Last
Saturday, The Shafer Street Fugitive played a surprise house show at
30 Franklin Avenue to celebrate the 21st
birthday of one of my best friends, Mike Maricevich. The show was a
blast (despite dealing with some technical issues) and the crowd rocked. If you missed out on your dose of local progressive hardcore, have no fear; the show was recorded by Dominic Rossi and Steven Hedges. Video will be posted sometime this week.
Aside from playing our first house show this weekend, we have also been re-recording our EP. The EP will consist of our first four songs written as a band: Track Four, DBC, 0079, and one song that remains unnamed for the time being. This EP is a good introduction to The Shafer Street Fugitive's diverse blend of influences ranging from songs similar to metal and traditional hardcore (Track Four), to the Ska and Pop/Punk influences in DBC.
Last week, we recorded drum, bass, and guitar tracks in the recording studio on the third floor of the RTV building. So far, we are blown away with how professional they sound. As we still have to record vocal tracks, the recordings will not be released for several weeks. When the recordings are finished, they will be posted online and made available for free downloading.
On top of shows and recordings, The Shafer Street Fugitive is also the subject of a video I am producing for my Documentary Production Class. The video will include our band's history, document the recording process in the studio, and feature live footage from shows we have played this semester. Videos will be uploaded to our youtube channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/shaferstreetfugitive - and reposted on this site.
Thanks for reading and I hope to see you at one of our many shows in March.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Monday, February 18, 2013
House Shows and How to Write Progressive Hardcore Songs
It is going to be a busy week for The Shafer Street Fugitive. I'll start by mentioning that our show last Tuesday was a huge success. The Smiling Skull was packed, and we got some great recordings as well. Thanks to everyone who came out to support us.
The Shafer Street Fugitive will be playing a house show at 30 Franklin Ave Athens, OH 45701 this Saturday (the 23rd). We will most likely be playing about eight or nine of our originals, along with a few "Punk Goes Pop" style covers of songs like Fuck You by Cee-Lo Green, and Heartless by Kanye West. We have also confirmed that we will be playing house shows on March 9th and 16th as well. Addresses will be posted when I find out what they are. If you aren't familiar with Progressive Hardcore, come on out and see what we're about. If you are familiar with the genre, come on out and start the mosh pit.
We are also re-recording our EP this week (I wasn't joking when I said it would be a busy week) with OU alum Adam Rich. The EP will include the first three songs we wrote together entitled 0079, Decepticon's Bastard Child (DBC), and Track Four.
Now that we've got the business part of this post out of the way, I will seize this opportunity to tell you about our creative process, and how we write our songs. Our first song, Track Four, was the hardest to write since we were still inexperienced at writing as a group. For this song, we started with some lyrics written by one of our singers, David Butler. The lyrics tell the story of an organized crime leader who has become completely corrupted by his power, and has lost all sense of humanity. In order to reflect his power, corruption, and evil, we wrote one of our heaviest riffs on guitar and used screamed vocals for the first part of the song. Throughout the song, our vocalists use a mixture of screaming and singing in order to appropriately convey a sense of rage or power (screamed lines), as well as emptiness and loss of humanity (sung lines). For most of the song, the guitar plays heavy power chords, hardcore breakdowns, and a riff inspired more by metalcore than progressive hardcore. Around 1min 45sec into the song, the tone of the song changes to become softer but the chord progression and instrumentation continue to convey feelings of hollowness. Eventually, the song comes to a climax for the final chorus (where the words go "I'm at the top..."). The cycle of violence and corruption continues, and it is confirmed that the mob boss has no remorse or empathy for other human beings.
"Track Four" by The Shafer Street Fugitive
The Shafer Street Fugitive will be playing a house show at 30 Franklin Ave Athens, OH 45701 this Saturday (the 23rd). We will most likely be playing about eight or nine of our originals, along with a few "Punk Goes Pop" style covers of songs like Fuck You by Cee-Lo Green, and Heartless by Kanye West. We have also confirmed that we will be playing house shows on March 9th and 16th as well. Addresses will be posted when I find out what they are. If you aren't familiar with Progressive Hardcore, come on out and see what we're about. If you are familiar with the genre, come on out and start the mosh pit.
