It might be wintry cold out there in Nebraska right now, but there’s one duo that’s making things hot in the local music scene. Don’t be misled by the group’s name, Shiver Shiver might conjure thoughts of ice and frost, but the frigid exterior is quite the opposite of what they sound like, and their album Soulless Sex Appeal is neither soulless or unappealing.
I got a chance to shoot some questions over to Shiver Shiver’s Jordan and Chase, who were happy to grant me a quick Q & A.
What’s the story behind your name Shiver Shiver?
We were waiting tables and were so poor we could only afford one nice shirt. And Megadeath was taken. We think it’s obvious.
How did you guys start out?
Shiver Shiver was started after we had been playing nothing but
jazz music with each other for a couple of years. We ended up wanting
to be free from the jazz form mainly because our love for music is very
inclusive. We wanted to create a forum where we felt free to approach
music without the constraints of any one genre, letting the music
itself guide us.
Tell us something about the two songs you’d like to share to our readers –
Julianna
Julianna is a narrative about a guy being torn between his traditional
womanizing ways and his desire to become a better man. Although he
entertains his more typical foolish ideas, in the end he is able to
make the healthy decision.
Stop Lying
Stop Lying is a story about a character who shows up in one for or
another throughout Soulless Sex Appeal. However, it’s told from the
perspective of his lover-at least, the one he shares an address with.
This is a woman at the end of her rope. Still full of love, she
recognizes the need for a change and gains the courage to do what’s
best for herself.
After listening to two of Shiver Shiver’s songs, one can’t help but be a fan. Their songs are excellently performed that you wouldn’t even think that it’s just two people with with a drum kit and keyboards. If there’s one thing that you can get out of musicians with a jazz background – it’s that they’ll know how to make the most out of the instruments they’re playing. And if there’s one thing that would make me fall in love with a certain song, it would be a wicked drum arrangement infused with a bit of electronica (and maybe an ounce of 80’s Joe Jackson in his ‘Steppin’ Out’ era, which I’m faintly reminded of when listening to Julianna). For sure, Shiver Shiver nails it with a sure win.
A wise decision to shift from jazz to pop (the non-cheesy hipster pop in particular), Shiver Shiver brings to the wider audience, excellent musicianship in the form of catchy tunes. Their style adds a sprinkling of pretentious jazz to the mix, resulting in rich pop tunes that are oh-so-easy to love.
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Lest I forget, I also asked the boys on their take on Indie music, and this is what they had to say –
While we realize the term
“indie” tends to mean a lot of different things to a lot of different
people, we would most prefer it to be defined as: Music created by
musicians who decidedly have the desire to play by their own rules.
Out of doing
what’s been most natural to us, we’ve found our music to fit into
several settings or genres. In our estimation, this freedom is a trait
we consider to be independent.
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If you want to get a copy of Shiver Shiver’s album, Soulless Sex Appeal is available at CD Baby. You can also download it at eMusic.com. Be sure to check out the nice hidden track at the end 🙂
