Hello Showpiece! Rad name! Can you tell us how it came about?
I came up with “Showpiece” in early 2019 doing a free association exercise, and it stuck out to me for whatever reason. There was no consistent connotation from people I asked about it, so it seemed like the perfect combination of intriguing, recognizable, simple, maybe a little bit tongue-in-cheek, and open to reinterpretation, both on the linguistic level as a word and in a musical sense, in that it lends us some leeway genre wise. If you ask me, a band name, at the very best, doesn’t get in the way of the music you attach to it. Boxes checked, I felt comfortable pocketing it for future use.
‘Crimson Devices’ is a great song! What was the recording of that like?
Relatively straightforward, albeit drawn out. I write quite meticulously, build the song up and re-edit in demos before it makes it to the studio, so the parts are 100% notated, save the drums. That’s not to say things aren’t altered in the studio, but I write songs like I’m composing chamber music, which has its pros and cons, though I like it for all the purposeful counterpoint between parts. A different keyboardist/vocalist was originally going to be performing on this, but when he backed out I approached James instead. Mind you, at that point these were only going to be full-scale demos, but I was floored by what Nick and James brought to the song, it seemed nonsensical to re-record yet another version. So the project became Showpiece.
Were there any challenges that you faced last year with your music that you were able to get through?
“Crimson Devices” was almost entirely recorded in 2019, the big issue was just figuring out steps toward release once Showpiece was planned. With it came the greenlighting of more songs, and to that end, the addition of Will on keyboard and vocals and Kirk on drums (Nick was unavailable due to the pandemic). Things were also delayed due to scheduling between us, and I was working on some non-musical endeavors myself. But we were in no hurry, and 2021 seems a much brighter horizon to release music into than last year was.
What are you looking forward to with your music in 2021?
We’ve got an EP coming, though all the tracks will be released as singles throughout the year. With the addition of Will and Kirk on future tracks, we’ve had the ability to bring in new textures – a goal of mine from the outset – that’ll round out the EP on front-to-back playthrough. Of course, Showpiece is a meeting of talents and not the only thing the members are up to. Nick and Kirk also play together in the local rock band Drumrz, which has releases lined up for this year, and there’ve been whispers of future solo tracks from Will (Lynde), Mr. PopPlus himself, but you didn’t hear from me. James is relatively reticent, though endlessly talented and not in the least unamibitious, if he’s nose-to-the-grindstone on a Grammy award it wouldn’t surprise me at all.
Tell us where to follow you and all your music updates?
We are on Instagram and Facebook as @showpiece.band and, of course, if you follow us on Spotify, the releases will come to you.
For Press Inquiries: bsquaredmgmt@gmail.com
End of Interview