Shaman’s Harvest Says It’s Important That We De-genre-fy The Rock Culture

What is your favorite type of rock music?  Alternative.  Arena.  Black Metal.  Christian.  Death Metal.  Electronic.  Goth.  Grunge.  Hardcore.  Metalcore.  Nu Metal.  Punk.  Screamo.  Southern Rock.  Viking Rock.  Wizard Rock.  Yacht Rock.  Zeuhl.  Wikipedia has a list of about 100 different subgenres of rock, and Shaman's Harvest says, it's time to "degenrefy" rock.

Shaman's Harvest will be coming to The Rust Belt on June 17 with Crobot, Any Given Sin, and Quad Cities' own The Forty Twos.  The announcement of the show was well-received on social media.  However, there are always some decenters.  No matter what any band is doing in the world of rock, there will always be somebody that dumps on it.  This, especially on social media, is the world we live in.

Shaman's Harvest wants to knock down the musical box walls.

All music is classified in some way.  Pop.  Country.  Hip Hop.  They all have their subgenres just like rock.  However nobody has more than rock.  And fans of particular subgenres in the rock world can be stubborn to get outside of their box.  This is where Shaman's Harvest wants to break down all those musical walls.

Shaman's Harvest journey on their 7th studio album.

The band had spent over two years on tour after 2017's Red Hands Black Deeds album and were creatively and personally drained by the end of it.

Shaman's Harvest would get back in their studio during the midst of a pandemic while also dodging tornadoes and floods.

“A tornado ripped through our town, 2 miles from our studio, leveling everything in its path” recalls guitarist Josh Hamler.  “Luckily, no one was killed.  Everything can be rebuilt, but we completely lost our creative vibe following the tragic event”.

Eventually, founding members Nathan Hunt and Josh Hamler, along with guitarist Derrick Shipp and drummer Adam Zemanek—hit the reset button clearing out six months for demo construction at their Jefferson City rehearsal space.  The loose yet professional atmosphere helped them in their quest for experimentation.

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"We were able to stretch our legs a little bit," says Hunt. "That's kind of a dying thing: people renting out whole studios because it's expensive as fuck. The piano was [featured on an] Ike and Tina Turner record, and we were able to pick up on the vibes from that. Jason (Engineer Jason McEntyre) knew all the tricks of that room to experiment, Like using the talkback mic on the drums or using old tape machines."

A good example of their trial and error is "Lilith," a sonic jigsaw puzzle that pairs an Allman Brothers-style slide guitar with a distorted, drop-tuning riff and a tender piano outro.

"That song, in particular, has a Southern rock vibe in the slide, but there's also an industrial electronic feel in the percussion," Hunt says. "There's the acoustic vibe at the end with the piano. There are a lot of weird warbles going on. Especially in rock and roll, people seem to be afraid to add a fucking banjo or a mandolin under there. But when you think about the mix when it's done, those are the things that pop out. I think it's important that we de-genre-fy the rock culture and sound."

"We don't want to feel limited when we're in the studio," Hamler interjects. "We want to try things or take something that's out of the ordinary and find a way to make it work."

"Otherwise, how are you going to get anyone to pay attention these days?" Hunt adds. "Or even get yourself to pay attention? We're all artists, and nothing destroys art like monotony."

Are rock fans killing rock?

While a band might not be your style of rock, it is for a lot of other people. You also need to remember that not everyone likes the rock style you like.  We in the rock world complain when we don't get the attention Pop or Country get.  But then we tear each other down because something doesn't match exactly the way you want it.  You don't have to support every rock band out there, but keep crapping on it and the sponsors, venues and promoters see it.  Then they book more Pop and Country bands and then...this is how rock dies.

You can see Shaman's Harvest, Crobot, Any Given Sin, and The Forty Twos at The Rust Belt.  The show is on June 17th.  A Friday night with 4 rock bands for $20.  Give it a try.  And hell, if you really don't want to spend the money on something you aren't sure of, you might as well at least try to win some tickets from your concert leader.  Long live rock.