Brenan

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Indy trio Shadeland steps into the spotlight on Saturday with a show celebrating the release of their new CD, 'Escape Plan.' The always-impressive act is putting out the 14-song disc on local record label Burning Bridge Records. Four acts that have shared past bills with the band round out the night, including Seven Degrees from Center, ReVera, Burn the Red Sky, and Brenan."

March 24, 2005 - IndianapolisMusic.net

Keagan Fife had no idea he would be founding a band early last March when he asked Michael Falls to come over and jam with him.
"I heard he was a good guitarist and we were just playing around, writing some things, and we realized we were having fun with it, so we put all the components together to make a song," Keagan said.
And thus, Brenan was born.
Back then, the idea of putting out a CD seemed like a distant fantasy. With Keagan on percussion and keyboard and Michael on guitar, they were hardly even a band yet.
The duo began a search for a vocalist. They compiled a CD with some of their material on it, and gave it to their friend Zachary Saloh, who took it home and wrote some lines for it. The team liked it, so they brought Zachary into the mix.
The band soon realized they needed a bassist. Aaron "Ace" Cutshaw, a friend of theirs, was just starting to learn bass at the time, and had asked to come ovr and play around a bit to practice his skills.
"It started sounding really good, and after about five practices, we wanted him the band," Keagan said.
"Ace has crafted his talent more quickly than any musician I've ever seen. In the first week, he went from barely being able to play to helping develop [the bass part] for our songs," Michael said.
With the band finally together, it's been hectic, but all four members finally found the time to get together for an interview.
We sat in Keagan's living room for a long tiem before the boys were settled down enough to focus on the questions. It was great to see that much friendly energy from the band, and I'm sure that's one of the reasons for their fun stage presence.
Owl: What was your first song long?
Michael: "Drive-Like Theory." We loved it at the time that we wrote it. Zach hates it. Everything we wrote after was so much better, we just dropped it."
Owl: Tell me about putting out your demo.
M: We recorded at a place called DT1 Porductions. I worked for a guy named Taz. We were excited to work with him because he helped produced Good Charlotte's first CD, and he directed their "Young and Hopeless" video.
K: He cut us a deal, and we recorded our three-song demo with "Broken Pieces," "Cards and Kisses" and "A Conscript's Casualty" during the GQE testing days. We mass-produced the labels off a free trial of an Internet label maker. We've sold over 100 now.
Zach: You can listen to our demo at Pure volume. We'll be heading back into the studio early next year to record an EP. That'll also be on sale.
Owl: You have a website too, don't you?
M: I created and maintain the website, and I'm very proud of it. It's the greatest thing ever. Wer eally appreciate it when our fans sign the guestbook.
Owl: Tell me about your first show at the Emerson. Ace, you were nervous, weren't you?
Ace: (After much protesting and laughing from his band mates) Yeah, I was freaked out. I knew the set was too short and that worried me. I think it was just a typical first show.
K: It was an awesome first experience performing with other bands. We found out about the show three days before it was to happen, so we had three days to get our act together. Our set was too short, so we had to add a song at the last minute. It's really awesome interacting with other bands and making friends with them.
Owl: Who is the main songwriter and how do the songs take shape? (At this point, everyone pointed to Michael.)
M: It typically starts with a guitar part and everything builds off of that.
Owl: Ace, what was it like developing your abilities so fast?
A: At first, it was rough, especialyl on my part because I was just learning bass. It went a little something like this:
Michael would say, "Ace, play a B."
I'd say, "What?"
He'd say, "That note right there."
I'd say, "Got it."
He'd say, "Good, now do that seven more times."
Owl: So what's next for you guys?
A: Really, just playing wherever we can.
K: Our next show is at Warren Park Wesleyan Church on Saturday, November 20 with "The Lasting Effect."

by Kate Haab
November 19, 2004 - Warren Owl