Dan Hassell – Shapes of Things
Last year’s Battle of the Bands winners, Shapes of Things are one of the upcoming talents of the University of Nottingham. With the next Battle of the Bands on the horizon, we take this opportunity to see what last year’s winners have been up to and get some more insight to the band through Dan Hassell, the lead vocalist and guitarist of Shapes of Things.
How did you get into music?
For me, it was seeing Muse headlining Glastonbury 2004 live on BBC. The intro drew me in, as a 12 year old, I’d never really heard any ‘proper guitar music’, and then the sprawling ridiculousness of the track had me hooked. Hearing feedback into the Plug in Baby riff later in the set made me realise I had to learn how to play the guitar. I’d always enjoyed music but from then onwards was the first time I would say I started to get ‘into’ music.
What’s the story behind the name, “Shapes of Things”?
We’d decided to sign up for BandSoc’s Battle of the Bands but realised we didn’t have a name. We sat down and chucked some unimaginative names around including settings we’d read off the amps. We then started going through our influences and most things could be traced back to The Yardbirds. After looking for inspiration one of us said ‘What about Shapes of Things?’ an early Yardbirds single, we all liked it as it felt it was ambiguous and suited the variety in our output.
Who would you say are your musical influences?
There’s a core sound that brings us all together, artists like Led Zeppelin, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Black Sabbath and Jack White give us our main direction. However, each of us has a variety of influences spanning jazz, soul, funk, psychedelic rock and some more electronic stuff, which we bring to the table and then we try to add flavours of those genres to every song we write.
Who would you dream collaborator be?
I think someone like Jack White would really get us. The guy is a great musician and I think he would get the best out of us and help Shapes of Things write records that start to draw on some of those more periphery influences mentioned above. Plus I’m 100% sure me, Adam (bassist and backing vocals) and Callum (drums and vocals) would happily be the backing band to a Jack White vs. Ollie (guitarist and vocals) guitar battle.
Lyrically, can you describe what themes the band tends to focus on?
Like many musicians, I started writing song on my acoustic guitar in my room and those songs were very personal. Whilst I’m perhaps more sophisticated in my expression these days my lyrics are generally about situations I’ve experienced and things I’ve felt. I also enjoy telling stories in songs through the eyes of people I know or fictional characters.
Can you give us a little hint of what we can expect from Shapes of Things?
We are an incredibly productive band. We’re not particularly driven or focused but we love jamming and out of that come main elements of a song. We’ve got plenty of songs in various stages of completion and we’d love to release the follow ups to our first EP ‘Is That a Thing?’ We have a trilogy of EPs planned, that being the first, followed by ‘No, That’s Not A Thing’ and ‘That’s Definitely A Thing’. In the short term, whilst Callum is in China, we’re looking to put together an acoustic version of Shapes of Things where we’ll reinterpret our own songs, write some new ones and play a few covers.
When can we next expect Shapes of Things perform?
Hopefully in early spring, you’ll see the first outing of our acoustic outfit followed by a few welcome home shows for Callum in the summer. We’ll post any news of gigs on our Facebook page so be sure to check it out and like it so you’re updated! (https://www.facebook.com/shapesofthingsuon/)
Photo Courtesy of Shapes of Things