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INTERVIEW: The Shaking Sensations

The Shaking Sensations released their captivating debut album, East Of Youth this week, so we thought it was well past time that we sat down with the Copenhagen post-rock outfit for a casual chat about their plans to break into the UK.

East Of Youth was released in the UK on the 12th of September, but is already available in your native Denmark. What has the feedback to the album been like at home?

The feedback back here in Denmark has been really good. East of Youth has been received overwhelmingly well and the general opinion is that we can follow the footsteps of the Mastodonts with our heads up high. And that’s a fantastic recognition to get. Of course we're being compared to bands such as Explosions in The Sky, Mogwai and Godspeed You! Black Emperor - but that isn't too bad either.

What would your hopes be for the UK release?

Hopefully that the UK audience will be aware of our existence and that it will help us to get a fan base over there and, of course, some live shows. So far, the way we have promoted our band outside Denmark has been through live-shows – and then people have bought our records. With the UK, it’s sort of an opposite tactic with the records out there first, before we go and play there. It’s hard to be visible on the UK scene, and I guess it’s even harder for us, since UK post-rock and instrumental acts really are doing well these days. Hopefully there’s a hype we can join, but it will be hard for a debuting Danish band to contribute to it.

Something that has always intrigued me about post-rock bands is how do you name instrumental tracks? Is it just random words pulled out of the air?

It’s always hard and it’s a question we’re frequently asked. It might be a mix of random words pulled out of the air and well considered and sophisticated thoughts.

Some words and titles are just cool; others have a deeper meaning. Sometimes we have the title before we start composing the music, other times it’s the opposite. On East of Youth, all titles are contributing to a universe that we, at some point in the process of making the record, realized was starting to evolve. About standing on the doorstep to becoming a grown up and saying goodbye to boyhood and youth. Also it’s a record about holding on to those things, even though you’re getting older, and we think that the titles on East of Youth reflect these thoughts pretty well, however the beautiful thing about instrumental music is that you, as a listener, can make your own thoughts about the music and that it can mean totally different things to people. On East of Youth you can say we have chosen a theme and that it is up the individual listener to get whatever out of it.

Do you think being an instrumental band will help your music translate to the UK audience, as there'll be no language barrier to overcome?

Not really. We’re working on the same premises as UK instrumental bands, and we will communicate on the same level as them and appeal to the same audience. It would be hard if we had vocals or tried to make obvious statements with our titles – not that many Danish acts can handle the English language well enough to make good lyrics and make that a quality in their song writing – maybe that’s why not that many have gotten through to the UK audience. It’s also a tendency in Denmark that stage presence and image, hair style and shoes, seem more important than making good music. Luckily post-rock and instrumental music isn’t about this – and the audiences all over the world seem to be aware of that – makes the job a lot easier for us

Do you have any plans to play live in the UK in the future?

Yes – at the moment we can’t say that much about it, but we’re working on a UK tour in early 2012.

You've played live all over mainland Europe. Is there a different reaction to your music from different parts of the continent?

In Denmark the audiences are really reserved – maybe because of the point mentioned above about image and shoes. Post-rock isn’t that recognized in Denmark and the concert culture over there somehow seems to be considered as a question of collective mass entertainment and collective experiences instead of feelings and experiences of the individual listener. We experience a more dedicated crowd outside Denmark and the audiences seem to be aware of what this kind of music is about. Sometimes we meet a very critical crowd and we can feel that our music is being listened to and getting judged – and that’s actually a relief – especially when they seem to like it.

Two drummers is quite rare, even in Post-Rock. What made you choose that line up?

It looks good on the stage. It actually started as a random experiment and Mads was only meant to do a couple of shows with us, however it turned out to work really well and he became a member of the band.

It gives us freedom in the way we compose our music and we think that it adds a depth to our music that you can’t create with only one drummer on record. But live, it also adds a visual aspect that can’t be delivered with only one drummer. Also Mads is such a good guy and we really wanted him to be in the band – since he was a drummer, he had to play the drums.

What other bands on your label Pad and Pen Records should we be excited about?

Well Pad & Pen is a weird label, representing many different genres. We think all bands have something special to offer, but the acts that should appeal to listeners of our music would be Mimas – who also started out as post-rock band, but now play something they call death-indie (!) and Keith Canisious which is dream pop/shoegaze. Pad & Pen is also representing Talons from the UK and if you don’t know them, do yourself a favour and check them out. Futuristic post-rock with a touch of punk and Celtic folk. However Darling Don’t Dance which is a 3-girl -1-guy garage-rock band is worth checking out as well – they’re recording their debut album at the moment and we’re sure they will rock everyone out there.

East of Youth is released via Pad & Pen Records and is out to buy today from Amazon for just £4.74!

The Shaking Sensations - Glass Wings by abadgeoffriendship

You can download "Glass Wings", a track taken from the debut album, on the ABoF SoundCloud page.

For more information about The Shaking Sensations, Pad & Pen Records or our PR services, please email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).