A warm welcome to: holy nights, bad advice
First and foremost we would like to congratulate Shane T on the release of his highly anticipated EP, and all of its success thus far. Holy Nights, Bad Advice is certainly a game changer for the “Simple Man” artist. You get a sense of his true emotions, and the music behind it contibutes to a dream-like sensation that you feel upon listening.
After a small house show that he threw in his welcoming home in Nashville, TN we had the opportunity to interview him about his music and song writing process.
‘Wasting Time’
It is evident that the “Afterhours” artist knows how to write a good song, but just how it happens makes it all the more meaningful. His process varies, from coming up with a riff and playing it over and over to the lyrics coming to him after the core riffs of the song. Sometimes, his songs happen by accident and he went on to say, “Sometimes I’ll make a mistake and I’ll actually end up liking the way it sounds, so I build off of that”.
When it comes to the message of his songs, he never goes into it with an idea it typically just comes to him naturally. When he is finished writing, the meaning presents itself.
The inspiration behind Toriscelli’s latest EP came from a lot of different things. “A lot of it was inspired by relationship stuff, graduating and moving to a new city, and a huge portion came from films” he laughed and went on to say, “I mean I’m still inspired by movies I just don’t have access to MoviePass anymore”.
When asked about his most meaningful song that he has ever written, he smiled and answered, “It’s honestly always changing. I’ll release a song and then it doesn’t feel like it’s mine anymore. For the EP it’s probably the title track, “Holy Nights, Bad Advice”, because of the lyrics and the feel about it. It is a really serendipitous sound, and those are the ones I typically cling to the most”.
“These sins ain’t Sins They’re Friends Of Mine”
Torescelli eludes to religion in the majority of his songs. This is a topic many artists feel is taboo, but for the “Decline” artist, it is something he feels strongly about. Growing up, he was raised as a Christian, but his parents were always open and honest about their beliefs and doubts.
Torescelli opened up and spoke on this matter, saying, “When I went to college, I was still heavily involved in the church for a year and a half, and then I took a religion course and realized how small these bubbles were and how closed off the thinking was about what people had taught me growing up”.
So when it comes to his music he said, “A lot of what comes out in my songs is realizing that two-sided nature of growing up Christian and not knowing the other side of things. I was always taught what we [Christians] think is right, and everyone who disagrees is wrong and I just never listened to the other perspective”.
He is accepting of his upbringing, and uses it as inspiration for his songs and he went on to say, “I’m not in a separationist mindset, where I want to push all that [religion] away, it’s just framing it in a very different way than what I grew up thinking it should be framed like”.
Desert Island Bands
It didn’t take much time for the “Apartment Dream” singer to pick his ‘desert island’ bands/artist, but he meticulously chose the following;
- David Bowie
- Blink-182
- Tyler, The Creator
Final Thoughts
This Nashville native is bringing something new to the music scene; Shane T is a musician who isn’t afraid to take risks when it comes to his powerful lyrics and melodic tones. His newest release represents his ability to shift between sounds.
He wants his listeners to be able to take away different meanings from his lyrics and relate to them in a way that fits for them, he went on to explain, “I want them [listeners] to use their own unique experiences and take away what they will from that”.
You can find Shane T on all streaming services and keep up with him on Instagram: @shanetonline.
Hypnotic Bolt 