and in hope things will be and get better. “Did You See It” is probably the song that started it as a concept album. Our old bass player from Phosphene, Steve Morton, passed away shortly after laying down his bass part for it, and the lyrics were based on that blink of an eye fragility of life. The Awakened uses various forms of water as metaphors of the life cycle. It’s meant to be listened to in one sitting, as one complete piece, as a journey, as an experience.
Faith just went live on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, etc. A special limited edition physical CD copy can be acquired through their Facebook page shop and Bandcamp site. Initial orders come with a bonus two track instrumental e. p. (extended play)! Go grab some local music today!
– James Cook
