Sharks Keep Moving
Encyclopedia
Sharks Keep Moving were a short-lived Seattle rock band that formed in 1998. The band’s original lineup consisted of Jake Snider
(guitar/vocals), Jeff DeGolier (bass), Nate Turpen (guitar), and Dan Dean (drums), and J. Clark (guitar). Their music was a melodic, often soft, brand of rock with odd time signatures and an almost freeform jazz
influence.
Sharks Keep Moving picked up quickly in the independent rock scene, partially because State Route 522 had found more of fanbase after their demise then they had during their existence. The first recorded output for Sharks Keep Moving came in the form of a split 7” with fellow Seattle natives The Kentucky Pistol (which featured brothers Sonny
and Rocky Votolato
, later members of Bugs In Amber and Waxwing
, respectively). The record was released by Snider on his own label, Henry’s Finest Recordings, and caught the attention of independent music labels Status Recordings, and Second Nature Recordings
, who both expressed interest in releasing material with the band.
The band’s next release was the Desert Strings and Drifters EP on Second Nature. Recorded by respected Seattle producer Matt Bayles
, the four-song EP showed the band delve deeper into melody and odd time-signatures. Lengthy songs and sparse vocals set the tone for the group’s later efforts, along with the incorporation of cello (played by Snider’s future wife, Stephanie Goldade). Desert Strings and Drifters was fairly well-received among independent rock critics, but the group remained largely unknown outside of their home area. They continued to play locally as well as up and down the west coast.
The same year, Sharks Keep Moving recorded two compilation tracks – “Westcott Bay, 1998” was recorded at their home studio for the Living Silent compilation on Status, while the instrumental track “Logger” appeared on the It Goes Without Saying compilation, a CD of all-instrumental songs released by Sign Language Records.
Around this time, Jeff DeGolier left the band and Morgan Henderson
(also of The Blood Brothers) joined as the group’s new bassist. It was this lineup that recorded the group’s only full-length LP. Released by Status in 1999, the record was simply titled Full Length Album and further explored and solidified the sound set forth on their EP. Again recorded with Matt Bayles
, the LP consisted of eight songs (four of which were instrumental) of considerable length, and moved the band into a sound that was even less easy to define than before. Again the record met with fairly high praises from critics, but the band still remained largely unknown, partially due to their inability to tour extensively in support of the record.
In the following year, less and less was heard from Sharks Keep Moving, and after a long period of little to no activity, most assumed that they had broken up, although no official announcement was made. At some point during this hiatus, Dan Dean left the band, and was replaced by former Kill Sadie member J. Clark on drums.
Status Recordings released the State Route 522 Retrospective CD in 2001 – a collection of all of that band’s previous output, minus a few compilation appearances. Within the year, it had been announced that Sharks Keep Moving were, in fact, still a band, and were working on new material. Again, nothing materialized for a while, but Sharks members began to pop up in other bands. Jake Snider formed a new band, Minus the Bear
, with Matt Bayles
and former members of Botch
and Kill Sadie
, and also joined fellow Seattleite Tom Harpel’s group, Onalaska. J. Clark started Pretty Girls Make Graves
with former members of The Murder City Devils and Death Wish Kids, and Morgan Henderson continued to play with the increasingly popular The Blood Brothers.
In 2002, Sharks Keep Moving released their final recording - a three-song EP entitled Pause and Clause. Recorded by Snider with assistance from Onalaska bandmate Tom Harpel at Spectre Studios, the EP was again released by Status Recordings. A final testament to the band’s ever-evolving musical talent, Pause and Clause showed Sharks Keep Moving pushing their signature sound even further into freeform jazz territory. Again, vocals were few and far between, with more complex and distinct guitar parts laid over top of Clark's scattered, technical drumming, and Henderson's flowing basslines. The songs give a feeling of both improvisation and structured songwriting.
