Coloured Prints

Story By The Plug's: Tanner Holthe
Date: October 27, 2008

The Shagbots play an interactive indie dance party, with a new wave tinge and punk rock passion. The young Calgary rockers have the gift of stage presence. The second they take the stage legs become possessed and arms flail. Everyone who was sitting is standing, the wallflowers abandon their posts to rush the stage and the stragglers begin to sway. This is exactly the way the boys like it. “Every show we play is basically partying with our friends and whatever makes it more fun we try to include,” says front man Davis De Souza.

The Shagbots have recently been making waves in the Calgary music scene with a dedicated cult following, shows galore and winning $26 thousand dollars in a local radio stations version of battle of the bands.

After watching the Shagbots play a charity show at Emmedia and chatting with them afterwards it became clear that fun is an essential ingredient in their musical and personal lives. The show was an early all age gig and I realized that it was also the first time I had danced without the aid of alcohol before nine o’clock since maybe forever. “You’ve gotta get the crowd involved cause if you don’t they might as well be listening to a CD,” says multi instrumentalist Michael De Souza.

As I tried to take photos my legs wouldn’t stop moving and drummer/sometimes bassist Joseph Mosca came dangerously close to connecting his bass with my face as he played almost within the crowd. Davis De Souza bangs tambourines, swings microphones and spends nearly as much time off stage as on. Guitarists Taylor McKee and Devin Boudreau occupy the sides of the stage and every spare inch they can find elsewhere while Michael De Souza stays mobile playing keys/bass and sometimes drums.

Speaking to the band afterwards I found out that their impressive stage presence is derived from their personalities. It doesn’t take long before they are making me laugh with their quirky tour stories. “There always seems to be an old drunk guy at our shows who loves us and tells us how he’s going to get us famous, and get us shows. Then he buys us tons of alcohol. I’m sure he wakes up the next day hung-over and confused with our demo in his hands,” says main drummer Mosca. The boys laugh and trade inside jokes about their favorite intoxicated older fans, specific names pop up including Gerry and Davie Boy. These two seem to generate the most laughter which I’m sure means they were quite the characters.

“The funniest time was when we played in Sylvan Lake with Jay and the Lovebirds. It was a Christian show so we had to sign a contract saying we wouldn’t swear and Davis let one out, not in a song or anything just while he was talking. So the promoter didn’t pay us cause we broke contract,” says Boudreau. “Oh and the promoter came up afterwards and was like I’m going to be really nice and give you more than you deserve for breaking contract. I think we got 30 bucks and it cost us 100 bucks to get out there,” says Davis with laughter. The boys admit after the story that despite the contract issues the show was really great.

When I asked The Shagbots what they thought about Calgary and the local scene they had nothing but good things to say. Where most bands resort to bitching about Calgary and how they need to leave to find success singer Davis De Souza had something slightly more intelligent to say. “I think it’s almost pretentious to say you need to leave a city to be successful. If you make a good album people will listen”. “Yah if you make a great record people don’t care what city it’s from,” adds guitarist Taylor McKee.

Check them out at. http://www.myspace.com/theshagbots - www.theplug.ca

Victims of Lunchbox's trick
Calgary rockers endure and enjoy the eccentricities of the musician's life

music
Jordyn Marcellus
Double teamin' it and
Laura Bardsley

November 13, 2008
[Print] Print this story
The Shagbots love to practice as their barbershop quintet side project. (Click for larger image.) The Shagbots love to practice as their barbershop quintet side project.

Credit: Paul Baker / the Gauntlet
music
ENTERTAINMENT Online Only: Montreal outfit knows how to play
ENTERTAINMENT It's an eastern invasion!
ENTERTAINMENT Canadian rock staple takes on reinvention
ENTERTAINMENT Calgary band plays well with others
ENTERTAINMENT Canadian band stands up for their rights
The Shagbots have seen some shit, but they're a little too modest to brag about it. Starting off in a dingy basement in 2006, the 'Bots kicked things off with a bang, beating Kara Keith and Hot Little Rocket in the Fuel 90.9 Big Rockstar Competition, where they won $26,000 to record their as of yet untitled debut.

"We said, 'Hold your heads high if we do come in last,' " says Taylor McKee, guitarist and bass player. "We felt victory because we got a grand [for playing]. We just came in going, 'Okay, take the grand for playing, don't look like idiots and hold your heads up high if we come in last.' "

Other than winning contests, the Shagbots played 46 shows in 52 weeks and have some ridiculous stories from every single one. At one venue in Sylvan Lake, the band had to sign a contract because the venue's landlord was a hardcore Christian. The contract read that no preaching or swearing was to be done by the band, but after asking for gas money "for shits" to the audience, the contract was voided and the show cut short.

"[The venue managers] gave us $30 though, but it cost like $100 to get up there," says Joe Mosca. "They even cut our show short!"

