In late April, Sharkanoid released their second album, titled Deathbox. The band’s primary members are singer/guitarist Dan Potthast, (MU330) and singer/bassist Rick Johnson, (Mustard Plug). Several other musicians also appeared on Deathbox, including drummer Ted Moll, (MU330). We recently spoke with Potthast and talked about the collaboration process for this record. We also discussed the inspiration for some of the songs and how the current political climate was a major influence. Additionally, we conversed about the album’s title, how the pandemic is impacting the band’s future plans and more.
Bill – What was the writing process for this record like?
Dan – So, there’s two writers on the record, me and Rick. Basically, we would each make demos and send them back and forth. Some of mine were kind of finished ideas and we’d add bass and drums to it, but I think the best ones are the collaborations. The second song, “Acid Test,” Rick wrote a guitar riff and he sent it to me. He was like, “See if you can write something over this.” I just had this looped guitar riff, that opening riff, and I started writing lyrics over it. I think those moments where we make something that neither of us could have made on our own, those are the best moments on the record. That’s what a collaboration is supposed to do, (laughs). Rick writes really good rock ‘n’ roll riffs and he brings kind of an aggressive energy to it. And I think I’ve got a sense of melody and the two together is a unique mix. Or at least a mix that I’m into. I like what he brings to my songwriting.
Bill – Absolutely. I would say that’s an accurate description. How does this kind of writing process compare to what you did on the last record?
Dan – For the first album, we had a really specific creative idea. Rick proposed that we look at old yearbook photos and write songs based on the photos. We sent those songs back and forth and kind of reworked them in the same way that we reworked these songs. That idea was really cool though because almost for the first time, I started writing really from the perspective of those characters in the photos. As a writer, that was really kind of liberating for me. It’s funny that I didn’t discover it earlier in my songwriting life. I feel like novelists, short story writers and any writer really learns that right away, that you make a character and you live through them. That first Sharkanoid record was the first time I really delved into that and it was freeing and cool. It’s something that I’ve held on to since then and used from time to time.
Bill – Where did you record this album and what was your time in the studio like?
Dan – We recorded in Edwardsville, Illinois with my friend Ryan Wasoba at a studio called Bird Cloud Recording. Ted from MU330 played all the drums. Rick and I had pretty fleshed out demos of all the songs and Ted had those to listen to for about a month. We all met in Edwardsville and Ted came out and played all 13 songs in an afternoon and evening. He’s a monster. He’s so good. He’s just one of those guys that can play along to a click or a demo and make it sound like he’s just rockin’ along with the band. It just sounds natural and he’s great. We were lucky to have him play on the record.
Bill – That’s awesome. He’s such a good drummer.
Dan – He is. I’ve been playing music with Ted since I was in 7th grade, so he plays the drum parts that I already have in my head. When he plays, that’s what I hear in my head when I’m imagining any song that I write, still to this day.
Bill – That’s really cool and makes sense. Were there any other musicians who participated in the recording?
Dan – Yeah, Ben Ryznar from a band called Wack Trucks, he played guitar on a lot of stuff. Rick also played in that band. He does lots of cool, quirky lead stuff. A lot of the really interesting textural stuff is him. There’s another guy named Mario Bourzac and he plays all the shredding guitar on it. Not to say that Ben’s not shredding, because he is in his own way, but the one that sounds like a swarm of bees, that’s Mario. He is the super-shredder. All the divebomb harmonics and stuff, that’s also Mario.
Bill – Cool. Who played the keyboards?
Dan – I played most of them. The organ stuff and a lot of synth was me. I can’t remember now. Rick may have had someone else play some synth on it, but I’m not even sure off the top of my head.
Bill – No worries. The song “Getting Dark Getting Late” kind of critiques today’s society. What were some of the things that motivated this song’s creation?
Dan – I think just being alive in modern times and kind of the propaganda machine that’s constantly pumping disinformation out to the public. And just dealing with that and the never-ending, mounting sources of anxiety that we are all living through.
