Kevin Shields
Kevin Shields | |
---|---|
Sony, PASK, Pickpocket, mbv, Domino | |
Member of | My Bloody Valentine |
Formerly of | Primal Scream |
Kevin Patrick Shields (born 21 May 1963) is an American-born Irish musician, singer-songwriter, composer, and producer, best known as the vocalist and guitarist of the band
Following My Bloody Valentine's dissolution in the late 1990s, Shields became a frequent guest musician, producer,
My Bloody Valentine reunited in 2007, and released their third studio album
Early life
Kevin Patrick Shields was born on 21 May 1963 in Jamaica Hospital in
Shields was raised in Cabinteely, a suburb in Dublin's Southside.[13] He has described the experience of moving to Ireland as a culture shock, "going from, as far as I was concerned, the modern world to some distant past."[14] According to Shields, the main difference between the US and Ireland that affected him was the attitude towards music culture: "[in the US] there was no Top of the Pops, there was nothing like that, there was no MTV; and over in [Ireland], everything was completely catered to for teenagers." He said that the change was "what got [him] into music in a really big way."[14]
Music career
1979–1982: Early projects
Shields received his first electric guitar, a Hondo SG, as a Christmas present from his parents in 1979.[15][16] Shields befriended drummer Colm Ó Cíosóig in south Dublin during the summer of 1978, and together they answered an advertisement placed by a 12-year-old musician to form punk rock band The Complex.[17][18] Ó Cíosóig's schoolfriend Liam Ó Maonlaí from Coláiste Eoin in Booterstown was recruited as lead vocalist, and the band began rehearsing.[19] Shields later said that The Complex had formed out of "what all the nerds and weirdos actually do as opposed to the cool people with the leather jackets," who were forming fictional groups around Dublin in the late 1970s.[20] According to Shields, the band played "a handful of gigs" during their short-lived career, the first of which included covers of songs by the Sex Pistols and Ramones.[11]
The Complex disbanded when Ó Maonlaí left to form Hothouse Flowers, and Shields and Ó Cíosóig began rehearsing with another bassist. In 1981, the trio formed A Life in the Day, a band that focused on a more post-punk sound influenced by Siouxsie and the Banshees and Joy Division.[11] The band recorded a demo tape, which features Shields' first experimentation with pitch bending, and performed at local venues to crowds of no more than a hundred people.[11][21]
1983–1997: My Bloody Valentine
A Life in the Day disbanded in 1981, and Shields and Ó Cíosóig went on to form My Bloody Valentine in early 1983 with lead vocalist David Conway. Conway suggested a number of potential band names (including The Burning Peacocks) before the trio settled for My Bloody Valentine.[22] Shields has since claimed that he was unaware at the time that My Bloody Valentine was the title of a 1981 Canadian slasher film.[12][23]
On Shields's suggestion, Conway contacted Gavin Friday, lead vocalist of the Dublin post-punk band, the Virgin Prunes. Friday's contacts secured them a show in Tilburg, Netherlands, in early 1984,[20] and the band relocated to the Netherlands. They lived there for a further nine months, squatting in Amsterdam and later in a more rural area, where Shields worked on a farm.[18] Due to a lack of opportunities and correct documentation, the band relocated to West Berlin, Germany, in late 1984 and recorded their debut mini album, This Is Your Bloody Valentine (1985).[17] The album, which features Shields on bass, failed to receive much attention, and the band returned temporarily to the Netherlands before settling in London in 1985.[24]
The band recruited bassist
A series of successful releases followed including three-track single "Strawberry Wine" and the band's second mini album Ecstasy (1987), both featuring Shields on lead vocal duties. Whilst touring in support of Ecstasy, My Bloody Valentine signed to Creation Records, who described the band as "the Irish equivalent to Hüsker Dü".[28] The band's first release for Creation was the EP You Made Me Realise (1988), followed by the band's hugely influential debut studio album Isn't Anything (1988),[29] which is regarded as having "virtually created" shoegaze genre,[30] establishing the template which a number of bands would work off.[1]
My Bloody Valentine commenced the recording sessions for their second album in February 1989. Creation Records had believed that the album could be recorded in five days, but several unproductive months followed during which Shields took control of the musical and technical aspects of the sessions.
