Rob Shrug - vocals
Richard Pink - gtr
Oli Heffernan - token youth gtr
Kevin Wall - grumbling bass
Richard O'Brien - drums
Sarah O'Brien - keys
(Nathan Stephenson - (in panto)
(Ben Muriel - Occasional percussion - occasionally)
Influences
The Fall for me. But lots of punk and post punk bands. Super Furry Animals, Swell Maps, The Nightingales, Marc Riley (and the Creepers), Thrilled Skinny, Gang of Four, Punishment of Luxury, The Damned, Joy Divison/New Order, Iggy Pop and the Stooges, Ajay - Donkey/Bent Moustache, The Flaps, The Three Johns, Junior Elvis, Velvet Underground, The Stranglers, Half Man Half Biscuit, No Means No, The Ex, Wat Tyler, Sebadoh, The Membranes, Alice Donut, Thatcher on Acid, Dan, Chumbawamba especially for their dancing! Wilko Johnson, Sensational Alex Harvey Band. To be honest you drink it all in and hopefully spill out something fairly original and suitably worthwhile.
Sounds Like
I don't know. Early Fall gone wrong. There's some Half Man Half Biscuit lunacy and word play in there as well. Inspiral carpet keyboard swirl. We take the anti love song and no guitar solo punk ethos and make a career out of it. We'd like to think people would SHRUG their shoulders here. But then again we would wouldn't we?
1.Doggerland (Thrilled Skinny) 2.Last Train From Station Town 3.Wheres Stevie Gone? 4.Magic Ket! 5.Quango Fandango
Buy now for £4 (inc P&P);
Shrug were formed by Robert Nichols, Richard Pink and sometimes Robert March in the summer of 1985 or thereabouts. October 2005 was the 20th anniversary of our first ever gig, upstairs at The Albert, Middlesbrough. We celebrated that 20th birthday week with a support slot for The Fall (lifetime ambition) and a headline gig for John Peel Day in Stockton's Georgian Theatre. Some week.
We started out with no drummers, then co-opted a drum machine which wouldn't keep time! We being Kev Wall, Richard and Rob Nichols. Sarah O'Brien soon played keyboards for us. Eventually we bit the bullet and brought in some percussion, double trouble, with future Space Raider Gary Bradford and Richie O'Brien.
We released an EP Nevil Wanless in 1988 - and album Septober Octember Nowonder a year later, rushing it out for a German tour - which included a gig in East Berlin and featured 3 drummers, Weg Hornby at 6ft 7" the tallest of our drummers. Carl Sims and earlier Michael "Monk" Sanderson also plied the sticks. Carl sticking (bad joke!) around till 1999.
It's as a live band that most people know us. Whether it was for the 3 drummers drumming. Or me haring around the stage in loads of stupid costumes and masks or just that dynamic orange 60s organ. Oh and there's always the horses head!
There were several more singles, Beardo Weirdo, Building Society and (Return) Mission From Todd and tours abroad in Holland, France, Belgium. A high speed van crash. Not good. Tours with Sebadoh and The Ex. TV appearances, and all sorts of stuff. Richard left, replaced by Dale and then Nathan. And the drummers eventually worked their way back down to one.
We gradually wound down and Kevin grew older. No I'm lying the rest of us grew older, Kevin has a picture in the attic. Then in 2005 we got invited back, Richard rejoined and now we're back with plans for gigs and who knows recordings etc. Should be fun.
You can see a couple of very old interviews with us and a couple of tv appearances from about 18 years ago!! Type in "Crackpan" and "Shrug" on Youtube
Beardo Weirdo Live @ The Hat Factory, Luton 2007
Donna And The Daleks (Tyne Tees 1989)
Sir Walter Raleigh's Fast Food Takeover (BBC 1989)
Alright Rob! Thanks a lot for accepting our friend request Shrug are an awesome band..and a great live act too :) Hope you like our tunes All the best mate RADIO DYNAMICS
Hey.... Thanks for the ad. Yes, Cheshire can be shut and there are many reasons for this.
1. Its boring 2. There are far less pubs in Cheshire than anywhere else in the uk and all churches are not shut but are having a afternoon 'lock in'(not a genuine fact) 3. Gary Barlow is from Cheshire (this does not mean we all have peroxide hair from Cheshire, ...well in the 80's 'some' of us might of) 4. Cheese is very nice, but very dry. Dairy counters always shut, hence dryness. 5. its a lovely round number...
Seroiusly though chaps and chapess. I watched you play at the georgian near the end of last year (thats where I work) and I thought, there class, just down me road that, I shall investigate. So we went to watch you at the waiting room. Are you playing anywhere over the next few months and have you any plans for doing SIRF or MML?
Who has been your influences? (apart from Fall and HMHB, coz thats obvious)
Your dancing cannot possible be the reason! It must be the low appreciation standard of the Dutch considering your music. If you're in for a dance and holiday anyway, come & visit our farm and enjoy the Netherlands holiday-wise.
Robert, I'm delighted to read on Ajay's website that there's a Dutch tour coming up this year! I'm looking forward to some disco dancing together. Make sure you come and visit our farmhouse in the north east of the Netherlands!
hey Shruggies! Brilliant show on Saturday night in Stockton. Great to see the old guard back in the fold. I'm looking forward to our joint tour of the flatlands in May. And the Dutch they will be a weepin'! Ajay
Cheers for last night; especially the converted horse head which made the night for me (that and the constant dedications). This gig organising lark is a doddle. Next stop Glasto.
In what is probably the most insidious scam yet, your account has been phished and you are now (unwittingly) posting bulletins proclaiming the death of someone called Jenny. It's absolutely vile that they are using this as a method to gain account details, but that is what they are doing. Change your password NOW.
