Sharks Come Cruisin are a great punk band from Rhode Island. They have a great stage show and have released four albums. They have also done shows with a lot of great bands. I got Mark to tell their story...
Introduce yourself...
My name is Mark and I play guitar and sing in Sharks Come Cruisin
How did the band start?
I've been playing in rock bands for over 20 years, mainly punk rock bands.
I took a bit of a break from music from 1998 until I discovered the sea
shanties in 2003 / 2004. In that break of 5 to 6 years, I was searching for
a New England folk tradition. Many of my musical influences (Chuck Regan,
Tim Barry) began returning to the roots music of the regions where they
grew-up and these artists began producing blue grass, blues and country.
Growing up in Rhode Island, I wondered what our roots were.
I was watching the film Jaws around that time and heard the character of
Quint sing Spanish Ladies and thought "there must be other songs like that".
I knew 'Drunken Sailor' and 'Blow the Man Down' and figured there must be
others like them. I went to the Providence Public Library and began
researching the songs. That day I brought home 4 LP's of sea shanties and
fell in love with the genre. I had found the New England roots music I was
looking for.
The call and response nature of the sea shanties was very reminiscent of the
punk songs I grew up listening to. The communal nature of the songs really
resonated with me.
I began learning and performing the songs at open mic nights around
Providence. My first "official" show was in Brooklyn, NY at a new years eve
party in 2004.
I tell the longwinded version of the band history in an interview I did for
rocketfuel podcast. You can download that here:
http://rocketfuelpodcast.com/index.php/archives it's episode #46
How did you come up with the name?
The band name is a quote from the film Jaws. The character of Quint uses
the expression in the scene where he tells the story of the sinking on the
USS Indianapolis.
Who would you say are your influences?
I grew up on late 80's - early to mid 90's hardcore, mostly the NYC and DC
hardcore scenes. Gorilla Biscuits, Sick of it All, 7-Seconds, Fugazi,
Verbal Assault, these are the bands that shaped my ideas about music.
The Clash is also a huge influence on me musically.
As for more contemporary bands, I really like Against Me, Samiam, Hot Water
Music. I'm a big fan of the melodic punk stuff and I think that carries over
as a musical influence is our songs.
What is the punk scene like in Rhode Island?
Like many places, RI experiences waves where the scene will be really
vibrant, followed by a time where things are really slow. Much of that can
be directly linked to the number of venues that are hosting live music in
Providence. Right now we have a bunch of new venues, so things are looking
up. Rhode Island is the home of a few very influential punk bands, I'm
thinking particularly about Verbal Assault and Drop Dead. Two very
different bands, but equally influential to the punk scene in their own way.
Describe the song writing process...
I have a long list of traditional sea shanties that I'm interested in
learning to playing. I will usually invite our banjo player, Erik, or bass
player, Michael, over to the house and we will start pulling the songs
together. I'm not very good with figuring out keys and chord progressions.
I can do it, but it's a tedious process for me and the other guys are a lot
faster at it.
Once I have a sense of how to play the song, I'll start experimenting with
the rhythms on the guitar. I'm a big fan of how Tom Gabel from Against Me!
uses the guitar as to keep the rhythm, I'll try to mimic that style until
I'm happy with a basic feel for the song. From there we will start playing
the song at practice and everyone has a chance to bring their own
personality to the song. We will play new songs for a while at practice
before we try them out live.
Our original songs seem to come together quicker than arranging the
traditional sings. I think that's because I will work on songs for a long
time (sometimes years) before I'll share them. By that time the song is 90%
complete.
You released 'Live at Jakes', tell us about the album...
I started playing the shanties solo in 2004, by 2006 we added a bass player,
drummer and accordion player. Given the call and response nature of the
songs, it seemed only appropriate to record the records live, with the Crew
singing along. we recorded a live record at a club called Jake's where we
did many of our first shows. At that time I thought all SCC releases would
be recorded with a live audience.
You then released 'Four Years Before the Mast', tell us about the album...
In 2008 we recorded an EP titled 4 Years Before the Mast. This was our
first time on the studio. We added banjo and fiddle on that record. To get
the "feel" of the live shows, we invited a bunch of friends into the studio
to sing the choruses.
We released that EP with a local label called 75 or Less Records
How you feel 'Providence Piers Sessions' differ?
The biggest difference with the Providence Piers Sessions was the players.
After four years the band when thru a total line up change with the
exception of Erik and myself. With that recording we were lucky enough to
have James on drums and Michael on bass. We also added Erica for melodica
on that recording.
We went into the studio for the providence piers sessions to record two
songs for a split ep that never ended up being released. We still have two
unreleased tracks if anyone who's reading this wants to put them out. Get
in touch mark@sharkscomecruisin.com
Your current release is'A Past We Forget That We Need to Know', tell us
about the album...
The new record is a collection of 11 tracks including 3 original songs
alongside plenty of traditional sea shanties.
To record the new full-length, we returned to Strangeways recording studio
in Providence, RI. With the help of Daryl Rabidoux (The Cancer Conspiracy),
we tracked the album in the spring of 2010 and then invited numerous
"Crewmembers" into the studio to sing along on the record to capture the
energy of our live shows.
SCC is as much the Crew singing along as it is the individuals with the
instruments. Not including them in the recording process just didn't make
sense. We were excited to pull it off.
The lineup on the record includes Michael Bilodeau (bass, vocals), Mark
Lambert (guitar, vocals), Erica Sachs Lambert (melodica), James Toomey
(drums), and Erik Wohlgemuth (banjo). The record also features fiddle
player Jon Cannon and Anthony Loffredio (Barn Burning) on mandolin.
What else have you released?
Those are all the releases. We do have a couple unreleased songs from "a
past we forget" and the unreleased songs from the Providence Piers session.
Who are some of the bands you have done shows with?
We have played with the Dropkick Murphys, Larry and His Flask, The Loved
Ones, Lemuria, Spanish Gamble, The State Lottery, Greenland is melting.
Have you toured?
We have been lucky enough to be invited twice to play at the fest in
Gainesville, FL. We also played Radfest in Wilmington, NC last year. The
festivals give us a chance to play show away from home. James and I also
toured out to Minneapolis as part of a cross country trip I took a few years
ago. More recently we have been trying to play shows in the New England /
New York area.
Is there a favorite band you like to do shows with?
No real favorites. We like playing shows with friends, that's why we do
this.
Is there a favorite place you like to do shows at?
There is a bar very close to my house in providence called the penalty box.
The owners are very cool and they've let us put on some great shows there.
Do you see is the future of Sharks Come Cruisin?
I see us continuing to tour regionally with the new record. I like the idea
of playing house shows and non-club shows, I hope we can do more shows like
that.
We been invited to play a number of maritime festivals over the past few
years, I see us playing more of those. I'd love to play in Canada and
eventually make our way to Europe. My wife (SCC's Melodica player) and I
just had our first child, so travel will become more of a challenge, but
we've talked about it and we're up for the adventure!
How can people contact the band?
You can email me mark@sharkscomecruisin.com, or go to the website,
www.sharkscomecruisin.com
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