This week’s edition of the radio show boasted an in-studio performance by Conrad Shock, plus new music from Parlor Voice, Yolonda Lavender, ConvoTronics, Coffin Problem and more. (Podcast, video)
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Conrad Shock & The Noise officially released their debut album less than three months ago, but the buzz about this up-and-coming Grand Rapids rock band has helped to quickly push the fivesome into the limelight.
Not only has the band appeared on television and radio, and unfurled well-received live
shows, but it will officially receive Local Spins’ Emerging Artist of the Year award at Founders Brewing Co. on Sunday as part of the Feedback 2017 benefit.
“We had an idea of what to expect and then … what happened was like 19-fold. It’s been insane,” says John Schaak, frontman for Conrad Shock & The Noise, which also features guitarist Michael Pierce, keyboard player Olivia Vargas, bassist Chris Foote and drummer Bailey Budnik.
“We’ve had an immense, immense response to it and we’re so appreciative of it, too, because it lets us keeping doing what we love doing. We’re excited to keep the project moving forward and really just seeing where it goes from here.”
The band previewed its upcoming Feedback appearance at Founders — the 4 p.m. Sunday benefit for Access of West Michigan will also feature sets by The Legal Immigrants and The Honeytones — during this week’s edition of Local Spins on WYCE. Watch a video of its in-studio performance here, with the full radio show podcast below.
VIDEO: Conrad Shock & The Noise, “Are You Maybe Later” (Local Spins on WYCE)
Video by David Specht
With roots at Aquinas College where the band members met, Conrad Shock & The Noise boasts a distinctive sonic approach with underpinnings in a bluesy, garage-rock styled milieu that recalls acts such as The White Stripes and The Black Keys.
“We all pull from so many different backgrounds,” says Schaak, whose first musical love leaned toward punk. “We have that raw edge, but it’s kind of funny because if anything, I’m ‘The Noise’ and they bring all the pretty stuff to it.”
He called release of the band’s “Red Skys & Pyrrhic Minds” debut album a “dream come true” — a recording that started as a Schaak duo project and took two years to complete. The band already has started work on the follow-up album and boasts a busy upcoming performance schedule for 2017.
“We’re going to hit Michigan with everything we’ve got this summer,” says Schaak. “We just have tons and tons of really cool things coming up. We’re actually going be playing a stripped-down set with The Crane Wives at Aquinas on April 21 … Really Just trying to keep this project moving forward.”
Get more information about Conrad Shock & The Noise’s upcoming performances online at conradshockeandthenoise.com. And read more about the Local Spin of the Year and the Emerging Artist of the Year here.
This week’s episode of Local Spins on WYCE also featured brand new tracks by Miss Atomic, ConvoTronics, Coffin Problem, Parlor Voice and Yolonda Lavender, as well as music from JOE, The Honeytones and The Legal Immigrants (this week’s musicians’ pick). Host John Sinkevics also interviewed Emma Garcia from Access of West Michigan about the nonprofit agency’s work to cultivate solutions to poverty in the Grand Rapids area. Listen to the full podcast here and get more information about Sunday’s Feedback show online here.
PODCAST: Local Spins on WYCE with Conrad Shock & The Noise
Copyright 2017, Spins on Music LLC