My 15 minutes with ... Shout Out Out Out Out

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Shout Out Out Out Out is no stranger to the spotlight. In 2007, this Edmonton-based band was nominated for a Juno for their very first full-length album Not Saying/Just Saying which was released in 2006. On October 16, I was lucky enough to chat with Nik Kozub, lead singer of Shout Out Out Out Out, and ask him a couple questions.

What is it like being in a band with six members versus a band of, say, four?
"It is logistically more difficult, for sure. It's harder for us to physically get around and get together to write stuff. Everything is a little bit tougher in terms of those logistics. It's also more expensive to tour, but everybody in the band is really important to the band, and luckily all six of us get along really well. I've already been in bands where you get along with people but there are also a lot of bands with two people and they can't get along, and we are lucky enough to have six and be buds."

What did it feel like when you found out you all were nominated for a Juno?
"Well, it was pretty surprising. For a lot of us, this is not our first band. We've been playing in various bands for a long time, and I think we've all been kind of surprised that this is the band where people finally seem to care and that's great and we feel really, really lucky. When we were nominated for the Juno, in my mind we were still just getting started, and for us to get that kind of mainstream recognition for what we are doing was a pretty big honour and also kind of shocking. We still felt like goofy kids at that point."

What's the best thing about being on tour?
"The best part about touring is definitely playing the shows. Every other part of it sucks. You're getting no sleep, spending all day in a van, driving, hauling gear and eating poorly. But playing the shows is great. We've done a fair amount of touring in the U.S. as well as Canada and we've also done Europe a couple times. It's awesome to get to go to those places, but really what you do see is the hotel and the club and whatever fast food is nearby, unless you get a couple days off. So, I'd say the best part is actually playing the shows and hanging out with my friends in my band. We also have some friends we have met along the way in cities like New York where we play repeatedly. We have friends there now, so it's nice to see them while on tour."

What can we expect from Shout Out Out Out Out in the next year?
"We've been working on music quite a lot, so the plan at this point is to release two EPs this year. The first one should be out late fall or early winter of this year and then we are hoping to do another EP in the spring. We're basically doing an album this year but just splitting it in two."

Can you give us any hints as to what to expect from the album?
"For the people who have heard some of the new tracks — and we are playing some of the new songs in the live show now, so if people come and see us play, they will hear some of the new ones — it is slightly different from our previous stuff, but it's not a huge left turn or anything. It's still danceable; we're still using a lot of analog synths and making a lot of spacy sounds. I think that we're really conscious of letting the songs breathe this time around, and there is a lot of nice bass and good grooves on it. I'm really happy with how things are going. It may be a bit of a slower record, but not that much. It's still danceable."

Shout Out Out Out Out will be in London on October 25 at Call The Office. To see daily tour blogs/videos from the band and for more information, check out their website at shoutoutoutoutout.com.