Name/Band Name? Shadow System ( Adam Gamble)
Where are you based and what area do you play in? Based in Belfast N.Ireland (UK) also played Dublin, and Poland,Hungary
How many years has your band been together/ have you been performing? Since 2011/2012
How old were you when you started playing? 27
What instruments do you play? What influenced your choices? Ney Egyptian flute because I wanted to try something different and i like the sound and mystic the middle eastern flute has but i mostly do song writing and lyricist and messing around with synthesizers because i enjoy sound design alot
What instrument do you wish you played? Japanese flute, Russian balalaika and some Greek oudi, Indian Sitar, certain ethnic drums would be interesting
What genre would you call your music? Have you always been into this genre? electronic/rock/experimental I have enjoyed industrial EBM music for many years as well as black metal, classical, alternative rock, tribal ethnic music, electro, trance dance, ethic music. For me music is like food some days i want something new and others something I already know
Describe your music. Dark sounds falling out of the kitchen cupboard haha. I’d say DEEP DARK AND DIRTY mix of different electronic styles with a very dark shadow edgy and some rock vibes and some flirtations with orchestral, middle eastern genres
Do you think the Internet has helped musicians or hindered them? 50% yes 50% no it’s made musicians having to be smarter and try to describe the story that represents them and present it in a way people will take notice and understand. I mean it is very easy to just get your music out there and release it with out record labels being the gate keeper but on the other hand you are up against all music bands like Deadmau5,Kanye West ,Nine Inch Nails,Rolling Stone,Beethoven,Madonna are just a click away so you really need to have an goal or idea that will make people curious about you
Do you use social media? How do you promote yourself? Tough question trying to promote these days is tough because the Internet is overloaded and if you really want to push through the surface you need money but if you don’t have the money you have to work smarter and pick your moments and strategies with facebook,twitter,youtube,Promoters,friends,other bands, soundcloud, reverb nation,mail lists and try to find promoters
Do you enjoy other art forms? I enjoy Futurism art that comes from Italy it has a very dark history but a interesting one and they where punks in the art world when traditional art was the status quo , Artsy thriller films that leave you with questions rather than answers and that what art in its purest form ask to make you think and question things. I enjoy martial arts and philosophy of history’s good and evil people and trying to understand the thought process and the circumstances they were under to say this and what makes a person do or say
Who are the musicians we should all be running out to listen to? NEW or OLD For 2017 I like Wulfband, Algerias, Idles, Funker Vogt, Tricky, Rachid Taha, Omar Souleyman, Hayki, Juno Reactor,Onuka, Siva Six, Spoon, Dihaj, Leftfield, Chemical Brothers, K.Flay all have really catchy songs i can’t help but be interested by
Why is live music best? That chill factor of goose bumps haha. You can make a connection with a audience that no technology can duplicate really, and from an artist point of view it is such a buzz and adrenalin rush to perform it’s better than any drug and entertaining a crowd with something you have slaved over in making is such a eye opening thing. From a fans view hearing and feeling the bass of your favourite song and seeing the person created it perform can really make you connected even more to that song that may have got you through a certain time in life
What advice can you give to people just starting out? You have to be very single minded in what you want to do and yet be very open in how to achieve it. Is it a underground or commercial thing and what you reasons for doing it passion,money fame, artistic expression, partying or for friends it does become soul searching thing when the music gets more serious in your life because it’s easy to get olst into bad things and lose your way. Music is a science and a art form so it can take someone who is very technical to be able to work with someone who is very artsy.
How much time do you spend on writing? Practicing? Performing? I write alot my pick time for writing is 1 to 4 in the morning. Then a good 2 to 4 hours a day practicing lyrics
Tell us some amusing stories from your band’s gigs or practices. 1st ever gig in Dublin I played the last song and ended up doing a encore song and the song that got played was not the song was not expecting it was a song i did not learn the lyrics for so it became just a instrumental lucky everyone was way too drunk to notice but I had such a oh no moment for sure :p Another gig in Dublin the sound guy did not have a cue what he was at I think he just came out of music college and he messed up my vocal effects unit by deleting a bunch of stuff i created for the gig really don’t know how he done that it’s hard to deleted things off because the way I have it set but i was not impressed also I had no accommendation so i was left in Dublin waiting on the train home from 5 in the morning to 7 or 8 lucky it was not winter time I’m not doing that again. Poland was fun in the airport in Wroclaw a man and his girlfriend and other friends wanted to give me a lift to the gig because they where going to the festival but I needed to meet my band mate in town. I thought it may not be wise getting into a car with people i don’t know in a country i don’t know and have a gig to play haha. Hungary Amazing gorgeous place I love the city food,culture,people I was recognized in Hungary by a fan from Russia spending a holiday and we ended up hanging out walking around Budapest for 12 hours straight i seen so much of Budapest and clubbing until 3 or 5 in the morning getting very drunk running in and out of nightclubs and watched the sunrise together truly epic when I got home my boots fell apart at a fancy posh Italian restaurant in Belfast that was embarrassing. The gig in Budapest it was at a private party and i’m pretty sure they are real gangsters or mafia types the vibes was sinister but they had topless woman running about it was a surreal and entertaining experience but they loved what i played it soon was all cordial.
How do you hope to develop musically? I’m always trying to evolve and changing myself. It’s important to discover your sound and build and experiment with that and lyricist it’s a trail and error process. recently i have got into downtempo music and middle eastern styles of music because they have a different music scale to the west so i have been experimenting with that but also keeping true to myself and artistic out look
Do you get involved with politics? Should art and politics mix? Hmm that is a red hot question. In punk, industrial music and some more gritty rap/hip hop or music with a punk attitude it can be good to write music that comments on a political atmosphere or inspired by and when a nation is in some sort of strife it can really inspire some great music. BUT political music that promotes left wing and right wing party policies can be very shallow, shallow meaningless and become dated fast. Beethoven’s music became a pro Austrian song for people to unite to when Napoleon was taking over Europe then years later the French resistance used the same Beethoven song to unit the French Resistance against Nazi Germany, Austria
How does a typical gig go? How long is a set? Normally 45 min to an 1 hour and sometimes a encore crowd wants it. It can be alot of stress making sure the sound is right and everything works at the start but then when the show happens it’s zen auto pilot mode and just enjoy the moment with everyone else
What do you wish you had known earlier about the music industry? YES I grew up on a farm in Australia with little outlets to express myself
When is your next recording coming out? Shadow System-Ubiquitous Evil OUT NOW really it was released on JULY 4TH
Will you remember us when you are famous? of course I think it’s always important to be humble and grounded to reality if things got well crazy it is still important to try and be connected like lightning if walking in clouds
Finish this limerick: There once was a muso from…Timbuktu who did have clue but he grew and practiced until he knew to become better then all the rest a muso at the it’s best
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