SHIVER
An interview with Los Angeles Rockers, Shiver
by Mike Huberty
July 2018
Los Angeles rockers Shiver
Edgy guitar-based Pop Rock with a twist of strings, LA band SHIVER is giving Madison a double shot of music by performing at Ruby Lounge on August 24th and High Noon Saloon on August 26th. Consisting of Rosalind Darbeau on violin, Justin Blair (a Wisconsin ex-pat formerly of Madison glam-rockers LIVEWIRE) on guitar and vocals, Tyler Horn on guitar, and the awesomely named Bas Janssen on drums and percussion, we talked with the band to get a preview of the shows.
MI: So why’d you pick up instruments in the first place? What inspires you to keep rocking?
RD: What inspired me was watching an orchestra on TV. My love for music keeps me going, I find nothing better than making an audience happy doing something I love to do.
BJ: The movie Drumline made me wanna start, and what keeps me going is my bills haha!
TH: I watched HEART play at the LA County Fair in ‘07 and at that moment I knew I wanted to be a guitarist for the rest of my life.
JB: I heard Zeppelin’s “Black Dog” sometime in grade school, and it was all downhill from there! (laughs) Getting to play with talented musicians in front of incredible audiences keeps me hooked.
MI: What’s with the name SHIVER?
JB: We have a song called “Shiver”, as well as the word showing up in maybe too many of our songs. So one day we just decided to stamp that name onto this thing we do. This led us to having a song called “Shiver”, on our album “Shiver”, by SHIVER. We clearly have an extensive vocabulary… We felt the word fits with our sound pretty well, and with much of our band having roots in the Midwest, we’re plenty familiar with the concept of shivering….
MI: What’s the track you want people to hear for the first time?
TH: For this one, I would say that in the live aspect it would be “Through the Night”. This is the song that I heard on their first album that made me so drawn to SHIVER when I joined the band. It drives, slams, and rocks. And it just so happens to be my favorite song to play live.
JB: I’d have to go with our recent single “Baby You’re a Bullet”. This number has a little of everything that makes SHIVER what it is: bombastic rhythms, searing guitar and violin lines, huge vocal harmonies, and riffs and melodies that are sure to get caught in your head. Oh, and it’s a blast to play live…
MI: What inspired “Baby You’re a Bullet”?
JB: I actually stumbled across the main riff of the song in the ‘voice recordings’ folder on an old slider-style cell phone of mine from about 7 years back. I had completely forgotten about the riff, and a lot of the song’s melody and feel came out of that. Lyrically, I wanted the song to reflect a sort of ‘dangerous love’ motif, and likening the love/lust of that sort of relationship to a bullet helped to craft the lyrics into the sort of tongue-in-cheek-sexy story that the song became. I’m fortunate enough to be able to perform the tune with some seriously talented people who each inject a lot of really cool energy and passion into the live performance and recording of the song!
MI: What are your favorite Madison music scene memories?
JB: So many awesome experiences in Madison, most of which are officially past the statute of limitations! Every gig at the late, great Frequency was way too fun, and each show from loud, dirty basement sets to performing with Madison’s many incredible bands was a blast. Looking to create some killer memories on this tour, so everyone please start saving up bail money for us….
MI: What are people gonna get if they go to the High Noon or Ruby shows?
BJ: A rowdy drummer!
TH: I would say the biggest part of what people can expect is versatility! It is gonna be dirty, loud, and blissful at the same time.
JB: Sweat. So much sweat. Bring a poncho, don’t forget your towel, first three rows may get wet… sweat. Oh, and hopefully some music….! But seriously, we try to have a little something for everyone- catchy fun melodies, driving percussion, rich harmonies, all layered with a bit of swagger and a lot of frenetic movement. Oh, and also sweat.
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