For independent bands in 2006, the Internet and music blogs have
become as vital as Xerox machines and fliers were to the
trailblazing underground groups of the 1980s. Yet while some
emerging bands like Minnesota’s Tapes ‘N Tapes have
embraced the new medium and secured record deals through Internet
and blog buzz, Canadian group Shapes and Sizes has been more
old-fashioned without being behind the times.
“The Internet is a double-edged sword,” said Rory
Seydel, the lead vocalist and guitarist of Shapes and Sizes.
“You can get so caught up reading reviews that you start to
wonder whether it’s really worth your time. With so many
conflicting points of view, it’s easy to lose track of how
you feel about the music you make.”
Seydel and Shapes and Sizes have been on a wild ride for the
past year, including an Aug. 19 stop at this weekend’s F***
Yeah Festival in Echo Park. The band’s self-titled debut was
released on July 11 by Asthmatic Kitty Records, best known as the
home of indie titan Sufjan Stevens. The album, however, was
actually recorded nearly two years ago. The group had initially
sent a demo to Asthmatic Kitty over a year ago, but did not expect
to hear much, if anything, back from the label.
“They ended up getting back to us within a week,”
Seydel said.
While the label decided not to release the album right away, as
it was busy at the time promoting Stevens’
“Illinois,” a dialogue opened between Shapes and Sizes
and Asthmatic Kitty. After helping the group out in setting up a
tour and meeting up with them at various points along the way
(including breakfast with Stevens in New York), Asthmatic Kitty
offered in April to release the band’s album.
“Now, a whole lot of people are able to buy (our album),
as opposed to just people at our local record store,” Seydel
said. “It forces you to let go of your music and give it to a
bunch of people, not to mention gear up for criticisms.”
Shapes and Sizes are currently in the middle of a West Coast
tour that includes this weekend’s festival date. Seydel said
that while Shapes and Sizes has never played at an event as large
as the F*** Yeah Festival, he hopes that the group’s
experience will be like one it had in Austin, Texas earlier this
year.
Shapes and Sizes was in Austin about a week before the annual
South By Southwest festival, where seemingly every band in the
universe shows up and markets itself to, in Seydel’s words,
“lots of people with business cards talking about what they
can do for your band.”
The band’s booking agent at the time set them up with some
local bands at what was essentially a kegger with $5 admission and
free beer.
“We played in this old warehouse, and there were so many
people there who were just really enthused by good music,”
Seydel said. “I don’t know if we’re really into
marketing the band; we’re more into playing music for
like-minded people, and that’s what we got when we played in
Austin.”
As Shapes and Sizes tour and begin to be noticed by influential
music publications, they will continue to be compared to other
artists.
Typically, when new bands emerge, writers and listeners feel a
need to classify the music and give an example of the group’s
sound. In Shapes and Sizes’ case, some attempt to draw
comparisons between the band and Stevens himself, since the two are
on the same label.
“Some might search to find something in our music that
sounds like (Stevens) when I don’t think there’s much
related,” Seydel said about reading reviews. “It makes
me think, “˜You could have just talked about our music,’
but that’s just the way it goes. It’s unavoidable, and
some people just go for that automatically.”
Regardless, Seydel is looking forward to playing in cities the
band hasn’t visited before. One such city is San Diego, where
they will play a show with the Thermals.
And in spite of worries about dwelling on the opinions of
others, Seydel acknowledges that for a band to succeed, it must
constantly keep moving forward.
“In a way, we have to stop taking responsibility (for our
music) and let people interpret it the way they want to so that we
can move on to newer things,” Seydel said. “If you
dwell on anything you’ve made, you’re not going to end
up making new music. You just have to put your heart into it and
move on.”