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Every Monday we will be bringing you interviews with unsigned UK or Ireland artists for Independent Music Monday. Recently we caught up with unsigned London band SHANGHAI BLUES to find out more…

Who is in the band, how did you meet, where are you from and how did you come up with the band name?
The band is made up of Chalk (Vocals, Bass), James (Guitar), Reece (guitar) and Mike (Drums) and we’re all childhood friends from Walthamstow in East London. The band is named after a now sadly defunct Chinese Takeaway, haha.

Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
Growing up we listened to a lot of blues and metal music, and have been in and out of bands together for the last 15 years. Now, however, our musical tastes are much more broad. We listen to everything from Dinosaur Pile-Up and Pantera to JHUS and Kanye West, which really helps us to take a wider berth when writing songs.

How would you describe your sound?
Our sound has definitely developed over the last four years. Starting with a very simple generic “plinky plonky” indie sound to a heavier alt-rock sound more recently. I think this comes with growing up and our songwriting maturing as we’ve gotten older, along with our musical tastes broadening.

What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
Our latest release is called SAVE ME, which was out on Sept 16th. This was preceded by a cold drop of the b-side HONEY, mid-August. Both releases discuss life and its differing struggles. Honey is an ode to falling helplessly in love with absolutely zero intention of that happening, whilst Save Me encourages people to speak out when life becomes too all-encompassing.

What’s your local music scene like?
Terrible, haha. Unfortunately, there is zero opportunity in Walthamstow for a music scene which is a shame as it and the surrounding borough have birthed huge acts such as Lethal Bizzle, Bloc Party, Iron Maiden, The Skints and us. London as a whole is interesting because it’s extremely difficult to cut through the noise when there is SO much happening. There are a million artists in a million venues promoted by a million promoters, which can make things challenging. Second to that, there’s nothing like a global pandemic to completely destroy a music scene on a national level and make it nigh on impossible to have even a semblance of a functioning circuit, so the next 12/18 months will be interesting.

What do you have planned for the next 12 months?
With all dreams of touring out of the window for the foreseeable future, we’re really focusing on writing at the moment. We’d love to get a larger body of work down that can be moulded for the future.

Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
Matt from Dinosaur Pile-Up. Would love to shred it with him and write some gnarlyyyyy riffs hahaha.

Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
I think some guy lost a tooth in a mosh pit at one of our shows once! Not funny at all, but probably the most mental thing we’ve ever seen.

What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
We absolutely LOVE Guinness. Please buy us countless multiple and many many pints. Post them to us even, please – we thirstyyyy.

You can find out more about SHANGHAI BLUES via Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud, Spotify, Twitter or YouTube.