Although they claim their favourite venue falls in between the Palomino and the Marquee Room, Davis De Souza swings towards the Palomino because they feed the performers.

But while there are strange venues, bands are even stranger. At a Halloween show in Medicine Hat, the Shagbots recall playing with a band called Angus Meatplow. While watching Angus' act and gorging on loads of free candy, their innocence was stolen by the lead guitarist, Lunchbox. De Souza explains the horror.

"Thing is, these guys are old," he recalls. "They have wives and kids. Their guitarist, Lunchbox, is bald, fat and is lead around by a chain around his neck on stage. Sometimes the rest of the band would say 'Lunchbox, do your trick, do your trick!' "

"We kept wondering what his trick was," McKee interjects.

De Souza laughs and continues.

"He'd take his breast out from his overalls and lick it," he says. "Then they'd tell him to do it again for the camera. We're sitting in the back of the venue, eating this candy and just horrified."

While there are other, just as horrifying and hilarious stories, De Souza holds back.

"None that we can put on paper," he says. "If my parents read it later, I can't be in a band anymore." - University of Calgary's Gauntlet

#7

the Shagbots ~ We Were Born Tigers; The second Calgary act to make the top 9, the Shagbots sneaked in under the radar and delivered a raw, overwhelmingly fun record that gives Franz Ferdinand a run for the money in the dance-rock arena. I dare you to sit still through tracks like “Get Up Girl” and the inclusion of Christian Bale’s infamous rant in “Lost Time” is one of my favourite songs of the year.

- Off the Dial

The Shagbots
We Were Born Tigers
Independent
Described by bandleader Davis de Souza as “five slightly overweight teenagers from Beddington,” the Calgary-based indie rock group known as the Shagbots are doing an admirable job of grooming themselves for success. Their handsomely packaged and DJ-friendly CD We Were Born Tigers has been getting plenty of action on campus radio of late and with good reason. Optimizing their combined talents and experience with ear-catching results, the Shagbots layer up their smooth-yet-stilted indie rock grooves with plenty of synth, Vocoder, vocals and guitars on pleasingly modern sounding cuts such as their sassy “Get Up Girl” and the whip-smart get down “Synthesized Love.”
Christine Leonard - Christine Leonard

Author: Cian Hayley
Beatroute, December 2008

You would imagine that $26,000 could open up a plethora of doors for any musical outfit (including raising a working band's palette from the level of fast food and instant noodles). For Calgary's The Shagbots, finalists in the Fuel 90.3 Big Rock Star Competition, competing against prestigious local acts like The Dudes and Hot Little Rocket, $26,000 has come with enough stipulations to render the money somewhat useless.

While The Shagbots have happily invested their winnings into broadening their musical horizons, they have quickly found that ventures such as high production recording, merchandising, and other band expenses will burn a hole through your pocket faster than you can blink an eye.

"It's funny, the instant we won the money, we became ten times poorer," says vocalist Davis De Souza, whose soft spoken mannerisms should be taken as no indication of his lively stage presence. This is not to say that they are ungrateful for not only the money, but the doors that have opened for them. "This has been a huge opportunity for us," says bassist and guitar player, Taylor McKee, "something we could never have done otherwise."

Those opportunities include currently recording with Music Centre Canada (a stipulation of winning the contest) in preparation for a debut full-length release and plans for a supporting tour.

With the beginnings of their most recent incarnation traceable back to their high school lunchroom table days, their friendship extends as far back as elementary and have had the honour of enlisting not one but five middle school comrades from the get go. "It's true that most of us have actually been friends since elementary school," says guitar player Michael De Souza.

Despite their lifelong friendships, the band has only been together for the past two years and boosts a number of independent recordings and a loyal fan base, this is due to the hybrid and infectious nature of their sound thanks to their influences.

The Shagbots have grown up listening to a steady diet of '80s pop-sensible new wave acts such as Devo and Depeche Mode as well as contemporary acts like Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party and The Strokes. "Our musical influences are quite eclectic, but when it comes down to it we're all on the same page," explains Davis.

In the end, all that really matters is that the spirit of their energy and the passion for their music are one and the same, that they've tailor-made their sound and can exploit it's infectious and rhythmic nature to benefit their goals, to continue playing whether they are
performing for a dozen partisan fans or 100 rowdy cowboys. "We're The Shagbots," laughs Keyboard player Joseph Mosca, "we could of been Hot Carl." - Beatroute Magazine

Author: Trent Wilkie

THE SHAGBOTS
w/ Noisy Colors, Hardy Drew and The Nancy Boys. Velvet Underground (10030-102 St). Fri, Feb. 13 (9pm). Tickets: $10 at the door.

