Q & a w/ Shaun poirot

Sep 22

Shaun and I have known each other for 10+ years and this was the longest conversation we had in awhile. We originally recorded an hour episode but due to technical issues, we turned it into a written Q&A. I felt like it wasn’t fair to him or myself to scrap the episode, we both set time aside to get it done. So I pivoted and did something different.

Some back story, I was in a band back in 2014-2015 and our first show we played with Shaun and his last band. It was their 3rd show - from there, if I had played 20 shows.. Shaun and his band played 17 of them. So we got really familiar with each other and hit it off. I loved our conversation on this episode, it sucks it’s being reduced to text. Fuck it, we ball.

So how did it come together with The End of Man? I know after from solace to sorrow split, you were constantly looking to stay active and even posting covers online.

“Yeah man, a mutual friend of myself and guys in the band reached out to me and said “Hey, I know a couple of guys who are looking for someone to jam with. I know you've been looking for a band for a while. They're looking for a serious vocalist, so like if you hit ‘em up, you'll probably find something to do. So I hit up our guitarist, his name is RJ. I hit him up and we hit it off instantly. He sent me some tracks and I fucking dug them instantly. I could immediately tell the sound they were going for and I have been writing lyrics this whole time so I put lyrics to the tracks almost right away and when I told him that he said no fucking shit and right away invited me to a practice to just kind of get a vibe for everything. From there they were hooked instantly.”

“It was kind of nerve wracking at first because all of them have been playing together for different bands and together in bands for about twenty years now. So they all know each other very well. I was the new guy in the group.”

You guys were playing shows pretty quickly from there, at least it seemed, yeah?

“So we played our first show 10 years to the day FSTS played our last show. We started jamming in like February and then we played our first show in July. So not too fast but kind of. i haven’t felt the nerves of the stage in a while. So getting back up on that stage after ten years it was like, my heart was pounding. The feeling of being on stage is better than any drug I’ve ever done”

You guys just dropped The Wages of Sin and a music video for Scar what was that like?

“Yeah it was fucking awesome. Like we thought the process of recording a video would be maybe 2-3 hours, 6.5 hours later… No it was great. We envisioned like a totally black room and to do that, we hung a bunch of king sized black sheets in our drummer's garage and like made it almost like a square. Jamie the guy who directed the video had the perfect lighting and you couldn’t even tell. It just looked black. The process itself was crazy because everyone had to do their parts separately and then again do the song together as a band. And Jamie essentially told me to perform this song as if I was on stage, I was like okay I’ll perform the fuck out of it. It was awesome, I suggest every band do a video.”

Who recorded the EP?

“Tim Lynch at The Recording Company. We’ve all worked with him before, he’s fucking great. He’s familiar with me and the band. I love that dude.”

Any plans for tours, even just a small run?

“We have definitely have talked about it, but that’s back burner. Not that we don’t want to, but we all have jobs and families. Right now, just keep writing and playing locally. Building our base here.”

What shows are in the pipeline?

“We’ve got a fun really local event in Bennington VT. It’s our first real “home show” So we’re fucking stoked. It’s a full BMX event with contests and giveaways. It’s all ages and free, so I am bringing my kids. My goal is to have a full circle pit of kids. I’d love to see the kids having fun and pitting. And then we’re opening up the toy drive which is a huge fucking honor. Those are always bangers and it’s awesome to be a part of giving back and getting toys donated for the kids.”

Let’s talk the extreme music awards, one of the main reasons you were on today. Mike and I are making a huge push to get more locals on the pod and just chat. You were at the last one, what’d you think?

“It’s fucking cool, and we were nominated last time. Which was crazy, we were nominated for best thrash band. The event itself is a lot of fun, looking forward to this year”