For those who don’t know, awakebutstillinbed is a band from San Jose, California. Fronted by singer and guitarist Shannon Taylor, I’d say this band is one of the most exciting projects in the emo world right now. I finally got to see them live at Zembo’s last month, just after they released their second full length album, chaos takes the wheel and i am a passenger.
It’s clear in the introspective, angsty themes that the songs are deeply personal, although the rest of the lineup (guitarist Brendan Gibson, bassist Alex Botkin, and drummer Erik Lobo) complete each track with a cohesion and energy that’s matched in the band’s live sound. Somehow their quiet, timid demeanor offstage makes their performance – colored with ripping guitars & bass, screaming vocals, and thrashing drums – feel all the more cathartic. They’re one of those bands where the music takes you somewhere else, like a familiar place you’ve never been to before.
After the show, I kept in touch with Shannon via email as the band got back on the road. She describes her inspirations, creative process, and remembers what it’s like to be a random kid at Philly house shows. Her anecdotes are amusing and often raise more questions than I had before, but more than anything they carry the charm of a talented artist who’s just doing a cool thing, and doing it really well. Check it out here!
It seems like you guys are insanely busy – you’ve been touring pretty much nonstop this year and just dropped a new album (which is fantastic, by the way). First of all, how are you guys holding up?
thank you! we’re all pretty exhausted, this tour route in particular doesn’t have a lot of off days on it, but the shows have been awesome which definitely is helping to keep spirits up.
A lot of the lyrical content on chaos takes the wheel seems to be about being on the road and a life in constant motion. Were the new songs being developed while you guys were touring?
yes definitely, after our first album came out we toured constantly, it was kind of insane. the general concept for the album started to formulate in that environment, although there was a lot of meditation on it during the pandemic when we weren’t doing any shows at all. the themes of the album are all expressed through the lens of a touring artist, so while the album isn’t *about* being on tour or anything like that, there’s a lot of that kind of imagery.
What was the writing process like? Were the song ideas finished when you brought them to the band, or was it a more collaborative process?
the songwriting isn’t collaborative at all, although the arrangements are, to a degree. i bring a completed song to the band, sometimes with fully completed parts and sometimes with only the chord progressions/vocal melodies, and then we work with what we’ve got.
chaos takes the wheel was produced by Joe Reinhardt (Algernon Cadwallader, Headroom Studios) – how did that connection come about?
i met joe when we opened for joyce manor, jeff rosenstock and ajj in LA in 2019, and he said hi again when we came through new jersey with joyce manor and saves the day later that year. i reached out to him about producing it sometime during the pandemic, and after years of talking about it, it finally actually happened.
What was the recording process like?
we started recording in january of this year (2023) and ended tracking around april or may. we did 7 days back to back with joe and jack and then we finished tracking vocals and keys over the next few months. it was a blast but it was pretty crazy, i had several days in a row of singing 6+ hours straight
If I remember correctly, at the Zembo show you mentioned living in Philly at some point several years ago; were you involved in the music scene at all?
yes and no. no one knew who i was, i was just a random kid who went to shows. but this was 2012, so i got to be around for a lot of really cool stuff. i saw algernon’s last philly show pre-reunion at first unitarian church, i saw modern baseball’s single release show for the song “the weekend” when they played little house shows in their basement (i can’t remember the name of the house, moon something, in university city area), i saw that show at the fire with empire! empire! that they reference in one of their songs. i was constantly going out to see bands, it was cool.
What’s the San Jose scene like?
i moved to berkeley in early 2022 to live with my partner, so i haven’t felt as connected to the sj scene recently as i used to just because it’s harder to get out to shows as much. that being said, my understanding is that hardcore is really huge there, there are these big bands like sunami and gulch (rip i think?) and a lot of people i’m friends with who i’ve played lots of shows with over the years are now in these very popular bands like scowl and spy. it’s cool, admittedly not really my scene since i mostly listen to emo, but really cool for them. my favorite band from san jose is star 99
Are there any other bands you’ve been inspired by lately?
the current resurgence of screamo has been really inspiring with bands like vs self and your arms are my cocoon. also the sort of comradery i feel with brandon from home is where as devout fans of 80s & 90s emo has been very inspiring for me too. its just a very inspiring time to be an emo artist, after years of absib feeling like we were on an island by ourselves, i finally feel like we’re a part of a community of bands
If you had to choose… East or West coast?
love the east coast but, west coast purely because i don’t like the cold or the humidity and house centipedes really freak me out
What cities have you enjoyed visiting or playing the most? Any weird, funny, or surprising encounters?
to anyone reading this keep in mind we’re still on tour haha, so we haven’t played all of the cities yet. i asked the band, alex said fest/gainesville, brendan said brooklyn, lobo said indianapolis (which we played last night), i’m saying atlanta.
as far as encounters, nothing weird or bad at all. it’s all been really smooth and normal honestly which is great. the only thing that really comes to mind at all is just how many young your arms are my cocoon fans ive seen at our shows, usually singing along up front. there was someone dressed up as the fairy from their EP cover at a show, it’s kind of cool to see the crossover. it’s been yaamc, home is where and hotelier shirts at most gigs, it’s been really nice to see
You’re about halfway through your full U.S. tour at the time of this interview, playing shows every single night across the country for a month straight. That’s extremely impressive. If I were you, I think I’d need to hibernate for like a year once it’s over. Other than getting some rest, what’s next for awakebutstillinbed?
definitely rest haha, i’m always excited to be home for the holidays after a long tour. we’re talking about a few tours outside the US that we’re hoping work out, and we want to try to play more diy festivals because i like them, other than that trying to keep our schedules open in case any cool opportunities come our way.
Anything else you want to add?
we are already working on our third record bc we want to try to actually have a new album come out in a normal amount of time. thanks to everyone who has ever checked out my weird emo band. keep emo alive in your scene by getting involved and supporting local emo artists in your community
Fuck yeah, that’s what it’s all about.
If you haven’t already, listen to chaos takes the wheel and i am a passenger and check out the rest of awakebutstillinbed’s discography. If you have, listen to it again while you wait for LP3, and definitely catch them on their next tour – that’s a show you don’t wanna miss.