We are also re-recording our EP this week (I wasn't joking when I said it would be a busy week) with OU alum Adam Rich. The EP will include the first three songs we wrote together entitled 0079, Decepticon's Bastard Child (DBC), and Track Four.
Now that we've got the business part of this post out of the way, I will seize this opportunity to tell you about our creative process, and how we write our songs. Our first song, Track Four, was the hardest to write since we were still inexperienced at writing as a group. For this song, we started with some lyrics written by one of our singers, David Butler. The lyrics tell the story of an organized crime leader who has become completely corrupted by his power, and has lost all sense of humanity. In order to reflect his power, corruption, and evil, we wrote one of our heaviest riffs on guitar and used screamed vocals for the first part of the song. Throughout the song, our vocalists use a mixture of screaming and singing in order to appropriately convey a sense of rage or power (screamed lines), as well as emptiness and loss of humanity (sung lines). For most of the song, the guitar plays heavy power chords, hardcore breakdowns, and a riff inspired more by metalcore than progressive hardcore. Around 1min 45sec into the song, the tone of the song changes to become softer but the chord progression and instrumentation continue to convey feelings of hollowness. Eventually, the song comes to a climax for the final chorus (where the words go "I'm at the top..."). The cycle of violence and corruption continues, and it is confirmed that the mob boss has no remorse or empathy for other human beings.
"Track Four" by The Shafer Street Fugitive
You're nothing but a puppet
let me make this clear from the start
You don't breath unless my men tell you
I have a job for you
you'll get a call with instructions
Follow them and you will be on your way kid
fail and there'll be consequences most unfortunate
You'll never see me again
from now on you'll deal with my subordinates
Nothing gets traced to me
(I own you, you live and die by my hand)
Even if it takes severing every string
Follow every direction
don't you dare ask a question
I can tell from the look on your face
you know what I can have done to you
You've failed me for the first time
for the last time
No second chances in this line of business
I'm at the top under a magnifying glass
I can't get caught with your blood on my hands
Pick up my burner and I call my hitman
It never stops
these men who had wives before
(Men with families)
these men who had lives before
(Men who trusted me)
don't know what guilt feels like anymore
(They should have know their place)
You can check out the music video for Track Four here:
(Note: the recording used in the video was done in a garage with amateur equipment since we did not have access to a studio at the time)
Monday, February 11, 2013
Show Tomorrow Night!
ATTENTION PROGRESSIVE HARDCORE FANS
I am thrilled to announce that tomorrow night (Feb 12) at around 11:00ish, The Shafer Street Fugitive will be playing open mic night at the Smiling Skull. It is also worth mentioning that right next door to our show is $1 shot night at Cats Den. Since our drummer just recently returned to Athens, this will be our first show of the year. See you in the pit.
In other news, expect shows at the Smiling Skull, Casa, The Union, as well as several house shows in the very near future. Dates will be posted as soon as we are certain of them.
Now that we've got that out of the way, I would like to tell you a little more about The Shafer Street Fugitive. We started practicing together in January 2012. Winter and spring quarter of last year were spent learning how to play well with one another, writing songs, and recording our first EP. Our name was inspired by the armed fugitive on Shafer Street last year, in an incident similar to Fugitivefest this year.
I hope to see you tomorrow night at the Smiling Skull around 11:00! Check out one of our recordings on the side of the page.
I am thrilled to announce that tomorrow night (Feb 12) at around 11:00ish, The Shafer Street Fugitive will be playing open mic night at the Smiling Skull. It is also worth mentioning that right next door to our show is $1 shot night at Cats Den. Since our drummer just recently returned to Athens, this will be our first show of the year. See you in the pit.
In other news, expect shows at the Smiling Skull, Casa, The Union, as well as several house shows in the very near future. Dates will be posted as soon as we are certain of them.
