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Shaven Primates

Avian Absurdity: Birds Aren’t Real, But the Music Is! – Shaven Primates

“Birds Aren’t Real” by Shaven Primates is a delightful and humorous track that embraces its playful title. The band name and song title immediately hint at a lighthearted approach, poking fun at the infamous conspiracy theory that suggests birds are government spy devices. However, what makes this track truly impressive is that it doesn’t rely solely on its comedic elements—it also showcases excellent musicianship.

From the moment the song begins, you’re treated to expertly played guitar, keys, and drums. Shaven Primates demonstrate their musical prowess, delivering a tight and well-crafted performance. Despite the humorous undertones, they don’t compromise on the quality of their instrumentation. Each instrument shines through, creating an enjoyable blend of catchy melodies and infectious rhythms.

Beyond the humor, the singing on “Birds Aren’t Real” is pleasing to the ears. The vocals capture the essence of the song, adding an extra layer of charm. Shaven Primates strike a great balance between embracing the joke and delivering a genuinely enjoyable musical experience. It’s evident that they have put effort into both their songwriting and their ability to entertain.

“Birds Aren’t Real” is a track that invites you to join in the fun. It’s a reminder that music can be both entertaining and well-crafted, even when embracing humorous concepts. Shaven Primates have managed to create a piece that leaves a smile on your face while also showcasing their musical talent.

Shaven Primates tell us all about their chirp-filled rocking 4-track release Birds Aren’t Real

Reaching into the trees and slicing off a piece of the bark to get the night started, Shaven Primates kindly had a chat with us all about their brand new 4-track release called Birds Aren’t Real. Informing us all about the vision, the local music scene and what’s next, we are educated about what being in a band really means.

Llewelyn: Greetings Shaven Primates. Thank you for joining us as we appreciate your time. 1st question. Please tell us about how the band started, who’s all involved (band, booking agent, special fans etc).

Shaven Primates: Mark started the band with creating the template for our previous album, “Child Of Dirt” which was all centered around his life story in traumatic events, including childhood abuse and losing his memory at 17. He used those song templates to round up the rest of us, starting with Neil who is our sophisticated keyboardist, found via joinmyband.co.uk who then connected up with Tom Clark, the guitarist, and then found Jarod Ganoe on gumtree (“bored drummer wants to make some noise”), and then finally Nick Letellier joined in 2018 after hearing our work and having worked with Tom before.
We aren’t currently working with a booking agent but this is immediately on the agenda and we connect with promoters directly in the UK so far. Playing across Europe will follow suit, we hope!
Special fans have all been our locals so far as our first outings were as local performers here in Oxford in order to test the waters and see who might listen to us – our sound is very individual and pretty hard to pin down, but that’s art rock for you. Bowie, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Mars Volta; they’re all self described as such due to sticking to their own sound.

Llewelyn: Who are the cleanest and messiest band members?

Shaven Primates: Cleanest, in terms of rehearsal time, would have to be either Nick or Neil, with their well-organised nature (and decidedly vocally so). Mark is by far the messiest, with his head in the clouds most of the time, we’d say. Him and cables, it’s quite a sight.

Llewelyn: Birds Aren’t Real. Let’s get into it. It drops on the 28th of July. What was the vision behind the project and where did you record it/are you happy with the outcome?

Shaven Primates: After spending 5 years writing the epic life story album that was “Child Of Dirt”, we needed to write something from scratch that was an introspective on the world, this time on “alt thought”, a spin on the mesh of madness spread across the world in war, propaganda, lies, slander, hate, denial, and conspiracy. We wrote 3 songs around this along with 2 more on a perspective on the suicide of someone close, and the experiences of growing up in school with a mind that isn’t compatible.

We recorded it at our own built recording studio, TAD Studios – that was a huge project as it was a matter of repurposing a rehearsal space that operates with multiple rooms. All of them are interconnected, and we get so much out of what was created as our musical hub.

Llewelyn: What is the pre-gig routine before jamming live?

Shaven Primates: Largely waving arms around madly, trying to sort out our in-ear monitors, but otherwise we spend a lot of it helping people set up. We’ve been running live streams with ours lately, so it’s been an extra big part of the work to rig that up too.

Llewelyn: What does it mean to be in a band? What are the perks and what are some things that make it harder?

Shaven Primates: First off, having a group of people who also we can also proclaim as friends who look out for each other and make our musical accomplishments, working out what does and doesn’t work creatively or technically, and generally enjoying the day-to-day living of it all. It can be particularly hard when working with people we care about and finding we have differences, of course, but we do what we can to figure that all out. Really, that’s part of the work, I guess.

Llewelyn: Please rep your hometown. Where are you currently and where are the best places to watch good music in your local area?

Shaven Primates: Oxford! Love the place – Mark grew up there, and saw the 90s live scene evolve into what it was, with Supergrass, Radiohead, and Rise all blossoming into the airwaves. On the other hand, it’s been sad to watch it devolve, but a few places still hold it, such as the Jericho Tavern where Radiohead first played, or The Bullingdon which Supergrass still frequent, and particularly the Port Mahon still stands as a decent venue to catch newcomers. There’s also Tap Social Brewery which is promising to be a decent new venue, and The Jam Factory has also taken on new owners promising to put on live gigs soon. It’s all still there!

Llewelyn: Last, which bands would you like to perform with and do you have any funny gig stories/fan interactions you can share with us?

Shaven Primates: We’d love to connect with someone like Mars Volta, Radiohead, even Gary Numan who might take us on given our synth work. You never know!

The first gig we ever did was to a Filipino gig festival inside the Jericho Tavern, where it was mostly families sat around the side eating food and wondering what on earth was going on with what was on stage with us performing. All gigs are worthwhile though! Still enjoyed it.

Turn this up on Spotify.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Oxford act Shaven Primates decimates those dark demons with inspiring single, ‘Answers’

After searching for help to rid the halls of those scary ghosts that can clutch onto you like poisonous sludge in the river, Shaven Primates join forces within and aim to heal from those mental scars which need to be remedied on ‘Answers‘.

Formed by Mark Elphinstone, Shaven Primates is an Oxford, England-based 5-piece dark-wave, art-rock, post-punk band. After a 17 year hiatus from music, Mark decided that he needed to fully heal from all the trauma from his tough childhood and has used music for therapy purposes, with results that are quite bone-tingling.

Our music is a narrative of human emotion and experience: fear, love and anger resonate through the orchestration, giving our audience a deeply cathartic release.” ~ Shaven Primates

Bringing us their vivid story to life while sending a groovy ear-booster with some aplomb, Shaven Primates show us that you can indeed retrain your mind and destroy all past memories that are holding you back from doing what you love in life.

Answers‘ from the Oxford, England-based band Shaven Primates, is a breaking-the-walls thunderbolt that gets your eyes to widen and your thoughts to break those rusty bars with your mind so you can regain control of your destiny. Blending in with dynamic forces that is almost superhero-like, this is a must-listen for all those who have suffered from disgraceful abuse growing up. Music heals if you join together with those who get it.

Hear this rocking new track on Soundcloud and see more via the IG music page.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen