We were thrilled to sit down with Stevie, Matt, and Jake of Shop Front Heroes to discuss the band’s boozy beginning to their debut album SuperPowers.
ATN: For newcomers, is there a meaning behind the band’s name?
JAKE: Matt and Steve had a tendency to record their drunken conversations (the origin of Shop Front Heroes). I had a tendency to drunkenly write down band names on my phone. The best one I came up with was “The Paraphernaliens”, which I think I might try and copyright at some point.
STEVIE: Shop Front Heroes came from an accidentally recorded conversation on a phone in the wee hours between myself and our drummer Matt Whitehouse, when talking about forming the band, many years ago. I’m sure we had a fantastic reason for it…if only we could find the recording. After thinking about it afterwards, I’d say it comes from the idea that you are putting yourself out there, in the window and doing your absolute utmost to be seen and get people into what you’re doing. It’s not always that easy so that’s where the Heroes element comes in. It’s in the perseverance. Then again we might have just been a bit pissed and stumbled across three words that sounded good together and made the reason up afterwards…
ATN: How does it feel to have your debut album, Superpowers out in the world?
JAKE: It feels like it was a long time coming! Personally, I completely underestimated the time and money required to piece together everything, mixing, mastering, artwork finalised, stock ordered, etc etc. It’s a massive undertaking, and something we are all immensely proud of having achieved as a completely independent band. We’ve been playing the songs live for people for what feels like a very long time. Now they’ve got a proper chance to learn the words and sing with us!
STEVIE: Honestly, it’s a huge relief. We are just so eager for people to hear what we’ve created. We’ve worked so hard to get it there and being an independent band, it’s not been easy. It was a huge undertaking to do it in the way that we have and we are all very proud of each other and extremely grateful for the help and support we’ve had.
ATN: What was the best thing about recording Superpowers?
STEVIE: For me, it was a lot of things. If i had to pick two, firstly, it was the realisation of a long existing dream to get these songs recorded, songs that might have first been heard by the band in a freezing cold barn on a winter’s night, or around the table at a barbecue in the summer on an acoustic guitar; to then take them to the most iconic studio around and make them sound the absolute best that they could possibly be. The other element, which was a massive factor to recording this album, was that we would be together as a band, hanging out and being creative for two whole weeks. And we’d get to work with some other amazing musicians that we had known for a very long time, who absolutely understood what it was that we were trying to achieve. It was incredibly nourishing to be in that situation from an artistic point of view. There wasn’t a single asshole involved with making SuperPowers, which was a great, great thing.
JAKE: We got a lot done and obviously worked really hard to produce an album but at the same time, it was like a holiday for us in the sense that we’re a bunch of mates, staying in this beautiful farmhouse in our beautiful homeland, playing our own music, sharing meals, drinking beers and going for curries. It was magic! I’d do it all again tomorrow.
ATN: Was there anything bad about recording Superpowers?
STEVIE: The only bad thing was when we had to go home. We joked (joking, not joking)) about starting a support group for musicians that miss Rockfield Studios and need to go back there. I think we were all genuinely gutted from not being able to be there anymore and having to go back to normal life. It is a truly special place.
JAKE: The only negative for me was the fact I accidentally left a lasagne dish behind that belongs to my in-laws. I’ll have to grab it when we record our next album.
ATN: What was your (or band’s) favourite song to write and record for the album?
STEVIE: Recording ‘Come Find Me, All For You’ and ‘Killer’ were all highlights for me, mainly because of the absolute power, desperation and melancholy coming from the string parts. They brought me to tears on more than one occasion. To hear them isolated is incredible. I really hope we can do some shows in the future with a string section, hopefully led by the two incredible players who did the album: Louis Robinson and Jim Willis. I went to college with them both and it was so good to link up with them again and catch up.
MATT: I loved playing ‘Don’t’ Be Cruel (To Yourself)’, although it was a pain to play because of having to lead with the left hand until muscle memory kicked in. Now it’s amazing to play and I’m really happy with the take. A big fat drum sound and very tribal. There we go. A direct drummer quote for you.
JAKE: For me, the finale of ‘H Pact’ would take some beating. I’m pretty sure it was done in one live take and it’s just one of those magical moments you occasionally get in live rock music, that perfect cacophony!
ATN: Is there a song you’re looking forward to playing live for fans for the first time?
STEVIE: We’ve been gigging these songs to promote the album over the last year or so, so all our fans will be familiar with them. As I mentioned earlier, I’d love to play them with a string section some time in the future.
ATN: What is the creative process like within the band?
JAKE: Typically, Steve will come up with a song idea (chords and vocal melody), this is then brought to the band and each of us generally comes up with our own part. We’re a very democratic band. We’re all very open about what we like, what we think works and doesn’t work, and we’re all capable of giving and receiving suggestions/criticism (though that’s a harsh word!). Rhythms, structure, any deviations, etc are all up for discussion and we’ll pretty much tweak a song until everyone is happy.
ATN: What is in store for 2024?
STEVIE: Writing the new album and hopefully returning to Rockfield to record it. We are also hoping to play some really nice festivals, tour the album, become big in Japan and break America at some point.
SAME 3 QUESTIONS WE ALWAYS ASK
ATN: Artist / band that you feel is the most underrated and why?
STEVIE: Most bands that I think are underrated aren’t actually underrated, it’s just that not enough people have heard them. I think Shop Front Heroes are underrated. So are our friends bands like Dusk Brothers or Emily Breeze, Wilderman and Troy Redfern.
ATN: Artist / band that you would like to collaborate with and why?
STEVIE: Arcade Fire because of their incredible songwriting, the sheer epicness of their sound, their monster huge band and the fact that every bar played would feel like a religious experience.
ATN: Artist / band that you would like to tour with and why?
MATT: The Killers. Why? Because it would be a good fit music-wise. Plus we would get a stadium to play in.
STEVIE: Yep. Give us that support slot, Brandon. Get us in those stadiums. And if you could let me do some guest vocals on anything from Sam’s Town it’d be highly appreciated.
Read the SuperPowers review.
