One of the acts to recently enter the AeschTunes Top 40 chart is a Christian electronic dance act from Illinois, named Sheltershed. They paired up with the Echoing Green to cover Wolfsheim's "The Sparrows And The Nightingales", plus also recorded a cover of Depeche Mode's "Photographic" with the Echoing Green's Joey Belville providing the lead vocals. There is also a pretty good chance of an original Sheltershed track making it's way onto the chart in the coming weeks. Sheltershed's Wil Foster recently answered some of our questions in an email interview...
AeschTunes: What is the meaning of the band's name?
Wil Foster: The name Sheltershed came from a childhood memory, I grew up in a western suburb of Melbourne, (Australia) and went to a small Primary school there. Constructed through out the school property were structures built to allow kids to get a break from the summer sun and the wet winters of Melbourne. These structures were called “Sheltershed's” In moving to the US, I wanted to keep my roots alive and adopted the title “Sheltershed” I look to God as my Sheltershed; he has the ability to shield us from any elements physical or spiritual. The title strangely enough stuck.
AT: Who are some of your musical influences?
WF: I have always been into dance music, whether it be the mechanical angst of EBM or the relentless kick in the face derived from the Detroit techno movement, This attraction has become a key factor in how the blueprint sheltershed sound is formed. EBM influences like Nitzer Ebb, and Front Line Assembly have weaved their textures into sheltershed’s bass lines, while borrowing techniques from minimalist like DJ HMC and Jeff Mills have kept our feet planted within the purity of the early techno movement.
AT: How did the band get together?
WF: Sheltershed has been in its presen t form with Craig, Rob and I, for about 6 years, but has been in some form or fashion as a solo project for about 8 years.
AT: What roles do each of the members play in the band? For example, the members of Depeche Mode frequently referred to themselves by saying "Dave's the singer, Martin's the songwriter, Alan's the musician, and Fletch is the businessperson."
WF: Great question, Sheltershed is a multi member group with 3 main members, but there are always phantom contributors that really help shape us into who we are.
Wil Foster- Songwriting,Programming, and vocals
Rob Tippey- Live visual and audio production.
Craig White- Songwriting, sampling and the business end of sheltershed, he is the go to guy, basically keep everything running.
Phantom members are the guys who help channel and develop our sound, we had "Wally Shaw" (AKA Franky Vivid) of Massivivid, help with several production elements to the International Plastic CD, as well as Joey Belville (tEG) adding his signature touch to a Depeche Mode cover of "Photographic" we have loved working with Joey and look forward to collaborating in the future.
![[band picture]](sheltershed.gif)
AT: You released the "International Plastic" album earlier this year, and the "Airspace EP" CD-R this summer. Are there any tracks that are personal favorites, that stand out from the rest?
WF: I would say that "Sparrows and the Nightingales" is one of my fav tracks, It just came together, Joey literally blows me away with his talent, he has the ability to weave sounds into textured masterpieces, I have felt so honored to be able to work along side him. Sparrows is really where I want to be musically and has set the pace for our next CD, we will start writing this winter, and this time round we hope to shed the instrumental tag that has followed us, and put out a great vocal driven disk, without sacrificing the edge. If I could have a second fav track it would
have to be the Joy Electric remix of "Breathe" It is amazing how Ronnie Martin striped the lyrics down to the raw emotions, and injected a mood that I was never able to express, he managed to write the track that I had hoped to.
AT: The "International Plastic" album lists your cover of Depeche Mode's "Photographic" , but it's not actually on my copy of the album. What happened to it?
WF: The whole international plastic endeavor has been quite an ordeal, some of the adventures will go with us to the grave:) at the time we were leaving one label and going to another, and over the course of a year and a half International Plastic was recorded and re-recorded, which made it hard to keep things straight, there ended up being several versions sent to be mastered, it ended up being a miscommunication during the final mastering process, but everything was corrected on the second run. pretty boring :)
AT: In the second (mostly instrumental) half of the album, the song "Beyond" is a personal favorite of mine. Is there any particular reason you weren't originally planning on releasing it?
