Shane Bargy Interview
Q: Can you talk about your history as an artist?
A: Have been playing guitar and writing songs for 30 years. Over the years, have been in multiple bands, acoustic duos and performed as a solo act. I have been heavily influenced by bands, performers and songwriters such as Styx, John Mellencamp, Dada and Jeffrey Gaines.
Q: Can you talk about your themes on your new release Turn on the Light?
A: With my album Turn on the Light, my goal was to have songs that were complex and covered a lot of ground lyrically, but worked together sonically as many of my favorite performers' albums have in the past. While the album can sound and feel acoustic and "folksy" at times, it was important to combine that sound with some heavier, electric rock tones throughout. It was my goal to create an album that provides an interesting and cohesive experience for the listener from start to finish. The record is full of heavy topics such as domestic violence through the eyes of a child, retribution and healing from past abuse, and the sad hope someone who is contemplating suicide may be feeling. However, there are songs about how family and friends are there for us at the most important times of our lives, another about using the lessons we've learned from loved ones from the past, and even a bonus track entitled “Just Hope” written and performed by my eight-year-old daughter during the early and scariest days of the pandemic. My "hope" is that with an honest listen, the album will tell a very complicated story in a way that is worth repeated listens just like the best of my idols' albums.
Q: What is your recording process like? And has it changed over the years?
A: This was the first time I used a studio to do all of my recording. In the past I have completed any recordings using a home studio. By utilizing a professional studio (Honey Home Studios in Albany), I was able to focus on the guitar playing and the vocals and not on the recording process. As a result, the performances are at my highest quality ever and the songs were given their best shot at telling their story. Additionally, this is the first time I had my recordings mastered while using Cosmic Audio in the UK.
Q: What is your creative process like?
A: While each song is different, I typically have most of the music written out first on an acoustic guitar. I usually have an idea or theme in my mind when putting in the time necessary on the guitar to have music that may appropriately match the mood I am feeling.
Q: How do you usually go about writing lyrics?
A: I almost always have a theme in mind which triggers the lyrics. Some songs come very easily, almost like the lyrics are pouring out from someplace else. However, no matter how quickly lyrics may come, I find it is best to work on each song hard for a period of time and then drop it and give it time to settle in my mind. I will then pick it back up and begin tweaking. This process can take several months per song. On the album Turn on the Light, I wrote six of the ten songs I wrote in 2019, while a song such as “Where the Wild Things Are” was written over the course of the last 25 years until I thought it was correct.
Q: Have you started playing shows or virtual shows?
A: I have not been playing any virtual shows during the pandemic as I did most of the recording of the album during that period of time. Only my daughter's song “Just Hope” was actually written during the pandemic. I do have a show planned for this spring where I will play almost the entire album at Jive Hive Live. Additionally, we are booking other gigs with a "roots n' roll" band I am in called Union Street Brothers (USB).
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: I have been very pleased and quite surprised by the amazing reviews the record has received from multiple music critics. Divide and Conquer Music rated the record a 3.9 out of 5 and the largest print media publications in the Capital District, New York, (The Daily Gazette and Times Union) really enjoyed the record. All of the reviews and more can be found on my website shanebargymusic.com
Q: Can you talk about your history as an artist?
A: Have been playing guitar and writing songs for 30 years. Over the years, have been in multiple bands, acoustic duos and performed as a solo act. I have been heavily influenced by bands, performers and songwriters such as Styx, John Mellencamp, Dada and Jeffrey Gaines.
Q: Can you talk about your themes on your new release Turn on the Light?
A: With my album Turn on the Light, my goal was to have songs that were complex and covered a lot of ground lyrically, but worked together sonically as many of my favorite performers' albums have in the past. While the album can sound and feel acoustic and "folksy" at times, it was important to combine that sound with some heavier, electric rock tones throughout. It was my goal to create an album that provides an interesting and cohesive experience for the listener from start to finish. The record is full of heavy topics such as domestic violence through the eyes of a child, retribution and healing from past abuse, and the sad hope someone who is contemplating suicide may be feeling. However, there are songs about how family and friends are there for us at the most important times of our lives, another about using the lessons we've learned from loved ones from the past, and even a bonus track entitled “Just Hope” written and performed by my eight-year-old daughter during the early and scariest days of the pandemic. My "hope" is that with an honest listen, the album will tell a very complicated story in a way that is worth repeated listens just like the best of my idols' albums.
Q: What is your recording process like? And has it changed over the years?
A: This was the first time I used a studio to do all of my recording. In the past I have completed any recordings using a home studio. By utilizing a professional studio (Honey Home Studios in Albany), I was able to focus on the guitar playing and the vocals and not on the recording process. As a result, the performances are at my highest quality ever and the songs were given their best shot at telling their story. Additionally, this is the first time I had my recordings mastered while using Cosmic Audio in the UK.
Q: What is your creative process like?
A: While each song is different, I typically have most of the music written out first on an acoustic guitar. I usually have an idea or theme in my mind when putting in the time necessary on the guitar to have music that may appropriately match the mood I am feeling.
Q: How do you usually go about writing lyrics?
A: I almost always have a theme in mind which triggers the lyrics. Some songs come very easily, almost like the lyrics are pouring out from someplace else. However, no matter how quickly lyrics may come, I find it is best to work on each song hard for a period of time and then drop it and give it time to settle in my mind. I will then pick it back up and begin tweaking. This process can take several months per song. On the album Turn on the Light, I wrote six of the ten songs I wrote in 2019, while a song such as “Where the Wild Things Are” was written over the course of the last 25 years until I thought it was correct.
Q: Have you started playing shows or virtual shows?
A: I have not been playing any virtual shows during the pandemic as I did most of the recording of the album during that period of time. Only my daughter's song “Just Hope” was actually written during the pandemic. I do have a show planned for this spring where I will play almost the entire album at Jive Hive Live. Additionally, we are booking other gigs with a "roots n' roll" band I am in called Union Street Brothers (USB).
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: I have been very pleased and quite surprised by the amazing reviews the record has received from multiple music critics. Divide and Conquer Music rated the record a 3.9 out of 5 and the largest print media publications in the Capital District, New York, (The Daily Gazette and Times Union) really enjoyed the record. All of the reviews and more can be found on my website shanebargymusic.com