In support of the EP, the band toured the west coast for a few weeks before returning to Seattle. Despite hopes that the group would continue, the EP and tour seemed to be more a matter of the band not wanting to leave unfinished business. A final track, “Lime Green Café,” recorded during the Pause and Clause sessions, turned up on the Masculine Makeover compilation, a benefit compilation released by Satellite City. It was the last song released by Sharks Keep Moving.
In the following years, the members of Sharks Keep Moving have found considerably more success with their other bands than they had in Sharks. Snider continues to front the successful Minus the Bear
, who have to date released four full-length albums (the newest being OMNI, released on May 4, 2010) and three EPs with Seattle label Suicide Squeeze Records
(four of which Matt Bayles
produced). He also played with Onalaska on their full-length album, To Sing For Nights. Morgan Henderson continues to record and play with The Blood Brothers, who signed a major label contract in 2002. Clark remained a member of Pretty Girls Make Graves
until their recent break-up, and the band's last two albums were released by indie rock label Matador Records
. Henderson and Dan Dean also played as backing musicians on Rocky Votolato
’s second full length album, Burning My Travels Clean
.
An odds and ends collection of Sharks Keep Moving material was announced by Status following the group’s breakup. The record was to contain all of the band’s 7” and compilation appearances, as well as some possible unreleased material and a remix. To date, this release has not materialized, and no further announcement has been made about the record.
Jake Snider
Jake Snider is the lead vocalist and guitarist in the band Minus the Bear. He also plays guitar in Onalaska. He has previously been a part of the bands Sharks Keep Moving and State Route 522...
(guitar/vocals), Jeff DeGolier (bass), Nate Turpen (guitar), and Dan Dean (drums), and J. Clark (guitar). Their music was a melodic, often soft, brand of rock with odd time signatures and an almost freeform jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
influence.
History
Snider, Turpen, and DeGolier had all previously played in the respected Seattle indie band State Route 522, and had released material with Seattle’s Excursion Records under that name. State Route 522 broke up in 1997, following the release of their Samson Is Apollo EP for Excursion. Jay Clark was still playing with Kill Sadie but worked with the band as another guitarist. Within the next year, Snider, Turpen, and DeGolier found themselves playing together again, but this time leaving behind the post-hardcore sound of their previous band in favor of a much more melodic, but no less technical approach to their music. The band recruited Dan Dean (former drummer of nineironspitfire, another Seattle hardcore band) to round out the lineup. Snider has been quoted as saying that he chose the name Sharks Keep Moving after seeing the term used as a headline for a magazine article.Sharks Keep Moving picked up quickly in the independent rock scene, partially because State Route 522 had found more of fanbase after their demise then they had during their existence. The first recorded output for Sharks Keep Moving came in the form of a split 7” with fellow Seattle natives The Kentucky Pistol (which featured brothers Sonny
Slender Means
Slender Means was an indie rock band from Seattle, Washington. Their debut album, Neon & Ruin on Mt. Fuji Records, was released Tuesday, August 23, 2005 on Mt. Fuji Records. In 2007 they put out a five song E.P. containing previously unreleased material and a live track from the 90.3 KEXP show,...
and Rocky Votolato
Rocky Votolato
Rocky Votolato is an American singer-songwriter. He was born in Dallas, Texas on March 8, 1977. He was raised in a small town called Frost, roughly 50 miles south of Dallas, until the age of 13. After his parents were divorced, his mother remarried and moved the family to the Pacific Northwest...
, later members of Bugs In Amber and Waxwing
Waxwing
The waxwings form the genus Bombycilla of passerine birds. According to most authorities, this is the only genus placed in the family Bombycillidae.-Description:Waxwings are characterised by soft silky plumage...
, respectively). The record was released by Snider on his own label, Henry’s Finest Recordings, and caught the attention of independent music labels Status Recordings, and Second Nature Recordings
Second Nature Recordings
Second Nature Recordings is an independent record label based in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. It specialises in indie rock and punk and co-releases vinyl pressings for other labels...
, who both expressed interest in releasing material with the band.
