A quirky and alluring offering, ‘Count on Me’ is the pinnacle of retro elegance; channelling their inner Beatles, eclectic international outfit Shenanygans craft a single that sounds irremediably vintage, approachable and friendly. Refraining from using any electronic artefacts, the band finds its home in jungling guitars, crunch tones and an overall 60s-flavoured aesthetic.
Their vocals are equally evocative, drenched in stunning harmonies and gentle, charismatic delivery. Struggling to let go from a past relationship, Shenanygans pack ‘Count on Me’ with veiled nostalgia, resulting in melancholic and metaphorical storytelling.
Gearing up for an album release later this year – ‘On Monte Verita’ – the Swiss/Irish/Polish outfit was able to spill the tea with us about their artistry and future plans… Interview below!
Hey guys, how is it going? some of our readers might not be familiar with your project, how would you describe yourself, in a few words?
Luki: Hey there 🙂 Well, it takes a bit of time to describe us properly, to be honest. But you’re asking for a few words. Alright, let me try: Multi national, band, music, four guys, three singers, at the moment indie rock, Switzerland based, Irish and Polish flavour. (Editor’s note: 10/10 for the effort!)
Your current work is the result of a long journey; how did you all meet? some of you have moved across Europe, is that correct?
Tom: That’s correct!
Dan: I moved for work to Switzerland and met Luki and Tom and we started playing music together and found that we really worked well together. Then we invited my brother to join us and it completed the picture.
Kaylem: Yes, I met the two Swiss lads because my brother Daniel lived in Switzerland for a good amount of time and I came to visit a couple of times… Then he met Luki and that’s when I was invited to be in a music project which is now Shenanygans.
Luki: I moved from Switzerland to Germany, then to Poland and back to Switzerland because of the pandemic. I was looking for fellow musicians to start a band with. The first day we could go out again there was a jam session and I went there. The first guy I stumbled across was Tom. Around the same time I met Dan during a birthday party where he was performing “Message In A Bottle” by The Police…
Is there any particular artist or band that inspired your musical journey? An obvious one would be The Beatles – you seem to possess the same elegance as they did 🙂
Dan: I always struggle with how to answer this cause of too many influences. Glad to be compared to the Beatles!
Tom: I’d rather keep that a secret.
Kaylem: Biggest influence for me is Rex Orange County. His music is a peaceful escape for me and I love his style of music. I feel like my influences changed a lot when I joined the band because I wouldn’t have discovered so much new stuff. My style has changed for the better.
Luki: Well, I’m an absolute Beatles fanboy, I know probably all of their songs including demos, unreleased stuff, b sides, you name it. So thanks so much for that compliment! The style on our first album sure sounds very 60s-influenced. You can hear The Beatles, Beach Boys, The Velvet Underground and The Kinks in it. However, I think you can also hear stuff like Arctic Monkeys, The Hives, Hozier and The White Stripes. The reason why we chose that sound is also that we recorded our first album by ourselves in my uncle’s garage where we’ve built a studio. Garage Rock just sounds kinda like that.
You recently released a quirky and uplifting gem, ‘Count on Me’. We appreciate the organic outlook behind it and the retro tones. What does the record mean for you?
Luki: It really means the world to have found friends you play music with. It was a lot of fun to record the album and as each of us writes songs we’re really open to collaborating and exploring music – it’s an adventure. “Count On Me” is a very old song I began writing when I was about 16 and it didn’t sound like it sounds now. It developed over the years. When we started the band in the summer of 2023 each of us showed the others some songs we had written before. Kaylem just loved “Count On Me” and it really fits his voice and singing style.
Kaylem: “Count On Me” means trust for me. You can have someone by your side for years and it can sometimes end… But the bond and relationship still stay. And you will still count on that person.
When recording it, was there a particular sonic research process to achieve the desired vintage sound?
Luki: Yes, definitely. Being on a budget and still trying to sound good! We used some vintage Japanese dynamic mics which were pretty cheap to record drums. All guitars are recorded through small Fender and Vox amps with a SM57 and an old Revox dynamic. The only “expensive” stuff used to record the album were a small Revox mixing console and a 400-bucks Neumann clone mic for the vocals. The studio itself was a little room in a garage which once was meant to become a future lavatory. All of that gave our recording a pretty vintage sound.
How’s your writing process? Do you write separately or all together?
Dan: Some together, some on our own and then developed together. Inspiration hits us all at different times like lightning. If we are lucky enough to get hit with it while in the same room then something magical happens!
Kaylem: We all write separately. Personally, I write well when I’m on my own. I feel I can get a song done in less than 20 minutes if I’m on my own. But we are having songwriting sessions, too, which help us create more.
Luki: Well, sometimes we write together and sometimes someone writes a song by himself. I love writing together because your own song gets worked on by others and suddenly you feel like it’s not your song anymore, it’s the band’s song. There might be twists and edges that surprise you and make it appear like something new and exciting. I always thought bands who wrote together came up with great songs and interesting parts for them.
Artistically speaking, what challenges have the last two years presented you with?
Dan: Starting a band is demanding which is hard on those of us trying to keep a day job. But we’re in a lucky position where we can make it work at the moment. The hardest part is getting gigs that line up with our schedule and saying no to those that we can’t make work.
Tom: My life is a challenge every day.
Luki: We’re just about 30 years too late to have a simple music career and at times it looks like music has turned from a source of income into a pretty expensive hobby where you really have to gamble and you never know if you’re ever gonna earn enough. All of us have jobs and studies and bills to pay and stuff.
We recorded the album after hours by ourselves, sometimes ’till midnight and later just to wake up again at 6 am to go to our day jobs, because life is expensive and one needs to survive and at the same time invest in our music career. However, I believe we’re gonna make it because we’re a pretty good team and a dedicated band of music lovers and once we get our music out and start playing regularly we’ll be able to make a living as musicians. I’ve been there and I know it can work!
Kaylem: Lots and lots, but one thing is money. The one thing about being fully committed to this band is now I have no job. Well, there is a reason for that. I’m learning German and will need a certain level of work to get a job in Switzerland while being a musician.
What are the next steps for your project? Anything exciting on the horizon?
Dan: We will release our debut album “On Monte Verita” this spring. Some new singles will follow, we will hit the studio in May for that. In autumn we will start working on our second album. We’ve got lots of songs in our pockets!
Luki: We’ve got some upcoming shows in Switzerland and the UK. If everything works fine we will play gigs in Germany, Austria and Japan as well!