WF: The version that appeared on the CD was actually never completed, It was never mixed down and the vocals never made it to the final mix, not to mention the direct sample from Nitzer Ebb's "Join in the Chant" that was to be removed before it was finished.
AT: I believe the "International Plastic" album would have been recorded in 2002. Did you have any concerns about the inclusion of the samples from the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster (on the song "Cloudcity") after the Columbia broke apart on re-entry?
WF: I have had several people ask about that particular sample, and why we would use something that has such an emotional history to it. I guess one of the down sides of Dance related music is that the general audience often skips the message behind it. The trax cloudcity is actually very hard for me to listen to at times. It paints a picture of our mortality hear on earth, and h ow easy it is to miss what is before us. the sample was fitting from the standpoint that, the crew of the Challenger lost their lives that day, they had no warning or time to prepare..I often think of that time in my life, a very bitter sweet feeling. Originally there was a second verse that never made it to the final cut. The only version that the full lyrics appear on is a remix by a Swedish artist "Ultrabeat"
AT: I know you recently performed at the A Different Drum Synthpop Festival in San Antonio, both doing your own set and helping back up the Echoing Green. How did the show go? How did the experiences of doing your own set and backing up another act compare? Which was more difficult for you?
WF: It was the first time in over 7 years that I did a solo show, I am not a huge fan of doing music on my own, but at the same time it was an amazing weekend, I have a great amount of respect for Todd (ADD) and he asked me if I would be able to fill in for a band that was not able to make it, I could not say no:) I more or less treated it as a dj set. It was a dark club, so I tried to keep it on the harder side of sheltershed, I was actually amazed at the response and some of the very positive reactions from the crowd. As far as backing up the tEG, I think this is the 4th show I have been involved with, I is a pure joy to be apart of it. Joey has an incredible ability to seek and deliver perfection while maintaining a great humble attitude. both him and Crissy have a chemistry on stage that is intoxicating, and I love being caught up in that.
AT: Speaking of concerts, do you perform live often? On your website, it mentions that you do some work as a DJ, in addition to a day job as a social worker.
WF: We all have families and full time jobs, so we have had to cut our shows down to no more than one per month, even that can be to much at times, I have djed since I was 15yrs old, and still have a passion for live mixing, I try and keep that fresh as much as I can, If I am not djing, I try and keep busy by doing remixes or working on future sheltershed traxs.
AT: What is coming up next for Sheltershed? Are you working on new material currently?
WF: We have started writing and sketching new material for the next sheltershed CD, Joey Belville will be a active part in this next project, we hope to take the sounds that we love and re-package it in an accessible format, We will surrender the beat driven instrumentals and incorporate vocal textures and lyrics to drive the music, I still want to keep the elements of dance music alive while creating a new version of aggressive pop.
AT: Does this mean that you will be doing less of the "spoken word" type tracks, such as "Dreams"?
WF: We had mixed responses on the whole spoken word thing, I personally loved it, I thought it was a innovative way to express thoughts and words in an unconventional way.. But I don't think I want to do what we have already done, It was fun, but I really want to push and be pushed in a new direction with this next project.
AT: Where do you see the band going in the future, say, over the next five years?
WF: I would hope that we can grow and shift with the changing moods of music. I can't see us moving out of music, it has and will always be a part of us. It shapes us and allows us to have an avenue for worship, and expression.
AT: A "free" question - what would you like to tell the readers of this newsletter, about the band, yourself, life in general...?
WF: I always get a buzz out of what people listen to so I thought I would pool together our fave 5 cd's that we are diggin.
1. BT- Emotional Technology
2. Duran Duran- Rio
3. Gerling-When young terrorists attack
4. Regurgitator-Unit re-booted
5. Halou-We only love you