Sneaking in late evening with today’s act who will start this interview by making you both hungry and thirsty…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We’re from Belgium the land of chocolate and beer.
How did you meet?
I’m from Gent in Belgium, a small city in Flanders but with a big musical background, lots of bands and gigs all over town.
I’ve played there in rock & metal bands and ended up being a professional musician and songwriter for other artists. After writing a lot of pop tunes I wanted to do something that I missed in my life and write some classic rock/blues rock based songs. I had gotten to know quite some top session musicians and asked them to play on my record after making a click on stage doing some corporate gigs. We’ve been a well-oiled machine ever since. I call Wouter & Eric “The Million Men” cause they sound so big with just the two of them.
How long have you been playing as a band?
From the time I started the project back in 2015.
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Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
It’s what my best friend called me back in the day. Listening to a lot of classic rock and every time the song “Voodoo” from Black Sabbath came on (The Live Evil version) Dio would sing “There’s EVIL there” and he turned it into “There’s SHTEVIL there!”. I know it’s not the most commercial name out there but it stuck with me…
What are your influences?
I listen to a wide variety of music… Led Zeppelin, Grand Funk Railroad, Mountain, Thin Lizzy, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Elvis, Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Kanye West The classics with some modern stuff thrown in… like our sound.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Even though we are rooted in that old school Classic Rock vibe, we’re never stuck in trying to recreate anything retro, we’re into all kinds of music because of our background. And also, very importantly, we put the song before anything.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
It’s rooted in human behaviour, my own experiences and observations. Stuff you can keep talking about till the end of times I guess.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
I’ve lost count, played big to very little venues and we try to make it into a celebration everywhere we go. I love to get that reaction from a crowd and feed off of that. They’re very much part of the show.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
Seen, Bruce playing 4 hours straight in Stade De France without losing an ounce of energy. Unreal. For one of our shows, we’re always very energetic so guitars can fly across the stage or I’ll go in the crowd. But I love the time we did a little acoustic set and got this very young kid to sit in with us on one song unrehearsed and he nailed it.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Drums: Yamaha & Zildjian
Bass: Fender P Bass is getting the most action these days and plugged into a Silver faced Fender Bassman.
Guitar: I have 1994 Les Paul Standard I’ve been using forever and I switch it up with stock Fender American telecaster from 2013. I also use this very cool 3 string guitar called a LOOG I bought in Nashville. I use it on the song “I wanna be your moneys friend” and I’ve got it tuned to an open G so I can throw it in the crowd and literally anyone can jam with the band.
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What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
We’ve got a brand spanking new EP called Thank You so go check that out!
What are your plans for the next 6 months or so?
Well, normally we were set to head out and tour but looks like we don’t know when that’ll be happening. So I’ll be here making new tunes and recoding some live versions so keep an eye out for those on the socials.
Opening up for us would be Hyper. Band of young and very talented guys who got a lot of potential and fire in them, so go check them out! Then we would warm up the crowd for “Rival Sons”. That band has everything, amazing musicians, songs and in my opinion the best frontman and voice rock has to offer these days. Rock & Roll with a lot of soul.
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