RISING DUO
The Shacks tour in support of self-titled EP
To say Max Shrager and Shannon Wise are overachievers is an understatement.
At 20 and 18, respectively, the two have been hard at work putting out music as The Shacks.
Critical acclaim has followed, as well as the first nationwide tour.
“We’ve had a bunch of shows in New York City,” he says during a recent phone interview. “Then we’re off on the road.”
The pair are touring in support of their self-titled EP, released earlier this year.
A full-length album is in the planning stages.
“We’ve actually been recording for the past three years,” he says. “We have a large collection of tracks. When we decided to assemble the EP, we took seven of those tracks, which gives an overview of our sound.”
Though only 20, Shrager has been working toward a career in music for years.
When he was 14, he would go down to the basement and record on an analog machine.
“I wanted to record on tape and use analog gear,” he says. “Every day after school, I would try to figure out how to write songs.”
Then at the tender age of 15, he visited Daptone Records in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he showed co-founder Gabriel Roth his demos.
“Daptone was the only label that I knew of,” he says. “It’s the major one where they did a very old school approach to music, only using analog and having a certain purity in the music. I enjoy music from the ’50s and ’60s. There’s purity in this type of music. I want to do my rock music this way — strip down all the bells and whistles and make it about the music.”
During his time hanging out at Daptone, he was able to take in advice from Roth and Sharon Jones, who was recording her last album at the time.
“She helped me with developing my whole sound,” he says. “And Gabe is very mysterious. He can be intimidating. But it’s because he has such high standards for music. It was a really inspiring trip.”
Shrager says with each writing session, he tries to push himself, as well as the band.
“I think the main way to push myself is to try and be prolific and productive,” he says. “For me, all I can do is be productive by doing the work. I have a strong work ethic, and I want to put out the best possible music I can.”