The pandemic opened the gate to many new artists and bands in its wake. Among them was Chris Diorio's brainchild, Shower Beers. Since the success of their EP, The Pregame Properly, Shower Beers returns with a brand new single, "One More Shot," part of their 2024 sophomore release, Miracle on 34th and 3rd.
Important historical moments, like the pandemic, significantly impacted how people composed and recorded music. During the epidemic, Shower Beers used this opportunity to produce the demos for The Pregame Properly EP. The musician would be inspired to keep creating music by the reception this EP received. His passion for college football and his fondness for sipping a cool shower beer before a game inspired him to spread his contagious carefree vibe to everyone.
The success I had with our first EP really opened the door for Shower Beers in regards to collaboration, which I feel is very important in today’s music scene. Suddenly, artists and producers I’ve been a fan of for a while were open to working with me, which was really cool.
Shower Beers' musical journey continues with the release of their new single, "One More Shot." Produced by Rob Freeman in creative collaboration with Australian pop-punk band SoSo, "One More Shot" is inspired by pop punk, specifically the neon era featuring bands like All Time Low and Mayday Parade and other easycore-tinged bands like Four Year Strong, Hit The Lights, and Neck Deep. Featured on Shower Beers' most recent EP, Shower Beers has strived to ensure that Miracle on 34th and 3rd has the same attitude, passion, and spirit behind the project as it did when the first EP was released, despite his production values having grown. While this is only the second part of this journey for Shower Beers, the band wants to continue to deliver this lighthearted message with their next EP and shows moving forward. Shower Beer's sophomore EP, Miracle on 34th and 3rd, is slated for a 2024 release.
What inspired you guys to create Shower Beers? What is the origin behind the band's name?
Chris Diorio: Shower Beers was born in a closet-turned-vocal booth down in Bethany Beach, Delaware during the Covid pandemic. I had been in bands in the past and always enjoyed writing/recording music. With all the free time being stuck indoors, I felt it was as good a time as any to put together an album. Those demos resulted in the first record The Pregame Properly EP. The response to those songs really inspired me to continue the project – to hear from total strangers who discovered and enjoyed Shower Beers’ music was really trippy, and I enjoy building on those sorts of interactions.
The name Shower Beers stems from my love of college football. Ever since college, I had a tradition of drinking a refreshing shower beer before heading to tailgate. The name portrays the degenerate and not-so-serious attitude I try to encapsulate with Shower Beers’ music.
What are your musical influences? How has the use of those influences changed and evolved with the making of your new single, "One More Shot?"
Chris Diorio: I’ve always been a fan of pop-punk, specifically the neon era featuring bands like All Time Low and Mayday Parade. I definitely gravitated toward the easycore-tinged bands like Four Year Strong, Hit The Lights, Neck Deep, etc. Something about comically large choruses, gang vocals, fat riffs, and punk drum beats always hits for me, and I think “One More Shot” is the perfect love letter to that style of music. I think the evolution between this EP and our first comes down to the songwriting and production, as we’re still keeping the core elements that make a Shower Beer song.
I knew going into the songwriting process what a good song required, what worked during our first go-around, and what I would do better this time. I felt more comfortable identifying and including songwriting devices like repetition, callback hooks, and overall motifs during the demo process. I like to think the production matured between EPs 1 and 2, even if Shower Beers’ attitude hasn’t.
How did working with producer Rob Freeman and band SoSo on this single impact the creative process compared to your work on The Pregame Properly EP?
Chris Diorio: The first notable difference was the pressure – you have all the time in the world to drop your first record. Once you get on that wheel though, it doesn’t stop. You gotta start churning out content or you’ll get left behind. Luckily, with that pressure came more experience. I was more comfortable knowing what I had to do to prepare for this EP and the studio session with Rob. I also felt more comfortable in my own DAW which helped me implement more ambient/supporting aspects to tracks like samples, more advanced synth parts, etc.
The creative process is pretty straightforward for a Shower Beers song. Most of what I’ll write is melody-first. So the first step to a song is usually humming melodies that come to me in my Voice Notes app. Once I settle on a melody I like, I’ll start coloring in the blanks based on that melody – what notes can I steal for the guitar riff, how do I build tension in the verse/pre-chorus, what am I repeating and what surprises should I throw in, etc. After I settle on the song structure, I’ll begin writing lyrics – I’ll try to fit SOUNDS first before settling on actual words. Once I know what I want a line to sound like from a vocal standpoint, then I’ll try backing into what the song’s actual message will be. For example in One More Shot, the “counting” aspect (one, two, three) in the chorus came to me first.
