Balancing Act: An Interview With Shad

Popshifter: It’s a largely rock crowd here today. Do you find that there’s a lot of crossover?

Shad: In terms of fans?

Popshifter: Yeah, in terms of fans.

Shad: Well, this is more similar to a Warped Tour kind of feel. So this is a little bit different for me, because there’s rock music that I listen to, and then there’s a lot of things that I haven’t listened to at all.

Popshifter: What kind of rock music do you listen to?

Shad: I listen to a lot of Canadian rock bands. More like a lot of straight-up rock bands, like the Arkells, Sloan . . . also a lot of more indie-ish stuff. Softer stuff like Feist, Caribou. [There’s a] range.

But not much in this scene. For me it’s always different playing for crowds like this, because like, I’m actually not as familiar with the music [the audience] likes, so I don’t know where the point of connection would be. Whereas I’m playing for more of a hip hop crowd, I’m like, “Yeah, I get that” or even with more of an indie crowd because I’ve been in those crowds before.

Popshifter: It’s different from a Shad-centric show, where they’re coming to see you.

Shad: Yeah, it’s different. The cool thing about this though, is that the kids are very young, so I find [they] are really open-minded. For a lot of them here, it’s probably their first concert. So they’re just like, “Cool, live music, I’m going to check it out and just want to be a part of it and participate.” I find with younger crowds, it’s like that.

It’s just different because I’m not used [to it]. I don’t write music for a 13-year-old audience, so making it connect is kind of a challenge sometimes. But the cool thing, like I said, is that they have fun and enjoy it.

Popshifter: You said this in Hamilton and you said this [during your performance today], but you almost ask if it’s okay to switch into a love song. Do you find that even when you’re performing for a hip hop crowd that your love-based songs are well-recieved?

Shad: Yeah, well, it’s kind of a switchup, which is cool. But you know, there’s a point where you’re like, “We’re about to change the vibe a little bit here. We’re not going to rock out anymore, we’re going to do something a little bit different.” If people don’t pay attention to what I’m saying, the rest of the song is going to fall flat.

Popshifter: Are you excited about going to New York?

Shad: Yeah, it’ll be fun. It’ll be different from playing in Canada, like at the Hamilton show, where it’s a room of people that are familiar with your music. So this’ll be back to playing for a brand new audience and trying to keep it exciting for 20 to 30 minutes with fewer personal interactions around the songs.

Popshifter: It’ll be a challenge.

Shad: It’ll be fun, and it’ll be a challenge.

Popshifter: Probably a more discerning hip hop fan.

Shad: At the same time, too, I feel like a lot of stuff that we do in Canada in hip hop is very new to people in the States, which is interesting. I feel like a lot of what have up here, that we take for granted as normal, what our artists do is pretty fresh down there.

Popshifter: Hopefully that will help with getting attention.

Shad: Yeah! It’ll be something new and interesting. It’s what hip hop’s about.

Popshifter: I really liked your bassist.

Shad: Yeah, he’s dope.

Popshifter: Where’d you find him?

Shad: Both of those guys, I started playing with them through friends of friends in London and [he’s] a really talented bassist . . . he actually went to school, actually, for the keys. Really talented and really easy to work with.

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