“The Hangman“
from the album You’ll Never Understand This Band The Way That I Do
2008
iTunes
No one ever said making a living in the music biz was easy. Kyle Krone buys and sells stuff (no, not drugs!). Chris Wulff delivers the occasional pizza, albeit incognito. Riley Stephenson tutors kids, Tony Cupito works at a drum shop and Alex Kweskin teaches piano lessons.
Together the five unconventionally employed 20-somethings compose The Shys, a chain-smoking band of old-souled childhood friends, born and bred in San Clemente, playing exactly the music they want. And what they want is never subject to compromise — to the extent that they shunned a contract with Sire to continue making American, Brit, reggae, blues, soul and even Irish folk-inspired rock music they’re oh-so-proud of.
Steadfast dedication to their vision got them to TV (their 2006 song “Call in the Cavalry” was on HBO’s Entourage) and led them to current indie label, Aeronaut Records, who let them self-produce their second album, You’ll Never Understand This Band the Way I Do, debuting in July. The single, “She’s Already Gone,” like most of their music, harkens to the fuzzy ’70s, representing the band’s struggles. Lead singer Krone says of being a musician: “[It’s] incredible, it’s a joke, it’s fun, it’s like kid stuff.” Upon seeing their first concerts as kids, it dawned on the boys that “it was the coolest thing in the world.” Suddenly, music was all they cared about. “In a way it’s kind of like we’ve made it already, and anything else is icing on the cake,” says Krone.
Despite Hollywood Bowl and world tour aspirations, for now the quintet is plenty satisfied with their real summer job — filming music videos, running around in support of new tunes and most importantly, wiling away long, hot nights with beers in-hand jamming on the Ramos House porch. Because who wouldn’t want that job?