Now that we've got that out of the way, I would like to tell you a little more about The Shafer Street Fugitive. We started practicing together in January 2012. Winter and spring quarter of last year were spent learning how to play well with one another, writing songs, and recording our first EP. Our name was inspired by the armed fugitive on Shafer Street last year, in an incident similar to Fugitivefest this year.
I hope to see you tomorrow night at the Smiling Skull around 11:00! Check out one of our recordings on the side of the page.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Meet the Fugitives
Hello,
My name is Nick Shega, and I am a Video Production major in my junior year at Ohio University. This blog is dedicated to promoting the local progressive hardcore band I play guitar in called The Shafer Street Fugitive. We have been playing and writing music together for about a year; however, we have not played any shows so far this academic year because our drummer just recently moved back to Athens. Last year, we played two shows at the Smiling Skull.
It is currently an exciting time for The Shafer Street Fugitive as we will be playing shows within a month, and we are only two songs away from completing our first album. This blog will serve as a space to share and document our progress/stories, show off our work, and post additional content.
I would like to use this first post to introduce the members of the band.
David Butler - Vocals: David Butler is a senior studying Music Production at Ohio University. Hometown: Grove City, Ohio
Adam Cesarz - Vocals and Trumpet: Adam Cesarz is a senior studying Music Production at Ohio University. Hometown: Sylvania, Ohio
Cody Dixon - Guitar: Cody Dixon is a graduate of Full Sail University's Video Production program. Hometown: Grove City, Ohio
Mitch Rossiter - Bass Guitar: Mitch Rossiter is a sophomore studying Music Production at Ohio University. Hometown: Sylvania, Ohio
Nick Shega - Guitar: Nick Shega is a junior studying Video Production at Ohio University. Hometown: Medina, Ohio
Mike Socosky - Drums, Piano, Synth: Mike Socosky is a junior studying Music Production at Ohio University, but he will soon be switching to study Music Therapy. Hometown: Madison, Ohio.
Dates for shows will be released as soon as I am certain of them. If you care to hear some rough recordings check out our Soundcloud page here:
https://soundcloud.com/shafer-street-fugitive ---> Note: These recordings are unmixed studio sessions, not our best sound; however, they are the best recordings we have at the moment.
My name is Nick Shega, and I am a Video Production major in my junior year at Ohio University. This blog is dedicated to promoting the local progressive hardcore band I play guitar in called The Shafer Street Fugitive. We have been playing and writing music together for about a year; however, we have not played any shows so far this academic year because our drummer just recently moved back to Athens. Last year, we played two shows at the Smiling Skull.
It is currently an exciting time for The Shafer Street Fugitive as we will be playing shows within a month, and we are only two songs away from completing our first album. This blog will serve as a space to share and document our progress/stories, show off our work, and post additional content.
I would like to use this first post to introduce the members of the band.
David Butler - Vocals: David Butler is a senior studying Music Production at Ohio University. Hometown: Grove City, Ohio
Adam Cesarz - Vocals and Trumpet: Adam Cesarz is a senior studying Music Production at Ohio University. Hometown: Sylvania, Ohio
Cody Dixon - Guitar: Cody Dixon is a graduate of Full Sail University's Video Production program. Hometown: Grove City, Ohio
Mitch Rossiter - Bass Guitar: Mitch Rossiter is a sophomore studying Music Production at Ohio University. Hometown: Sylvania, Ohio
Nick Shega - Guitar: Nick Shega is a junior studying Video Production at Ohio University. Hometown: Medina, Ohio
Mike Socosky - Drums, Piano, Synth: Mike Socosky is a junior studying Music Production at Ohio University, but he will soon be switching to study Music Therapy. Hometown: Madison, Ohio.
Dates for shows will be released as soon as I am certain of them. If you care to hear some rough recordings check out our Soundcloud page here:
https://soundcloud.com/shafer-street-fugitive ---> Note: These recordings are unmixed studio sessions, not our best sound; however, they are the best recordings we have at the moment.
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