INTERVIEW: SHAKEOUT CHATS NEW EP "BALANCE THE IMBALANCE"

You just released your new EP “Balance the Imbalance.” How much time went into creating this body of work? 
Well, I’d say that I started writing these songs at the beginning of 2017, while I was writing for our “Part II” EP as well. I had a lot of ideas floating around, but no finished tunes for a bit. We booked the recording time for the EP in the early months of 2018 and hopped into the studio in June of the same year. I really kicked it into gear once the recording time was booked and finished 10 songs, leaving us with 7 that we actually wanted to use. But, we have been sitting on the final product since last Fall, so it’s definitely been a lot of planning before we actually released it.

What was the most difficult part of the writing and recording process? 
This time around it was honestly a pretty relaxing experience. We worked with our buddy Matt Brasch, who produced and engineered it, and although he really pushed us to get the most rock solid takes that we could, he also made it pretty easy to do so. One constant challenge during the writing process for our band though is writing the songs in a way where they can actually be performed well. We are a two piece that utilizes live looping in every song and we don’t use any backing tracks or anything like that. So, I have to write the songs with our live setup in mind always.

Which song on the EP do you think best represents Shakeout as a whole and why? 
That’s honestly a tough question because the songs take influence from so many different artists and genres, that I feel as if they all have really unique qualities, which is something I’ve always liked to do with my writing. I guess I would have to say either “Take Time” or “Instincts,” which were actually the two songs we released before the record was even out. I feel as if those songs really capture our energy as a whole.

How is this record different from past Shakeout releases? 
This record is a major step forward for us in my opinion. It tells a story from beginning to end, which is something that we haven’t done before. All of the songs touch on the concept of taking negatives and turning them into positives and how to kind of guide through that. The record starts off really aggressively, but as you listen through all of the songs, the “character” or “voice” becomes more at peace with life and starts to recognize the positives a lot more.

Do you plan to tour to promote the EP? 
Absolutely. We did a little weekender run for the record release shows last week. Up next we have Forget Me Not Fest in New Jersey with Real Friends and a bunch more, then a slew of Fall dates that have yet to be announced. Really stoked to get out there because I feel as if our band really shines in a live setting.
 
Now that it’s out, have you started to think about what comes next? 
Both of us in the band are constantly thinking about our next step and we have a really long list of tasks to accomplish. Hoping to put out lots of video content in the near future through quite a few different avenues, so be on the lookout for that. Also, going to start writing for an LP very soon. Want to give ourselves ample time to write the best record that we can.

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