Thriving on the energy that made 90's grunge so popular, and catchy hooks that made 2000's alternative rock, there is no lack of influence across the board for Shutter.
Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.
Jonni - vocals and guitar
Gavin - guitar
Teresa - drums
Dawid - bass
For starters, what bands were you part of prior to this project? How long has this project been around?
Shutter has been around for about seven or eight years. A few of us have been in projects before this, though. Jonni was previously in a band called Weirdface, Teresa was drumming in a metal band before Shutter, and Dawid was in a band playing guitar before joining Shutter. Gavin has done some solo work as well as collaborations, but Shutter is the first band he’s played in.
What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?
In the past we’ve focused a lot on relationships whether they’re romantic or platonic, heartbreak is a big theme in our music. We’ve also touched on some mental health issues. Our most recent release, “What I Think I Follow”, is heavily focused on growing up and realizing the bigger picture in life.
What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?
We’re all kind of all over the place with our inspirations, but Jonni pulls a lot of inspiration from bands like The Smashing Pumpkins and Balance And Composure. Gavin was really influenced by Keith Richards and Dave Grohl when he was working on writing his guitar parts for the upcoming record. Teresa has also been influenced by Dave Grohl's drumming, and Dawid has been inspired by bands like Superheaven and A Day To Remember.
Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?
This is another one that’s kind of all over the place for us. Jonni fell in love with Guitar Hero at a young age, he heard “Feel The Pain” on there and that was it for him. Dawid always wanted to be like James Hetfield, and after seeing Metallica in 2017 he just wanted to be on stage. Gavin once went to a Can’t Swim concert and was so taken by the energy of the crowd in such a small place and that inspired him to write one of our favorite songs on the upcoming record.
What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, etc …
Lots of water, listening to some of our favorite songs to pump us up, and the occasional jumping jack.
What has been the biggest highlight of your music career so far?
A collective highlight for all of us has been playing venues we all grew up growing to or have seen our favorite bands at, like Starland Ballroom and House Of Independents. We’ve also had a really unique and memorable response to our latest single.
If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?
Some bands we’d all love to tour if we could with would be Nirvana, Can’t Swim, Title Fight, and Foo Fighters. These bands have inspired us to do what we do so it would be the dream to tour with any of them.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
We just want to give a huge shout out to everyone who has supported us and stuck with us to this point, we’re really proud of what's next for us and hope they are too. We also want to give a big thank you to Matt Webber at the Gradwell House for pulling us together as a unit while we were recording this next record.