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Shino interview: It was not long ago that I stumbled across Shino via a free download link on the Afmusic website (www.af-music.de), and decided to give the music a try. I have often enjoyed acoustic work in the past, and was eager to give it a listen, and I am very glad I did. The listener is greeted to mellow guitar work, and the deep and haunting voice of the bands founder, Aliaksandr Kavaliou, as he takes the listener on a journey through the human mind. The songs deal a lot with inner demons, love, dichotamy and a constant inner battle of the mind and heart. Since listening to the Best of album (http://www.af-music.de/releases/shino-bestof.html), I have grown very found of the music of Shino, and the way Alaiks is able to tell the story of not only human misery and suffering, but of redemption and self in such a haunting and lasting way. I recently had a chance to sit down with Aliaksandr and ask him a few questions about his music, and life aswell. -Radio Nietzsche 11/08 Radio Nietzsche: First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your time. Little is known about the man behind Shino, so how about telling us something personal? When did you first show an interest in playing music, and what was your first instrument? Shino: Hmm... my mother has rather big influence on my musical interest, she studied piano and accordion. That's why was my first school with a musical alignment, and the first instrument: piano. I cried a lot of tears by playing it but was rather good. In the age of 10 or something like that I changed the instrument to acoustic guitar, it was uncool to play piano for a boy like me, and I was a really shy boy; maybe I'm still struggling with this feeling. But all this was a boring time of making musik. Some years after I started to play I found the real rock'n'roll in the guitar sound, and then I also started to sing with a strange voice of pubescent boy. Radio Nietzsche: What were your musical influences then, and how have they changed over the years?
Shino: Nirvana was the first band that influenced my way of life and the wish to play guitar and to sing some fucked up emotional songs. Unplugged in New York was the audio cassette I heard all the time. I was about 12.
So I learned to play guitar with Nirvana, Metallica and Sepultura. Just hearing them and trying to play some parts of really good music. Now I hear not so often music. I think I need more silence. Placebo is the band I like, and some others. My ear is open for all kind of music that was made by heart and soul. Radio Nietzsche: What made you decide to change your style to acoustic from such a hard style of music such as the dark rock and metal you played with Blindeyes? Shino: Blindeyes... it was the time of my life and a part of it that I think even rescued me from abyss. I needed all this mix of aggression and emotion to free me, to find a way out of my inner world. But just one day I could not assemble this aggression; it was not in my mind and soul anymore, not in that way, so I could not make this kind of music anymore. It was really sad for all of us, and I could not even realize it was true, but it was over and out. Blindeyes was dead, and the way for calm music was born. Radio Nietzsche: And how have the fans responded to the change? Shino: Fans... hmm. We were not really famous, so there were not much fans who could be sad about my decision. Radio Nietzsche: The music of Shino seems very personal, very intimate, as if you are telling us a story from your personal experience. Where do the lyrics come from? Shino: My lyrics are the very special thing for me and i think for everybody who can feel these words. They are sometimes rather simple, and sometimes I don't even understand the whole thing by myself, but I feel and write directly from my soul. Everything that I express in my lyrics is my life and the way I go and trying to live, with the hope to reach somebodies heart and to tell some things on the nonverbal level. Many people say that is depression, but then they don't understand the message of my music. Radio Nietzsche: Do you record and produce the music yourself or do you have help? Shino: My wish is just making music and have some people who are interested in promotion and recording. I'm tired of making everything by my own. I think that is the dream of every musician. I recorded all songs by my own just with the recording equipment of my old band, Blindeyes. Radio Nietzsche: I noticed a lot of Japanese influences on your website, including many photo's of Katanas, and even your tattoo seems Japanese in design. What sort of influence has Japanese art and culture had on you and your music and your life? Shino: Japanese influences, yes, that is a real long story, and I would prefer to keep the whole story to myself, but as for the tattoo, it's a picture of the existence of a human being, with spiritual aspects.
At the beginging, below you can see 5 roots. These are the 5 elements which belong to fingers: water, earth, light, air, fire. Then you have a kind of complication to learn some things and the snake with two sides of explanation.
One side is to bring you chaos, illusion and doom. The other side is to show you the way to light and spiritual progress.
Then you see the ying yang with the sword (katana) in the middle of it. The sword is a kind of core of my nature and the decision to detach evil and goodness. Radio Nietzsche: What do you think of your local music scene and the German music scene in general? Is this a good time for being a musician, more specifically, an independent musician in Germany or do you find it difficult? Shino: German music is a specific thing. I don't like many bands, but there are some with really impressive atmosphere. I think nowadays is hard to make personal music and not to follow some trend for the masses if you want to earn money with your music, and I want it, but I try not to lose my hope and make music for people who want to listen some truth which can be found in everybody's heart. I think it's the same thing everywhere in the world, not just in Germany. Radio Nietzsche: Do you play many live shows either locally or across Germany, and how has the response been? Shino: I played just one show, it was the last show of Blindeyes. I think some other shows will follow if somebody kicks my ass and wants to organize some of them. I'm just tired. Radio Nietzsche: What is in store for the listener in the future? Do you plan on recording another album, and can we expect a change in the musical style of Shino in the future? Shino: You will hear some new songs till I'm alive, for sure. Some new albums, and maybe some other kind of music. Maybe with electronical sounds or piano, if I find somebody who can do all that. I love also the sound of cello, but I don't see me playing some reggae sounds or some funny music. I'm somebody who see the sense in this kind of music; a good sense, not a depressive kind of suicide. I want to live and give some impressions to some people who want to see not only the bright side of life, but who want maybe to understand the good meaning of pain and shadows some day. Radio Nietzsche: Thank you so much for your time, Aliaksandr. Is there anything you would like to add? Shino: So stay blind for lies, see with your heart! More at: |