Bill – When you described that I thought of the way we’re bombarded with information, whether it’s TV, cell phones or constant emails. It seems like it really takes a concerted effort to unplug and just be with your thoughts, like we used to be.
Dan – Yeah, that is a definite thing that we all struggle with, especially during times like this pandemic. I know early on in the first couple weeks, when our bozo president started doing those daily press conferences, someone in our house had it on the computer and the words and ideas that were coming from the computer were so upsetting. I found myself yelling at the computer and as I was doing that, I noticed that one of our dogs was just shaking. I realized it was terrible for the dog to have me screaming at the computer and by proxy, terrible for me. I sat with that and I’ve been thinking about it and thinking about how no good information comes from the top down. That wasn’t helping me in my daily life. So yeah, dealing with that and watching it turn you into a shitty person yourself, (laughs). It’s like, “Oh! I’m an asshole. I’m yelling at a computer.” So, it’s about all that.
Bill – Yeah, it’s like you don’t want to be completely ignorant to what’s going on, but if you’re watching the news for multiple hours every day, that’s not good either.
Dan – I think the key is recognizing what’s keeping you informed. What are you watching or reading that’s actually keeping you informed and what are you clicking on because it’s like triggering some kind of adrenaline rush because you’re pissed about it?
Bill – Yeah. It’s good to keep that awareness. On a different note, “Who’s Got the Time” is definitely an uplifting song. What made you want to write these words?
Dan – I think it all ties back to our current situation. I think there’s a human spirit that’s determined to spite all this horrible onslaught of news and death. We all want to get back up and keep fighting. We want to try to be good, try to be positive, try to create art, be ourselves, dance, sing and do all the things that make us human. I definitely didn’t want it all to be dark on the record. I think that’s in all of us and we need to call upon that as much as we can right now.
Bill – Most definitely. What inspired the album’s title?
Dan – It was kind of last-minute. Rick and I were shooting ideas back and forth for titles. He suggested that title and I think it was a few weeks into the pandemic. He mentioned that it was a skateboarding term. He sent me a picture of an empty swimming pool with a side filter. The filter was circled with an arrow pointing to it and it said “Deathbox.” Basically, if you get the skateboard wheels caught in there, you’re done. I thought that was a funny suggestion and Rick liked it because he’s into skateboarding. I also thought about the album coming out during the pandemic and just being surrounded by so much death. And we’re all trapped in these boxes or our homes. For me, “Deathbox” also conjures up images of TVs, which I associate with phones and computers and all the misinformation that we’re constantly fed. Those are some of the different things that I think about when I think of the title.
Bill – Without being able to play shows for the foreseeable future, what does Sharkanoid have planned for the remainder of year?
Dan – Maybe we’ll start a new record during this, I don’t know. No plans to tour, obviously. No one seems to have plans to tour and if they do, I think it’s a lot of wishful thinking at this point. I don’t know. My hope with the band is that if we achieve some sort of normalcy and people can once again come out to shows, I would love for Sharkanoid to do some shows. My initial hope, pre-pandemic, was to at least do a Midwest run. Especially because Ted played drums on this record and I feel like we could rope him into doing shows, (laughs). My idea was to do St. Louis, Chicago and Grand Rapids. When our last record came out, we did a few shows on the West Coast and I was hoping to do that again. We also played in New York City, opening for AJJ in Brooklyn. I would love for something like that to happen again, where we can open for a buddy’s band here and there. I don’t see us being a pile in the van and tour for three months kind of band, but I definitely want to play shows if we can get on shows with other bands. That would be how we would do it. That’s my hope. Hopefully some Midwest shows, a little West Coast run and if we’d be lucky enough to get out to the East Coast again, that’d be awesome. Or down to Fest. We played Fest one year with Sharkanoid. I like that it’s a band where it feels really special if we do play. I’m sure it’ll happen again sometime in the future.
