THEAUSSIEWORD.com catches up with Shuffalo.
How and where did it all begin for you? What drew your interest to the music industry?
For most of us, the music started when we were kids, stumbling onto certain instruments and artists that paved the way for our love of music and inadvertently the music industry.
What motivates or influences you in your quest to make great music?
We want to build ourselves a platform of influence – where we can share our music with the world in the hopes that our listeners are moved to create, smile and dance. We want to be the change and we think we can do that with our music. This makes it much easier to get up and stay motivated!
What are some of your biggest goals you hope to accomplish?
We’re hoping to gain listeners in every pocket of the world. Australia is an important corner stone of our fan base. We’ve always wanted to tour there and we will work hard to make that happen. We LOVE music festivals, so we’re definitely aiming for some of the larger ones all over the globe (Falls Festival, Coachella, Glastonbury, Bonnaroo).
Besides growing popularity as a band, the end goal would be for us to be able to write and perform music for the rest of our days.
What can we expect from you in the coming months? Any plans to tour?
You can expect more music! We’ll be releasing two more tracks over the course of the summer and fall. Depending on what starts to open up in terms of Covid-19, we’re hoping to start touring as soon as possible.
Tell us a bit about your latest release and how would you best describe your music?
Our latest release is a song called Stay On Me. We based this track on the narrative of “portals”. We all grew up on stories such as Alice and Wonderland, Wizard of Oz, and Chronicles of Narnia. Stay On Me follows a similar story line where two lovers fall down a rabbit hole together where adventure ensues. The song touches topics such as love, mortality and climate change
Give us an insight into your creative process. What gets you writing songs?
The creative process is usually sparked through an emotional experience. It could be as simple as seeing a stranger help someone in need or as bizarre as having a dream where a dog wouldn’t stop following me. The experience typically gets written down in point form and later used for the inspiration of a song.
Is there a hidden meaning in any of your music?
Not all of the time..but sometimes, for sure. We’ve always loved ambiguous lyrics and we try to let our listeners come up with their own interpretations.
Success, what is the secret to it?
If Success is having strangers listening to your music and coming out to your shows, I would say the secret is to work hard and stay creative. If Success is winning Grammys and launching world tours I would say that if we ever get to that point.. we will let you know the secret!
What has been your biggest career highlight so far?
We’ve had some great opportunities playing some iconic venues in Canada. The Coke stage at Calgary’s Stampede and playing at The Palace Theatre opening for Said the Whale would definitely be up there for two of our favourite highlights.
Which stars of the music industry do you find inspiring?
We all collectively pull from different artists for inspiration, but to name a few: Jack White, Bon Iver, Phoebe Bridgers, City and Colour, Yukon Blonde and Father John Misty.
Are there any new projects in the pipeline?
Our top priority is to release our next recorded songs, but after that, we’re sitting on some tracks that we would like to put together for a future album.
The music industry is constantly changing, where do you see yourself a few years?
We’re hoping to be holding our instruments, squinting our eyes out to the crowd while the sun sets over the horizon, singing our songs together so loud the neighbouring city knows our exact setlist.
What is your favourite and least favourite part about this line of work and why?
I would say one of our favourite parts is getting to be so personal to a crowd of strangers, friends and family time after time. Its a platform where we can inspire, create and make people dance. It’s a opportunity unlike any other.
The least favourite part would most likely be getting caught up in the numbers game “how many subscribers, monthly listeners and streams do we have!”. All this is incredibly important to the development of an artist, but sometime’s it can take away from the music.
Name a few of your favourite Australian artists.
Matt Corby, Oh Pep, Tame Impala ,Tash Sultana and Vance Joy
The shape of the music industry has changed significantly over the years, including the use of social media, how do you feel about the industry as a whole and what does it mean to you in getting your records out into the public eye?
We live in times where we can use the internet as a tool and platform. We have the opportunity to reach stations such as Aussieword from Canada through an email. I think we’re set up better than ever for having the odds in our favour.
How will you continue appealing to the international market?
We’re aiming to be on more playlists and more radio stations while touring as much as possible. We want to stay conscious of what is happening in each country and help out with the core issues in whatever way we can.
Do you collaborate with others? Who is on your wish-list?
We’ve collaborated with some of West Coast Canada’s finest producers for our latest tracks (Ryan Worsley and Matt Dipomponio of Echoplant Studios). We’re looking to continue our relationship with them for our future releases.
Here’s our wish-list for future collaborators:
For Producers:
Shawn Everett (Alabama Shakes, The War on Drugs)
Rick Rubin (Beastie Boys, Jay Z)
Musicians:
Justin Vernon (Bon Iver)
Andrew John Hozier-Byrne (Hozier)
Jack White
Phoebe Bridgers
Beyonce (Queen B)
and Father John Misty
What advice do you give for other artists wanting to follow in your footsteps?
We would want them to follow at least 3 steps back. Just in case we make the wrong step they have enough to diverge :p
A message for your fans. How do you best interact and respond with your followers and fans?
We love living in the moment with our fans at our live shows. We want to experience it with everyone. If you can’t come out to a show, throw on some headphones and get lost in the music with us.
Website: https://www.weareshuffalo.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shuffalo/
Twitter: @shuffalo
Instagram: @shuffalo