Start Listening To: Shelf Lives
Shelf Lives are DIY punk at its best.
Can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?
We’re Shelf Lives a.k.a Sabrina and Jonny. Sabrina is from Toronto, eh, and Jonny is from Northampton, oy, and we make the type of music that everyone describes differently. It’s a little bit punk, it’s a little bit alt pop, it’s a little bit electronic with a hip hop cherry on top. Why please one crowd when you can please them all, right?
How did it all start?
We were both doing other things in music and fashion i.e. a commercial stylist, music sync, working with other artists, in other bands, etc. One project Jonny was working on brought us to work together on it and it sounded so dope that our manager, Amy, (she didn’t know it at the time) talked us into starting a band and we also just had a load of fun doing it. Et voila.
How do you produce your music?
We usually start with a riff, drumbeat or vocal hook and it evolves from there. We try and keep it as simple as possible by limiting the equipment we use. We usually use and EMX, Micro-Korg, and guitar…we also love a DMX. We tend to write lyrics last but sometimes during the process something valuable will stick out that we end up rolling with. For the tracks that have come out and our upcoming mini-album, we then brought them to SPACE (IDLES, Do Nothing) who we worked with to get them perfect and sounding HUGE but not too huge where you have to turn it off ;)
What inspires your music?
Vibes and feelings. Personalities we meet, situations we’re in, social media, what we watch and listen to….
How are you feeling about the release of your new mini-album?
A mix of excitement and hovering over the edge of misery.
How are you feeling about touring with Skunk Anansie?
Lucky, to be brief. We’ve been a band for about 5 minutes in the grand scheme of it all so to have this opportunity so soon is nothing less than a blessing. People are picking up what we’re throwing down… there’s nothing better.
How has living in London influenced you as a band?
We’ve seen shit…
If your music were a film or TV show which, would it be?
Sabrina – The Real Housewives of New Jersey
Jonny - Naked & Afraid
… also probably White Chicks, Atlanta and/or any A24 film, especially Midsommer.
Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it’s important to you?
Jonny – Abbey Road; it has a huge amount of nostalgia and sentimental value to me. It introduced me to the experience of listening to music.
Sabrina – I don’t have an album, unfortunately, but I have this immense playlist of 90’s, mostly grunge, bands that I put together that represents what I used to listen to. It starts off with Soundgarden and goes from there. This was the music I was listening to when I got obsessed with music
What do you hate right now?
Jonny – overthinking mums
Sabrina - airports
What do you love right now?
Jonny – the sun
Sabrina – cats and denim. Cats in denim would be great also.
What comes next in the Shelf Lives story?
Gigs, festivals, new music, music videos, posters, other consumables and more gigs.
Is there any new music from 2022 that you’re enjoying?
I dunno, I guess we’re just too obsessed with ourselves (j/k not j/king)
We can’t stop listening to the latest Turnstile at the moment but that came out in 2021 lol. Ummmm 2022…Vegyn’s new album, DITZ, Bob Vylan, Stella Talpo to mix it up and have you seen Priestgate perform? They’re dope too.
Highly anticipating the new Kendrick album. Can you imagine if Rih finally drops one this year, as well? What a year to be alive ;)
Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?
Our mini-album ‘Yes, offence’ is out April 28th digitally and vinyl-ally. Head to our website www.shelflives.co (not .com because none of those are left) and sign up to our email so we can hack and spam you and for instructions on where to consume all things Shelf Lives. Good luck.
P.S. For the full Shelf experience you have to come to a gig. Just ask any of the poor souls who have already seen one.