The band’s next release was the Desert Strings and Drifters EP on Second Nature. Recorded by respected Seattle producer Matt Bayles
Matt Bayles
-Information:Bayles is known for his work with bands such as Isis, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Botch, Mastodon, The Fall of Troy, Minus The Bear, Burnt by the Sun and Norma Jean....
, the four-song EP showed the band delve deeper into melody and odd time-signatures. Lengthy songs and sparse vocals set the tone for the group’s later efforts, along with the incorporation of cello (played by Snider’s future wife, Stephanie Goldade). Desert Strings and Drifters was fairly well-received among independent rock critics, but the group remained largely unknown outside of their home area. They continued to play locally as well as up and down the west coast.
The same year, Sharks Keep Moving recorded two compilation tracks – “Westcott Bay, 1998” was recorded at their home studio for the Living Silent compilation on Status, while the instrumental track “Logger” appeared on the It Goes Without Saying compilation, a CD of all-instrumental songs released by Sign Language Records.
Around this time, Jeff DeGolier left the band and Morgan Henderson
Morgan Henderson
Morgan Henderson is the former bassist of the post-hardcore band The Blood Brothers and the indie rock band Sharks Keep Moving, and the current bassist in the post-punk band Past Lives and a multi-instrumentalist with Seattle-based folk-pop group Fleet Foxes.. Henderson has also been credited for...
(also of The Blood Brothers) joined as the group’s new bassist. It was this lineup that recorded the group’s only full-length LP. Released by Status in 1999, the record was simply titled Full Length Album and further explored and solidified the sound set forth on their EP. Again recorded with Matt Bayles
Matt Bayles
-Information:Bayles is known for his work with bands such as Isis, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Botch, Mastodon, The Fall of Troy, Minus The Bear, Burnt by the Sun and Norma Jean....
, the LP consisted of eight songs (four of which were instrumental) of considerable length, and moved the band into a sound that was even less easy to define than before. Again the record met with fairly high praises from critics, but the band still remained largely unknown, partially due to their inability to tour extensively in support of the record.
In the following year, less and less was heard from Sharks Keep Moving, and after a long period of little to no activity, most assumed that they had broken up, although no official announcement was made. At some point during this hiatus, Dan Dean left the band, and was replaced by former Kill Sadie member J. Clark on drums.
Status Recordings released the State Route 522 Retrospective CD in 2001 – a collection of all of that band’s previous output, minus a few compilation appearances. Within the year, it had been announced that Sharks Keep Moving were, in fact, still a band, and were working on new material. Again, nothing materialized for a while, but Sharks members began to pop up in other bands. Jake Snider formed a new band, Minus the Bear
Minus the Bear
Minus the Bear is an American indie rock band from Seattle, Washington. Founded in 2001, the group features current and former members of Botch, Kill Sadie, and Sharks Keep Moving...
, with Matt Bayles
Matt Bayles
-Information:Bayles is known for his work with bands such as Isis, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Botch, Mastodon, The Fall of Troy, Minus The Bear, Burnt by the Sun and Norma Jean....
and former members of Botch
Botch (band)
Botch was a four-piece mathcore band from Tacoma, Washington, United States, that formed in 1993 and disbanded in 2002.-History:The band released two full-length albums and a handful of smaller releases including several singles and an EP. Its members went on an indefinite hiatus to form Roy,...
and Kill Sadie
Kill Sadie
Kill Sadie was a Minneapolis-based post-hardcore band who formed in 1997 and eventually split in 2001 after a large number of line-up changes. It proved to be a launching ground for several influential modern emo, hardcore, and indie musicians, who found larger success in other outfits such as...
, and also joined fellow Seattleite Tom Harpel’s group, Onalaska. J. Clark started Pretty Girls Make Graves
Pretty Girls Make Graves
Pretty Girls Make Graves was an art punk band, formed in Seattle in 2001, named after The Smiths song of the same name...
with former members of The Murder City Devils and Death Wish Kids, and Morgan Henderson continued to play with the increasingly popular The Blood Brothers.
