by richard abrahamson kabrahamson1@aol.com
WHO: Emery with Surrogate and Ruth
WHERE: Murray Hill Theatre
WHEN: Wednesday, July 4th 7PM
Between the Tooth & Nail Acoustic Tour and the preparation for their latest studio album, Emery is an extremely tough band to catch up with. It seems they’re always touring. Luckily, bassist/vocalist Devin Shelton was able to find the time to answer some of our questions via email, where he shed some light on the tour and their upcoming new record.
EU: Tell me a little bit of the history behind Emery. How did you guys get started?
Devin Shelton: Matt, Toby and I are from the same town and we went to college together. We started playing music together in college and eventually formed Emery. After we graduated, we moved to Seattle and focused on getting the band going. We’ve been through a couple lineup changes since.
EU: What bands do you draw influences from?
DS: Originally we were totally influenced by bands like Weezer, Sunny Day Real Estate, Zao, Hopesfall, Further Seems Forever, Deftones, Radiohead, etc, etc.
EU: I see you guys play mixed venues. What kind of differences do you notice playing Christian venues versus secular ones?
DS: Honestly, secular venues are usually better. There tends to be higher expectations when you play Christian venues. People expect certain words and/or actions from us when we play there. Not that it is bad, but just not always for us.
EU: Tell us about the T&N Summer Acoustic Tour.
DS: We’re going out with two newer bands on Tooth & Nail called Ruth and Surrogate. We are excited and take pride in our acoustic shows. It’s much more intimate and you can actually hear everything that is going on. So mistakes are noticed very easily…uh oh!
EU: What’s your favorite song to perform live?
DS: Well, since we have new songs right now, probably a new one called Rock-n-Rule.
EU: You’ve toured with a number of different bands. Who would you like to tour with again?
DS: Alexisonfire, mewithoutYou, Boys Night Out, Jonezetta and probably others that I can’t think of.
EU: I read you’ll be releasing a new album in the near future. What can you tell us about it?
DS: It rules. Just kidding, but seriously, it rocks. We are extremely happy with it and so excited to get it out there for everyone to hear. We hope everyone loves it because we are most proud of it. I guess every band always loves their newer stuff best, but hopefully we are correct. It comes out on October 4, if I am not mistaken. It’s a must purchase!
EU: What’s been the biggest obstacle in making the new record?
DS: Actually nothing that I can think of. It went so smoothly and we loved the entire process. We recorded in a beautiful studio in the country and couldn’t have asked for a better experience.
EU: You had a line-up change last fall. How did that affect the recording process?
DS: It really didn’t affect much. Joel was a good bass player, but the songwriting was still there, so we were able to recover pretty well.
EU: When writing new songs, is there a particular band member that comes up with the songs or is a group effort?
DS: Toby and myself come up with most of the music and all of the lyrics and melodies. Matt usually writes a song or two and gives them to us to write vocals to, but he is great at arranging all the guitar parts and other instruments for the songs. It is a good collaboration between us. Dave is good at elaborating on the drum parts as well.
EU: What do you do in your spare time?
DS: Play golf, exercise, play with my cats, water my lawn, paint my house, watch lots of movies and hang out with my lovely wife.
Emery will perform at the Murray Hill Theatre on July 4th at 7 pm with Surrogate and Ruth. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 the day of the show. For more information go to www.murrayhilltheatre.com or call (904) 388-3179.
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