Local rocker Tommy Shears took some time out of his T.S. Eliot reading to tell me about his latest project, The Living Statues, which has been a band years in the making. They are playing this Thursday, Feb. 9, at the Frequency with other local boys Baristacide and Fight Nice of Chicago.
Shears, who describes his stage persona as "a fucked up Elvis meets Han Solo," spoke candidly about his previous musical endeavors and the recording of the band's EP over the last year.
"It really started when my band in high school broke up," Shears said. "Chris [Morales, drums] and I started writing together almost right away. We thought we wanted to do drums and guitar like some of our heroes, The White Stripes and The Black Keys."
The band did not really get serious until they started recording their EP, Bad News. The writing and recording of the EP shows the band's dedication to putting out quality tunes exactly the way they want them to be heard.
"We recorded it ourselves in my basement," Shears said. "We had a pretty pro setup though. The fact that we didn't have to pay for studio time meant we could spend way too long on it though."
They started recording in Dec. 2010, but did not finish until they self-released the album on Oct. 9, 2011-John Lennon's birthday. As for the writing process the band has, it is rare to speak to a band more collaborative when writing.
"Chris is also poetically talented, and he'll write words and send them to me with him singing them," Shears said. "In the last couple of years he's also picked up the guitar, he wants to have more input on the melodic aspects, and that's great."
"‘Red Shoes' was the first song we wrote as The Living Statues, and it's collaborative not only in melody, but also in lyrics," he said. "The song itself is kind of disjointed and that was the theme, it's a song about contradictions."
Both founding members of the band also contributed one song that was completely their own, along with another collaboration.
"Each song we write is better than the last," Shears said. "If you look at what you're writing now and it isn't better than your last project, then why are you writing it?"
That honest and driven statement seems to define Shears' commitment to all of his projects, also being involved with the band the Choons, who divide their time between Madison and Chicago.
"The only time it's really hard is when I have two different shows on two consecutive nights," he said. "A few weeks ago the Choons played in Chicago on Thursday and then Friday and Saturday The Living Statues were playing in Milwaukee. Whenever I think it's going to be a hassle though I remember, this is the dream, why the fuck am I complaining."
The dream can be pretty tiring though. Shears said that while he has his own pre-show ritual of listening to the Killers' Sam's Town, it has become customary to nap between practice and the show, since it's difficult to get together and practice sometimes.
The work that goes into a band like this may be a lot, but Shears, Morales and bassist Alex Thornburg insist they are working for fun.
"Two weeks ago we played at the Bad Genie Rock Lounge in Milwaukee, and it was just this small bar, maybe 50 people could fit on the dance floor," Shears said. "It was the end of the night and we were going on around midnight, and people just lost their minds. We played four songs that night for the first time, and there is no better feeling than seeing people dance to a song you wrote."
Shears said he felt certain it was the best show he has played to date, but with a philosophy like his, Thursday's show can only stand to be even better.