Once I knew I wanted that element, then I molded lyrics that made the “counting” make sense story-wise. I also split up the beginnings of parts 1 and 2 of the chorus based on vowel sounds. So the 1st part of the chorus is focused on “ow” sounds (found, bought, count), while the 2nd part is “ie” sounds (I, said, seems). Once most of the song is complete, I’ll start working on window dressing. For example, adding the background clean guitar riff in the intro of the song to allude to the “Feeling This” reference later in the bridge.
The success I had with our first EP really opened the door for Shower Beers in regards to collaboration, which I feel is very important in today’s music scene. Suddenly, artists and producers I’ve been a fan of for a while were open to working with me, which was really cool.
Working with Rob was an awesome experience. He’s such a pro in regards to dialing in tone and getting the best sounds that benefit a record. He also pushed me further than I’ve been pushed previously – if a take wasn’t up to snuff, he would ensure you knew exactly what went wrong and how to try to make it better. He always knew when to step in with a small idea that would make the track that much bigger – cut a pre-chorus here, add more sparkle to this guitar, include some feedback at this point, etc. Rob’s partnership was appreciated and hopefully, a fun callback to his time working with bands like Hit The Lights and Someday Never.
I ended up locking in a feature for every track of “Miracle On 34th & 3rd.” SoSo was a band I had been a fan of since I discovered them during COVID-19 (The Henry Lawson Jive is a heater). Doug from Coe Hill introduced us, and I was thrilled they liked the demo for “One More Shot.” Each vocalist I’m sharing tracks with brings a really unique flavor to the record – nobody has a “bland” vocal style, so it’s really clear to differentiate who is singing what. Having a feature also lifted a ton of weight off of my shoulders. I really do love being in the studio, but I am very self-critical of my voice. So not having to track vocals for certain parts helped me feel a bit more comfortable in the booth – I knew other talented vocalists would come in and break up the lyrical delivery, which I hope would keep the vocals tasty.
Lyrically, "One More Shot" can we dive into the themes of this track a bit? Is this telling a bigger story for the upcoming 2024 EP, Miracle on 34th and 3rd?
Chris Diorio: From a technical standpoint, I’m very strict with how I write lyrics. I will almost always utilize syllable matching, similar sounds, and what I call “passing rhymes” in my lyrics. For example, to kick off One More Shot I sing, “I may have run around, But I never ran away, I may have taken my time, But I asked for you to stay.” On the surface, these are really easy lyrics, but I’m purposefully trying a couple of songwriting devices here. Immediately we have lyrical repetition at the top of each line (I May, But I). I’m also really into syllable matching with 6 syllables on line A and 7 syllables on line B. So syllable-wise, we’re reinforcing an ABAB structure.
The main rhyme scheme however is ABCB (the main rhymes are just “away” and “to stay”), which causes a little dissonance. To add another wrinkle, I’m adding “passing rhymes” at the end of each individual line via the last two words until our final line where we’re rhyming 3 times: “Run Around” in line 1, “Ran Away” in line 2, “My Time” in line 3, and ending with “For You To” in line 4, resulting in an AAAB structure hidden underneath it all. So in those four lines, I’m messing around with 3 separate structures which is kind of fun.
Thematically however, Shower Beers music is almost always going to focus on acting like an idiot with your friends and partying a bit too much because that’s sort of what I like to do. To me, it’s a little funny joke that the lyrical focus is kind of dumb, but I try to be smart about HOW the message is delivered.
In regards to the overarching EP, almost all of the tracks follow this theme. I will say we do have our most serious song to date nestled in between a bunch of pop-punk party anthems – I’m interested to see how folks respond to that.
What else can we expect from you guys moving forward as we come up to the release of the EP?
Chris Diorio: The number one goal I have moving forward is to play some meaningful shows. It’s hard nowadays to tour as a smaller pop-punk artist – you’ve got to bust your ass traveling around to small venues with hit-or-miss crowds, taking time off work just to possibly get your (pretty expensive) gear stolen, or barely make enough revenue to cover gas. Meanwhile, the “content” game refuses to quit and you’ve got to spend half your time “creating” silly clips to remain relevant as a musician. It’s a lot to ask for little in return besides exposure and validation from folks who like your music.
That being said, I think Shower Beers has positioned itself nicely for what may come. We’re located in New York City and have made friends with a good amount of traveling acts. Shower Beers can easily bring a local draw to a few shows a year in one of the biggest markets in the world which I feel makes us a valuable potential opener. There are also a solid number of festivals around the NYC area that would be a dream to snag a slot on.
Beyond making an effort to play live, Shower Beers is going to continue doing what it does best: writing and recording another EP full of big riffs and sky-high vibes. My hope is to build upon our sound while continuing to honor our pop-punk roots. All that to say, if you’re having a pregame anywhere around New York City, please let us know – I’ll bring light beer and maybe some new music.
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