In October 1992, My Bloody Valentine signed to Island Records for a reported £250,000.[36] The band's advance went towards the construction of a home studio in Streatham, South London, which was completed in April 1993. Several technical problems with the studio sent the band into "semi-meltdown", according to Shields,[37] who was rumoured to have been suffering from writer's block.[38] Googe and Ó Cíosóig left the band in 1995, whilst Shields and Butcher attempted to record a third studio album; Shields had said that this would be released in 1998, but My Bloody Valentine disbanded in 1997.[39] Unable to finalise a third album, Shields isolated himself, and in his own words "went crazy", drawing comparisons in the music press to the eccentric behaviour of musicians like Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd.[6]
Rumours spread amongst fans that several albums worth of material had been recorded and shelved prior to the band's break up. In 1999, it was reported that Shields had delivered 60 hours of material to Island Records, and Butcher confirmed that there existed "probably enough songs to fill two albums."[36][38] Shields later admitted that at least one full album of "half-finished" material was abandoned, stating "it was dead. It hadn't got that spirit, that life in it."[40]
1997–2006: Collaborations and Lost in Translation
Following My Bloody Valentine's disbandment, Shields embarked on a number of collaborations with other artists, both as a guest musician and producing,
Shields has also remained active as a producer outside of My Bloody Valentine: his first credits were The Impossible's 1991 single "How Do You Do It?"; and "Tunnel", a track from
Between 1998 and 2006 Shields became a frequent collaborator and semi-permanent touring member of Primal Scream. He contributed guitar, produced and mixed tracks on two of the band's studio albums: XTRMNTR (2000), and Evil Heat (2002). Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie has said that "[Shields] brings something that nobody else in the world can bring. He plays guitar the way that nobody else in the world plays guitar," adding that Primal Scream considered Shields to be "part of the family, very much so."[47] Shields has remained close to the band following his departure in 2006, remastering Primal Scream's third studio album Screamadelica (1991) in 2010 and contributing guitar to "2013", the lead single from More Light (2013).[48][49] Gillespie has since commented on Shields' absence, noting that "there's always room for Kevin Shields—always."[47]
In 2003, Shields contributed four original compositions to the
In July 2008, Shields collaborated with the American musician Patti Smith to release the live album The Coral Sea on the PASK label (which the duo had also founded together). The double album features two performances at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, recorded on 22 June 2005 and 12 September 2006, wherein Smith reads the book of the name same (which she wrote in tribute to her friend, the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe)[53] over Shields' instrumental accompaniment.
2007–present: My Bloody Valentine reunion
In August 2007, reports emerged that My Bloody Valentine would reunite for the 2008
In October 2011, Shields launched the independent record label Pickpocket together with Le Volume Courbe frontwoman
In November, Shields announced plans to release My Bloody Valentine's third album online before the end of the year,
Shields has since announced intentions to release remastered analogue cuts of My Bloody Valentine's back catalogue followed by two releases of new material that were most recently expected to release in 2019.[69]
In April 2018, Shields released The Weight Of History / Only Once Away My Son, a collaborative double A-side with Brian Eno, for Record Store Day.[70]
In June 2023, he released the Fender Shields Blender, which he co-developed with Fender (company).[71]
Artistry
Influences
Shields has referred to
Shields' production techniques were influenced by a range of producers and artists.
Guitar sound
Shields' guitar sound has been cited as one of the most recognisable aspects of My Bloody Valentine's music. His sound uses "texture more than technique to create vivid soundscapes".[79] He has been listed at number 95 and 2 on Rolling Stone's and Spin's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time list.[7][8] During the late 1980s, Shields began customising the tremolo systems for his Fender Jaguars and Jazzmaster guitars; he extended the tremolo arm and loosened it considerably, to allow him to manipulate the arm while strumming chords, which resulted in significant pitch bending.[79] Shields used a number of alternate and open tunings that together with his tremolo manipulation, according to Rolling Stone's Michael Azerrad, achieved "a strange warping effect that makes the music wander in and out of focus".[20][80]
Among Shields' notable effects is digital reverse reverb, sourced from a Yamaha SPX90 effects unit. Together with the tremolo manipulation and distortion, he created a technique known as "glide guitar".[81] Shields' effects rig, which is composed largely of distortion, graphic equalisers and tone controls, consists of at least 30 effects pedals,[60] although on most songs he only has two to four activated when playing live.[82] His rig is connected to a large number of amplifiers which are often set to maximum volume to increase sustain.[83] During live performances with My Bloody Valentine – particularly during the closing number "You Made Me Realise" – Shields creates a blend of white noise, which often lasts for half an hour and can reach 130db.[84] "It was so loud it was like sensory deprivation," he remarked. "We just liked the fact that we could see a change in the audience at a certain point."[6]
Legacy
Shields' sound and performance have been regarded as influential, with musicians including Billy Corgan,[85] J Mascis,[86] and Greg Puciato[87] citing him as an influence; the last revealed that his most desired collaboration would be with Shields.[88]
"Kevin Shields achieved something on Loveless that only the great guitarists achieve: he achieved a wholeness and a unity," observed Living Colour's Vernon Reid. "He created his own sound."[89]
Personal life
Health
Shields has mild
Views on music industry
"The corporate system [in the music industry] is fully psychopathic, and any creative people who enter into business with any of these organisations come up against a lifetime of issues. You just deal with it as you go along. It'll keep on happening until people reorganise the organisations."
— Shields on the corporate influence in the contemporary music industry.[91]
Shields has been outspoken about the corporate influence in the music industry. He has said that
Relationships and family
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Shields and Bilinda Butcher were in a relationship.[93] His brother Jimi was a founding member and drummer of the indie rock band Rollerskate Skinny, who has since formed Wounded Knees and become co-director of TTT (thirtythreetrees), a Dublin landscape design practice.[94] His sister Ann Marie has worked extensively in the music industry and has managed tours for both My Bloody Valentine and Rollerskate Skinny, as well as being credited for coordination on Loveless.[95] His youngest sister, Eileen, is a shoe designer who has designed for Bono, Drew Barrymore and PJ Harvey.[96]
Discography
- Kevin Shields
- The Coral Sea (with Patti Smith) (2008)
- My Bloody Valentine
- Isn't Anything (1988)
- Loveless(1991)
- m b v(2013)
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Bibliography
- DiPerna, Alan (1992). "Bloody Guy". Guitar World. No. March 1992.
- McGonial, Mike (2007). Loveless. ISBN 978-0-8264-1548-6.
External links
- Kevin Shields at AllMusic
- Kevin Shields at IMDb
- Kevin Shields featured interview at The Quietus