Every band has to start out somewhere. Those first few steps are awkward and uncoordinated, full of confusion and fear — like a newborn calf. Or a first date. But for Calgary dancecore band The Shagbots, that gangly phase is behind them. Now they are like a beautiful butterfly ... well, a butterfly that says “fuck” every once in a while.

“The first while we were a band it really hurt us because we didn’t really know what we wanted our sound to be,” says vocalist Davis de Souza. “We would come at it from so many different angles. We would write one song that would be borderline metal and then we would write a song that was pure synth-pop. But we found that after a while we started to really get our groove, and since then, we are all on the same page. We know the sound we want and we go with it. We started out a little rough but it’s worked out quite well.”

As any maturing band will tell you, fear of change is a surefire death sentence. Look at what Darwin said: the ability to adapt is key to any species’ survival.

“I have a feeling that our music is going to be pushing more towards the electronic side of things,” de Souza says. “Everything is sort of rooted in punk rock, but I think we are going to experiment more with a toner and a talkbox and drumbeat loops and stuff like that. I mean, it’s all talk right now, but until we sit down and start writing again for the next album, things are kind of up in the air.”

The next stage of growth is the horror story — the crucible, the hero’s test that either breaks your spirit or pushes you out the other side meatier and stronger, as if protected by some tiny latex shield. I know, I know: it’s a strange image, but just listen to this anecdote:

“We played a show in Medicine Hat on Halloween with this band called Agnus Meatplow,” de Souza recalls. “So it’s a two-band set, us and them, and there’s us in our costumes. I was Batman, I think [bassist/drummer] Michael was a nun — you know, we were having fun.

“And then this next band comes on. They have condoms full of meat that they are throwing everywhere. They have a dead fish that they are beating people with, their first song was called “Fuck Slut,” song No. 2 was something about rape and they had tranny porn that they were throwing everywhere. That was a rough one, that night. The promoter lost a lot of money because not many people showed up. So at the end of the night, there’s us cleaning up these condoms full of meat and tranny porn while those guys just sat back and drank beer.”

Someday, boys, you will be the ones drinking the beer and wondering where all your tranny porn went. That is what success is. - SEE Magazine

By Christine Leonard

We Were Born Tigers may be the ferocious title of the Shagbots’ latest album, but according to Davis de Souza, the Calgary-based indie rock group could more accurately be described as “Five slightly overweight teenagers from Beddington.” There has been a lot of water under the bridge since the longtime friends first got a taste for performing infront We Were Born Tigers may be the ferocious title of The Shagbots’ latest album, but according to Davis de Souza, the Calgary-based indie rock group could more accurately be described as “Five slightly overweight teenagers from Beddington.”

There’s been a lot of water under the bridge since the longtime friends first got a taste for performing in front of a crowd back in their school’s Battle of the Bands. Since then, they have continued to hone their talents both on stage and in the studio. Opening for Sled Island headliners the Mae Shi and DD/MM/YYYY brought international attention to their uber-hip punk-wave stylings. It wasn’t long before they were singled out for honours including a $26,000 grant from NewCap Radio via FUEL 90.3’s Big Rock Star Competition.

“We really felt we spent the grant money the best way possible,” says Davis who plays synth, vocorder, and guitar in addition to singing. “Winning that competition was surreal. We were all unbelievably surprised and flattered. At the same time, it introduced us to a different side of playing music — the business side, where money is a focal point. We went from being a band with a purely DIY mentality, to a band that had plenty of other people’s money to spend. It was eye-opening and interesting to say the least.”

Seizing the opportunity to immortalize their self-proclaimed “buffet of dancey post-punk music” in plastic, Michael de Souza (keyboards, bass, drums), Devin Boudreau (guitar, vocals), Taylor McKee (guitar, bass, vocals) and Joseph Mosca (drums, bass) joined Davis in Music Centre Canada’s studio to create their most ambitious recording to date.

“Our album title is a metaphor for the beginnings of our band,” explains Davis. “We have always thought of ourselves as unique within Calgary and even Canada for that matter. A tiger is thought to symbolize individuality, passion, determination and charisma. I think a lot of people are reluctant to listen to us at first because of our name and whatever... but we are always determined to turn heads with our live show.

“There is also the saying ‘a tiger can't change their stripes,’ which goes with how we believe the amount of success we have received within the past year, including the grant we received, will never change how we play or how we operate as a band or friends.”

Looking forward to a long hot summer, the Shagbots plan to play as hard as they work by touring in support of their album while simultaneously dominating their floor hockey league as members of an elite squad called the Shit-Hawks
- Beatroute Magazine

James Stewart / jstewart@vueweekly.com

Formed three years ago from the burned-out husks of a couple teenage bands, the Shagbots came together in time to play at the members' high-school's battle of the bands. Coming from fairly different musical backgrounds, the group started by playing a diverse array of musical styles. But to hear guitarist Devin Boudreau describe it, that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

"When we started, we were writing the worst shit—it was like funky-punk, kind of metal," he laughs. "We didn't really figure out our sound until about a year-and-a-half ago, when we started listening to more electronic-influenced rock music."

