Shop Front Heroes are on a mission to inject new life into rock, and their explosive single "Killer" is the match that lights the fuse. With a forthcoming debut album titled "SuperPowers," the band proves that they're not just here to play music; they're here to tell stories and leave an indelible mark.
The track, graced by powerful and resonating lyricism from Yeomans, is reminiscent of the early anthemic sound of Foo Fighters. The hard-hitting melodies and singalong choruses carry an aura of nostalgia, while the songwriting itself is a testament to the band's ability to wield words as weapons, hitting the heart with every note. We sat down with them to learn all about the record, the recording process and everything in between, exclusively for FLEX.
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Hey Shop Front Heroes, how are you doing today?
Great, thank you. Glad to be talking to you.
Sum up your new single 'Killer' for us in three words?
Passionate, Optimistic and Honest
What is 'Killer' about?
'Killer', at its heart, is about the juxtaposition of being a bit lost or disheartened whilst having that gut feeling that things can always, and will be, way better. As long as you keep the faith and try to help yourself, and to allow people to help you as well. It's essentially about not giving up on something that you love and remembering how good things have been before and can be again.
Who are your biggest influences as a band?
Everything is an influence to us, whether we like something or not. Everything we listen to sculpts what we become and what goes into our songs.. Artists that left lasting impressions on us, especially from a songwriting point of view are solo artists like David Bowie, Neil Young, Prince, PJ Harvey, Iggy Pop, Elvis, even artists like Billy Joel, MJ, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, who you'd think we'd have nothing in common with are still important to our sound.
There are so many bands we talk about; Queen, Arcade Fire, Talking Heads, Nirvana, The Killers, Rush, Radiohead, The Beatles, The Kinks, The Cure, The Strokes, Simon & Garfunkel, The Smiths and heavier stuff like Queens Of The Stone Age, Guns and Roses, Turnstile, Foo Fighters, Gojira. We love big sounds and we love the available space to find within that. I could talk all day about this by the way, so apologies for the long answer. I also really like a lot of pop music as well and love bringing that element to the songs and also taking what I need from the genre into the studio, from a producer's perspective.
We're proud to lean into our influences and unashamedly use ideas from songs, genres and albums that we love in our own music. I think that's what every great artist has done since the beginning of time. As Bowie once said "The only art I'll ever study is stuff I can steal from."
You've recorded at some of the biggest and best studios around, what was that experience like when shaping this forthcoming album?
Recording at Rockfield was a hugely nourishing experience. It was like going on holiday with your best mates for two weeks, doing all the things you usually do with your best mates on holiday but also working really hard and making an amazing album that we are all really proud of. It's such an honest studio, without pretension, locked away in the countryside and has that overwhelming feel of being rooted in such magical and rich musical history. Playing the same piano as Freddie Mercury, walking around the grounds, where Bowie and Iggy had been hanging out, hearing the crazy stories about The Stone Roses, Lemme, Black Sabbath and any other musical titan of the last century that you'd care to mention from the legendary owner of the studio, Kinglsey. It was all such a wholesome and treasured experience. We can't wait to go back and record the next album.
What is your creative process usually like?
I (Stevie) usually write the songs on acoustic guitar or piano and then take it to the band to shape, structure and change around. Sometimes we'll get into something real nice in rehearsal and take it away and I'll write something around it or add verses, chorus, middle eights etc and then bring it back in the next day. We are never precious about ideas though and only use the best that we have. It's very democratic and we all know when something is going to work or not. Equally we know when we're on to something killer.
And finally, what's coming next for Shop Front Heroes this year?
This years sees us release our debut album 'SuperPowers' in the Autumn and at least one more single before then as well, which will probably be 'Caer Bryn' - we were lucky enough to have Rhayader and District Male Voice Choir appear on that one and we got them down to the studio in Rockfield, which was quite a day.
We'll also be touring and gigging as much as possible around the UK to promote our album. We hope you can come and catch us live real soon.
Stream 'Killer' here:
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