Five Questions with Shaimus Guitarist Evan Brown

Yesterday I posted my review of the new Shaimus album, The Sad Thing Is, We Like It Here. Be sure to check it out. In my review I quoted guitarist Evan Brown. He was kind enough to answer a few questions for me as I wrote up the review, but I left out a few responses he gave me.

Brown believes that the new album is a big stepping stone for Shaimus as they have really come together and found their defining sound. For those wondering if Shaimus will be heard in a future video game though, Brown kept hush hush.

As this is the second Shaimus release, what do you feel is the biggest improvement over Paper Sun (Shaimus' debut album)?
Easily the biggest improvement over Paper Sun is that this was more of a full-band effort. We were still in our formative stages as a band while recording Paper Sun, and as a result we didn't quite have our sound together yet and much of the album sounds more like Phil [Beaudreau] and a backing band. This album is 100% Shaimus and really defines our true sound as a band.

When people listen to the album, what do you want them to think after hearing it?
Ideally, I'd like them to think it was the best album they've heard in a long time and that they'd like to immediately start listening again! More generally, though, I hope people feel like they've just been taken on a musical journey and experienced something more than just listening to 10 songs they hadn't heard before.

How has the feedback been so far since the release?
Feedback has been great. Many people are hearing that we're starting to come into our own as a band now, and that's encouraging. All you can hope for is that people "get" what you were going for and that listeners can at least partially appreciate the inordinate amount of work that goes into making an album. Actually, that's not totally true--all I really hope for is that people listen and say "this is good." The rest is just icing on the cake.

What is your favorite part of the album? Is there one song that sticks out to you?
My favorite song on the album is "While We're Young." We wrote and arranged that song while we were on tour in 2006, and the whole thing started coming together while we were rehearsing in Cam's garage in Seattle. The opening chord still makes me start sweating sometimes, remembering how humid it was in that little room. I was looking forward to hearing the recorded version of that song more than any other, and I wasn't disappointed. I think it turned into something really cool, and the song sets more of a mood than just about anything else we've done.

What's next for the group? Tour? Local gigs? Any video game news or early plans for the next album?
In our immediate future is the CD release party on March 4th in L.A. [link] We have some things in the pipeline for the rest of the year, but some goals include doing some more touring (most likely sticking to the West Coast) and continuing to shop ourselves around to labels and publishers and such. Our big goal for the year is to get heard by as many people as possible, so anything that helps us achieve that we are open to. As for video games, well I actually can't really talk about that. There may or may not be something in the near future.