Fans of Midwestern thinking-person’s hard-rock institution Shiner may have done a double take when they saw the Kansas City-raised foursome would be playing Drkmttr (capacity: about 100) on March 9. It’s not outside the realm of reason to expect that the better-late-than-never tour behind Shiner’s 2020 album Schadenfreude — their fifth LP overall, and first in almost two decades — might stop at a bigger venue in Nashville.
The band’s formative second album Lula Divinia, released 25 years ago this month, and The Egg, a high-water mark for the genre released in 2001, are time-tested documents of post-hardcore at its most progressive. (See also: Jawbox, Quicksand, Shudder to Think.) Talking to the Scene ahead of Wednesday’s show — which locals and avowed Shiner admirers Tape Deck Mountain open — singer-guitarist Allen Epley pithily describes Shiner’s sonic goals: “Pounding. Mathy. Unflinching.”
There can be a chasm between perception and reality when it comes to the living we think the bands we love are making, and the amount of work that goes into them simply being able to continue creating. That’s the crux of Epley’s interview podcast Third Gear Scratch. The show, which debuted on streaming platforms in 2019, chronicles the offstage exploits of the people in the Chicago-residing Epley’s sphere — old friends and new acquaintances, household names and cult faves, rock and otherwise. Its reach isn’t limited to musicians. He’s also talked to filmmakers and actors, like Patrick Fabian, better known as Better Call Saul’s debonair lawyer Howard Hamlin.
Besides playing, podcasting and his day job with Blue Man Group (really!), Epley is also a music instructor, bartender, husband and father. Since Shiner initially split in 2003, he has led The Life and Times, a power trio that leans into his lifelong Rush obsession — on several tunes, Epley deploys a hair-raising falsetto — while embracing more economical songcraft. The group has made five LPs and counting.
Epley recently wrapped his first solo record (title and release TBA), drawing inspiration from Elliott Smith as well as Beck’s Sea Change. He’s also been playing in Broasis — a tribute act that, given the volatile Gallagher brothers’ continued refusal to bury the hatchet and stage a comeback, might be the next-best thing to Oasis itself. “We turn the lights on, turn the fog to where we’re just silhouettes and rock out,” Epley explains. “It’s nice to not play our own stupid indie-rock songs. Every song is a banger, and we love it.”
For the 52-year-old musician, having worn all these hats creates a natural rapport and mutual comfort level with his interviewees. On Third Gear Scratch — named for a key Lula Divinia track — requisite whos, whats, wheres and whys get knocked out quickly before going deep and getting real. Episodes run a minimum of an hour-and-a-half; many surpass two.
“I started it to salvage my way out of an existential crisis,” Epley says of the podcast. “I’d always imagined I’d someday stop with the music. But here I was, close to 50, and just realized I’m a full-time musician. This is what I do. Even if I have to do something else in order to facilitate it, I’m going to do this for the rest of my life. When I realized that, I breathed a sigh of relief. Choosing art as a career is something we all question constantly. It’s turned out that there’s an audience for it.”
TGS hit its stride during the pandemic slowdown that began in 2020. That summer, Illinois space-rock icons Hum — who’d frequently summoned Shiner as openers in the ’90s — surprise-released Inlet, their first LP since their 1998 magnum opus Downward Is Heavenward. Two months earlier, Shiner had issued Schadenfreude. Strong cases can be made for these records as new high points in both bands’ catalogs. For the 100th episode of TGS last year, Hum’s press-averse leader Matt Talbott did a rare Q&A with Epley, as well as a solo performance for a live audience at Chicago club Fitzgerald’s.
Shiner’s current lineup — Epley, lead guitarist Josh Newton, bassist Paul Malinowski and drummer Jason Gerken — has been locked in since The Egg’s 2000 predecessor Starless. In 2012 the group broke a 10-year hiatus with a series of reunion shows in the Midwest, a practice that would continue more or less biennially through 2018. At that point, the four agreed that it was time to either add to the set list or lay the band to rest.
Epley and Newton began by revisiting demos of old unfinished Shiner riffs in search of something to build off of, but quickly concluded that writing all new parts — which became colossal-sounding Schadenfreude standouts like Epley’s “Life as a Mannequin” and the Newton-composed “Low Hanging Fruit” — felt much more satisfying.
“It’s thrilling to get to [play] again, and be reminded that yes, we are a good band — and that we’ve actually gotten better as we’ve gotten older,” Epley says. “I might be the lone original member and have always been the songwriter, but it’s a democratic, four-way partnership. We’re not fighting. We aren’t arguing. We’re just glad to be together. We realize life is short, and want to take advantage.”
