The name Shaku is heard in passing conversations on a daily basis here in Leeds; the buzz that surrounds them is driven by their incredible live performances. They currently have no recorded music and haven’t really left Leeds to gig much at all, but regardless of this, they are one of the most exciting bands to follow. With their plans to record and tour, it won’t be long until they are popping up in the daily conversations of music fans in every city in the UK.
Tom Nixon: So, how and when did Shaku begin?
Noiak: It began in September of 2017. I made an album by myself and had got some of the members of Shaku in for one of the tracks. That’s what inspired the guys to do it.
Was getting all the members easy?
N: Getting the members was easy as we all knew what the vibe was and we all wanted to work together.
Kieran: It all came together very organically.
N: Yeh, besides the drummer. So basically we went through two different drummers and had lost hope a little bit. But then I was in a queue at The Domino and met Jack. It was lucky he wasn’t doing much band-wise, so we asked him to come in and he smashed it first rehearsal, learnt all the tunes really well.
K: We love Jack.
So, what’s coming next for Shaku?
N: Next up for Shaku is recording. We have got as many funds together as we can and we are gonna spend the next few months just sitting down and putting together an album. A lot of people like to do EP’s but were are just gonna hit it with an album from the start.
K: It seems more authentic that way, it suits the vibe of the band. We will be able to create more of the vibe of our project with an album.
N: Go big or go home! Know what I’m sayin’?
You seem to always have a gig coming up in Leeds.
N: Our main goal with gigging in Leeds is to get tighter together as a band because, seeing the history of a lot of bands, it’s really important that a band plays live together a lot. You can then understand what not to do live and what to do as well, the different things you can try, the way you talk to the audience... Playing as a unit is a big factor.
K: A lot of our live inspiration comes from other bands, rather than their actual music. Our musical inspirations are very separate between the band members, but our live inspirations are more congruent.
Where did the name come from?
N: The name is Arabic. I used to live in the Middle East, and the name just means ‘How come?’. It would be used in a conversation like ‘Shaku man?’ like ‘What the fuck man?’. It’s a cool one-word thing, but it also leaves a bit of mystery.
K: I mean, what the fuck is Shaku? We are still working that out ourselves.