What are your Full names?Grady Steele – vocals / guitar
Campbell Baum – guitar / vocals
Andrew Spiteri – bass
Jamie Staples -drums
What is the bands name?
Shark Dentist
How old are you?
18-20
What is your genre of music?
We deliver Sandwich Metal with a slice of Pizza Pop
Give us a little bio about you as a band and you guys as individuals.
We formed in 2015 at college, there was an opening slot at one of the local venues and we took, before we had even written any songs. We had about a week to prepare and get a set together!
Outside of Shark Dentist, Grady is a DJ and producer, as part of a collective called Floyd Afrika. Campbell puts on live music nights around London called Black Cat White Cat. Andrew loves synths like he loves his family, and Jamie has good hair.
What’s the story behind the bands name?
Jamie and his friend had a bit of a smoking sesh and thought of pitching a new show to Dave TV channel, where they would attend to a shark’s dental hygiene. The show was to be called Shark Dentist.
How long have you been doing music?
Separately, since birth. Together? Just over a year.
What made you go in to music?
We’ve always been living the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle, so really music got into us.
Are you signed?
We are signed to a small, Camden based record label called Ra-Ra Rok who put our records out, they are run from the basement of Out On The Floor Records on Inverness Street.
What is the inspiration behind the track ‘Florentine’?
If you’re asking the title, we wanted something egg related so we could fulfil our dreams of making a 7″ look like a fried egg. The song is also a scrambled mix of emotions, within the context of a breakup.
Can you give us a hint of what the next album or EP will be like?
We don’t really have an intention of making an album any time soon until we’re certain there’s a want to listen to 40 minutes of Shark Dentist.. We see a lot of bands make albums far, far too soon. It’s a big statement.. EP seems more like it could be in the pipeline – maybe sometime next year!
What instruments do you play?
Guitar x2, Bass, Drums + spoken word.
Who are your influences?
Bill Murray.
You are playing ‘ Alt Escape’, how did that come about?
The Mayor of Brighton drew our name out of a hat!!! It was so lucky.. On 19th May we’ll be officially kicking off the festival at The East Street Tap, which I think used to be known as The Fish Bowl..
Will you be doing any gigs on your own Tour?
Our next show is at The Great Escape, then we will have a few dates lined-up around the country, leading up to our single release party at the Shacklewell Arms on June 2.
Also we are playing
5th May – Birmingham, The Actress and Bishop
7th May – London, St Martins (Awesome+ magazine launch)
19th May – Alt. Escape, Brighton, East Street Tap
2nd June – London, Shacklewell Arms
3rd June – London, Flashback Records, Bethnal Green
IF YOU LIKE THE SOUND OF SHARK DENTIST AND WOULD BE INTERESTED IN BOOKING THE BOYS THEY ARE CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR SHOWS ANYWHERE!
If you are, where will you be heading?
We are playing Birmingham on the 5th May at The Actress & Bishop, and are currently sorting dates in Cambridge, Oxford and Falmouth.. maybe some more.
How do you get inspiration to write songs?
Whenever we want inspiration, we stick on either Spacejam or Groundhog Day, and we let the songs write themselves.
Where do you see yourself now in 5 Years?
We’re hoping that we’ll be on the second leg of the Aquarium tour down the East Coast of the US.
When you’re not doing music, what do you do?
We usually end up just going to see other music.. Either at The Lock Tavern (where two of us work) or down in Brixton at The Windmill, where there’s a constant rotation of incredible bands playing.. Campbell works at Flashback Records whilst the other three are still in college.
If you could collaborate with one UK Artist who would it be?
We’d LOVE Danny ‘facking’ Dyer to be the star of our next music video.
If you could collaborate with one USA Artist who would it be?
Bill Murray
Where is your dream venue or festival to perform in UK?
Glastonbury or The Village Underground.
Where is your dream venue or festival to perform in USA?
SXSW or Baby’s Alright in Brooklyn
What was the song you listened to most that influenced you to go more in to the music scene?
It’s pretty hard to choose one song between the four of us, but bands like Blur, Teenage Fanclub and Pavement are bands that we all share a love for.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given?
If it smells bad, it usually tastes good.
What advice would you give to aspiring musicians not about the industry just as an artist?
Taste it.
What quote or saying do you always stick by?
Be true to yourself.
When you are at a gig, what are 5 things you cannot forget?
1. Chords
2. Lyrics
3. To have some fun
4. Your instruments
5. Posture
Do you have social media accounts so your fans can follow you?
www.facebook.com/sharkdentist
youtube.com/channel/UC2NsfhmxDfhRFtVMfVLXeNw
soundcloud.com/shark-dentist
sharkdentist.bandcamp.com/releases
twitter.com/DentistShark
instagram.com/sharkdentistband/