Good afternoon,
This interview has been a long time coming so thanks for talking to us here at Indie Vision Music.
I personally have seen your live performance and I definitely enjoy your fresh mix of grunge music with nautical themes.
Questions?
· Who am I talking to? Russell or someone else?
o This is Captain Russ T. Shipp you are speaking with.
· How did you first get involved in music and where do you see the band progressing in the next 5 years?
o I’ve always had a propensity toward resonating with music since I was born. Originally it was just as a listener, but as a born creative artist, it wasn’t long before my mind started coming up with remixes of songs I liked, and then that inevitably turned to creating original songs. A person can’t help but illuminate whatever they absorb most in life, and my particular genetic makeup absorbs music, so naturally at some point it had to start coming back out through my personal expression of it.
· Can you describe your creative process when writing music?
o Songwriting is a lifestyle for me, so I have a variety of processes, as wide as life itself. I usually come up with ideas as I go through life. But most often my musical ideas come when I’m working on existing music (mine or someone else’s) and then I feel an emotional or mental pull into a different musical direction which then becomes original. Sometimes I just feel in a particularly musical mood and pick up a guitar and – being so wired as an artist – inevitably original stuff starts coming out. And then there are rare times when I specifically plan and sit down to write songs. I go to a silent retreat at a monastery each year where I drink coffee and let my mind wander wherever it wants all day and record whatever musical or lyrical ideas come up. And for each of our albums, some of the music has come from me intentionally sitting down to write it, and the process there is I will go on to YouTube and pull up whatever images of the songs I’m wanting to write, pirates, submarines, sea mines, or sunken ships, or put on whale sounds in the back, and then open up garage band and play whatever guitar riffs come into my mind and fingers. That’s actually worked surprisingly well and created the songs SS Naronic, What Blows Up, Untouchable, and much of the Liquid Exorcist album.
· Your most current song All Aboard! has several of the Shippmates on backing vocals. Tell us about them.
o We tried something new for our last crowd funding campaign in that people could pay to be on our album or even come to the studio with us for a day and help us record the album. That was a lot of fun, and so we had a bunch of vocal recordings people provided to us, singing parts of the song or saying some silly nautical phrase that could go in the background. It’s pretty amazing having such a solid crew of Shippmates who get what we’re doing in our band — which is extra special since our band is such a niche thing, being such a weird music style, and the nautical themes, and the very intellectual lyrics, yet with a touch of goofiness. We’re extremely blessed that so many people are getting on board with those niche categories.
· Are y’all working on a full length? if so any slated release date? EP or LP?
o It’s a full-length album, and the album should be finished and released by this summer. It’s taken a long time because the album is colossal – definitely our largest, longest, most ambitious album yet.
· What are your interests outside of music?
o I’m particularly interested in philosophy and theology, and spend a large percentage of my time trying to figure out which of all the worldview options on Earth is the correct one. I’m a Christian, but not one that falls into one of the mainline denominations (that I’m aware). The more I research the Bible, theology, philosophy, history, and archaeology, I realize how incorrect my understanding of the Bible was and how that false worldview negatively impacted my spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical health for most of my life. I can see how it is negatively effecting the health of many Christians I know, as well as the health of Earth itself, and that’s something I’m convicted about figuring out what to do to help correct these false beliefs. Fortunately writing lyrics is one way I can literally persuade people toward the truth and thus transform their lives and health.
· What is your biggest challenge as a musician right now?
o I’m making the kind of songs I make because, obviously, I really believe in them. I specifically chose to make Rusty Shipp’s music the way it is because I believe it is the pinnacle of creativity, artistry, and meaning – to the best of my ability. With that said, choosing to make music shooting for the ideal is not what the general populace wants to listen to! Because the majority of people want music they don’t have to think too hard about, and then can be fully digested pretty quickly. Therefore, I think it’s probably taken our band a lot longer than other rock bands to get traction, because people have to get past the nautical and Christian themes, or the philosophical lyrics, or experimental styles we use. Our fans tell us that once they finally “got” what we were trying to do they were all in, but it took a while before they took the plunge. But I’m in this for my whole life, and I know the traction will only continue to exponentially climb the more and more people finally click with what we’re doing, and then our music will have a life of its own, going viral and making its mark on history.
· Anything you want to let us know?
o I strongly encourage the people who understand and appreciate our music to come aboard The Ghost Shipp – our virtual community on Patreon – so they can sail with us all year long with monthly live stream performances with our band, and videos where I talk about the story and philosophy behind each Rusty Shipp song. It’s the only way people can have the full Rusty Shipp experience and officially come aboard the Shipp to join us on our voyage away from suffering and to our destinies (as the chorus of our theme song ‘All Aboard!’ says).
· Have you thought about any collaborations with other artists?
o I’m usually so immersed in my own songwriting that I don’t think about that or have much extra time for it. But I think that would be definitely cool if it was something meaningful that was adding something new and innovative to the world.
· Any shows these next few months?
o We have a few shows this Spring and then some festivals we’re playing at this summer. We’re playing on April 12 at The Pond in Franklin, TN – where we live. And we’re playing 4 different sets (rock and acoustic) at Lifest in Wisconsin. That will be a total Rusty Shipp extravaganza.
· Any plans on moving into the mainstream?
o I daily dream of our music having the exposure and acceptance that comes from the mainstream – and we have had our moments there — but I’m not so impatient for it that I’m willing to dumb and water down our music and lyrics to have it sooner than its rightful time. Yes, we’re a nautical rock ‘n’ roll band, but one thing I don’t want to water down is our music and lyrics!! I know Rusty Shipp will eventually have wider and wider recognition and acceptance, including in the mainstream, and I’m willing to be patient for it. Whenever the mainstream and its demographic open up to Rusty Shipp there will be a treasure trove from the deepest oceans waiting for them.
Thank you again for helping us get to know y’all better.
Thanks for giving us an opportunity to open up and let people into our vision and passions.