As the band began to hit its stride, opportunities started coming the Shagbots' way—opening slots for the Mae Shi, Ladyhawk and Edmonton ex-pats All Purpose Voltage Heroes, and most incredibly in the form of a $25 000 grant that the band was awarded from New Cap Radio at—get this—another battle of the bands.

"It was an insane night. Michael [de Souza, keys/bass/drums/etc.] had a wedding to go to in England, and he's basically the core of our band. We were like 'how are we going to do this without him?' But we got some sequencers and spent about two weeks pumping out recordings of his parts, and learning to play to a metronome. We went in as complete underdogs—we were basically just hoping they wouldn't tell us if we got last place. There were a lot of really great Calgary bands there, so when they turned the cheque around with our names on it, we went crazy. I think Davis accidentally punched a girl."

So after filing police reports all night (not really), the band headed to Music Centre Canada Studios in Calgary and began to work through its songs with the luxury of not having to watch the clock. During snippets of time when the members could get away from work or school, the Shagbots self-produced its debut We Were Born Tigers, set to drop this weekend. Up next for the band?

"World domination," Boudreau deadpans. "No, we're going to keep doing exactly what we're doing. We love playing live, and we're going to try to get out and tour a bunch. I think it'll help having the album to show we're credible, that we're doing something worth listening too, that people will want to show their friends. I mean, when you have a name like ours ... " Boudreau trails off, laughing.

All right, I wasn't going to go there. But what's with the name?

"We were 16, and we came up with it on the day of the battle of the bands. We're like, 'OK, we'll use it for the time being, and in a couple of months we'll pick a better name.' That was three years ago," Boudreau groans. "But hopefully as more people hear it more often it becomes just another name, and not some robot with a boner." V

- Vue Weekly

Tigers tigers burning bright
Self-deprecating dance rockers know their stripes
Published May 7, 2009 by Sebastian Buzzalino in Music Previews

There are few bands who can honestly say that the first day a member could legally drink, they played a bar gig, and for an encore, just mere months later, won $25,000 in a local radio station band contest. But for Calgary's indie dance punk quintet, the Shagbots, it’s just the beginning.
“The day Michael [de Souza] turned 18, we had our first bar show. After that, things started to pick up, we started to get more serious about it,” explains his brother and fellow band member Davis de Souza. Huddled at a table with the rest of the Shagbots, underneath an enormous projection of an NHL playoff game at The Palomino, it seems difficult to imagine that the band is so young.
However, before they could legally buy a beer, they had already achieved more than most bands do during a lifetime — and their debut full-length has yet to be released. Perhaps that’s why Davis seems so easy to talk to: his stories spill out with a breathlessly self-deprecating wit.
“We’re the shit heads of Calgary,” he says. “We’re misfits; we’ve always been misfits. We don’t have a huge following of hipsters in Calgary. I think people are afraid to like us, almost.”
“We got that from Day One, just from our name,” pipes in Devin Boudreau. This time, he’s not partially hidden by his six-string Fender.
“We ostracized ourselves with our name... dumb fucking name. We’re absolutely, totally on our own,” exclaims Davis, in mock exasperation.
Name concerns aside, the quartet feel like they have made all the right choices in life. With their debut album, We Were Born Tigers — where the bulk of their $25, 000 winnings from Fuel 90.3 were spent — set to be released on May 8, the Shagbots may be totally on their own, but they are not lonely, at least not live. Their polymorphous, rhythmic dance punk has caught the hips and bops of many, despite not readily fitting nicely into the Calgary scene.
“I think our songs are not about us as a band,” explains Davis, “but about the people who are in front of us. When we played Broken City with Bad Flirt, that was one of the best crowds we had. It totally changed the songs we played. Those songs were not the same when we played them there as when we played them on a Tuesday night at The Stetson with some rock band from Vancouver.”
The songs not only morph depending on the crowd’s energy and interaction, but well before that as well: Everyone in the band has played another’s instrument at some point or another. “If someone has trouble writing a vocal part, then someone else will do it,” Davis says. “If one guy can’t get a drum part right, we’ll swap instruments. That’s how we have all different sounding songs.”
“Michael is so skilled on so many instruments,” says bassist and guitarist Taylor McKee, “When you’re worried about keeping a song together, he can step in and hold it. A guy like Devin is so good on guitar. It’s helpful to have guys that are so good at their instruments that they can reign us in when it all gets out of control.”
Their live energy, merely alluded to on record, feels comfortingly out of control. This, however, is precisely what makes each live show unique. “Music, at least to me, is not just the actual sound,” says Davis. “There’s got to be a feel to it.” Look for that feeling in your legs, in your loins, in your throat at a bar near you.
- ffwd