In 2002, Sharks Keep Moving released their final recording - a three-song EP entitled Pause and Clause. Recorded by Snider with assistance from Onalaska bandmate Tom Harpel at Spectre Studios, the EP was again released by Status Recordings. A final testament to the band’s ever-evolving musical talent, Pause and Clause showed Sharks Keep Moving pushing their signature sound even further into freeform jazz territory. Again, vocals were few and far between, with more complex and distinct guitar parts laid over top of Clark's scattered, technical drumming, and Henderson's flowing basslines. The songs give a feeling of both improvisation and structured songwriting.
In support of the EP, the band toured the west coast for a few weeks before returning to Seattle. Despite hopes that the group would continue, the EP and tour seemed to be more a matter of the band not wanting to leave unfinished business. A final track, “Lime Green Café,” recorded during the Pause and Clause sessions, turned up on the Masculine Makeover compilation, a benefit compilation released by Satellite City. It was the last song released by Sharks Keep Moving.
In the following years, the members of Sharks Keep Moving have found considerably more success with their other bands than they had in Sharks. Snider continues to front the successful Minus the Bear
Minus the Bear
Minus the Bear is an American indie rock band from Seattle, Washington. Founded in 2001, the group features current and former members of Botch, Kill Sadie, and Sharks Keep Moving...
, who have to date released four full-length albums (the newest being OMNI, released on May 4, 2010) and three EPs with Seattle label Suicide Squeeze Records
Suicide Squeeze Records
Suicide Squeeze Records is a Seattle, WA - based independent record label that presses a significant number of 7" vinyl singles in addition to the more prevalent compact discs. The label was started in August 1996 with the release of a 7" single from 764-Hero. The label quickly grew from owner...
(four of which Matt Bayles
Matt Bayles
-Information:Bayles is known for his work with bands such as Isis, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Botch, Mastodon, The Fall of Troy, Minus The Bear, Burnt by the Sun and Norma Jean....
produced). He also played with Onalaska on their full-length album, To Sing For Nights. Morgan Henderson continues to record and play with The Blood Brothers, who signed a major label contract in 2002. Clark remained a member of Pretty Girls Make Graves
Pretty Girls Make Graves
Pretty Girls Make Graves was an art punk band, formed in Seattle in 2001, named after The Smiths song of the same name...
until their recent break-up, and the band's last two albums were released by indie rock label Matador Records
Matador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
. Henderson and Dan Dean also played as backing musicians on Rocky Votolato
Rocky Votolato
Rocky Votolato is an American singer-songwriter. He was born in Dallas, Texas on March 8, 1977. He was raised in a small town called Frost, roughly 50 miles south of Dallas, until the age of 13. After his parents were divorced, his mother remarried and moved the family to the Pacific Northwest...
’s second full length album, Burning My Travels Clean
Burning My Travels Clean
Burning My Travels Clean is an album by Rocky Votolato. It was released on April 16, 2002 by the independent label Second Nature Recordings...
.
An odds and ends collection of Sharks Keep Moving material was announced by Status following the group’s breakup. The record was to contain all of the band’s 7” and compilation appearances, as well as some possible unreleased material and a remix. To date, this release has not materialized, and no further announcement has been made about the record.
7"s and EPs
- Sharks Keep Moving/The Kentucky Pistol Split 7" (Henry's Finest Recordings, 1998)
- Desert Strings and Drifters EP - (Second Nature RecordingsSecond Nature RecordingsSecond Nature Recordings is an independent record label based in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. It specialises in indie rock and punk and co-releases vinyl pressings for other labels...
, 1998) - Pause and Clause EP - (Status, 2002)
Compilations
- "Westcott Bay, 1998" on Living Silent compilation - (Status)
- "Logger" on It Goes Without Saying compilation - (Sign Language Records)
- "Lime Green Café" on The Masculine Makeover compilation - Satellite City Records
- "Jet's Jets" on A Collection compilation - (Redwood Records, 2000)