The Shills profile picture

The Shills

About Me

Bulldozers & butterflies. The Shills walk a fine line between delicate beauty and jolting, body shaking rock. Formed in early 2004, they have been cultivating a sound built from exacting musicianship & creative flexibility. The Shills stand on the verge of releasing their second full length record titled "Ganymede." "Ganymede" is a concept record about a misanthrope who gets shipwrecked after leaving society to be alone. Without anyone else to focus his hate on he is forced to turn inward & slowly drives himself toward insanity. Experimental in nature, the record finds The Shills exploring new sounds while holding the course set by their previous 2 releases. The Shills draw on a wide range of influences such as The Beatles, Soundgarden, Radiohead, Pearl Jam, Jeff Buckley, Queen, Queens of the Stone Age, Pedro The Lion and many more. With a nod to the past The Shills are making accessible yet challenging new sounds. As a live act The Shills have built a solid following throughout the Boston and New York areas. Their passion and precision on stage will draw you in leave a lasting impression.
PRESS:
"The Shills’ eponymous record is filled with the instrumental artistry one rarely sees. The band locks in with unison sections rarely seen outside of emo or metal, but manages to channel this intensity and focus into genius pop hooks and rock melodies....The Shills set up this record to be an unstoppable celebration of the unexpected song turn....With their debut full-length, The Shills truly put forth a wonderful record that’s worth repeated listens. And they make it all sound so easy."
-Northeast Performer
"On their recently-released, self-titled debut full-length, the young Northeastern group rocks without shame, announcing its strength with a meticulously written album which, if there is any justice in the world, will offer the band plenty of exposure."
-The Maine Switch
"Their live energy is a great asset.....there was an undeniable energy on stage, and it's difficult to argue with The Shills' formula for success."
-Northeast Performer
"This album puts all cards on the table and certainly The Shills will cash in with success if they keep making music as good as that on this album.....The music seems to induce the listener into an almost live performance feel because the brilliance of the sound of The Shills is not lost in the recording studio......The Shills is an artfully constructed album from start to finish and the music of the band is well worth checking out."
-Epinions.com
"The Shills' music is anything but simple, and it's best to view the band's talent live. Check out Sicilian's speedy bass plucking during ''Move On," and Zaner's precision drumming. Murphy and Ryrie rack up stage-presence points, but don't expect flashy costumes or light shows. This no-nonsense band is all about the music, which members hope will blow you away."
-The Boston Herald
"This band comes fully dressed, armed to the teeth, and ready to rock concert venues, arenas and large halls with their enormous, well produced and arranged music and voices."
-Metronome Magazine..

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 9/12/2004
Band Website: www.theshills.net
Band Members: The Shills are: Bryan Murphy Voice, guitar Eric Ryrie Guitar Dave Sicilian Bass James Zaner Drums
Influences: The Beatles, Radiohead, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Queen, Pink Floyd, David Bazan, Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, The Pixies, Jeff Buckley, Mr. Bungle, Ours, Pedro the Lion, Rufus Wainwright, The Darkness, Gov't Mule, Weezer, Coldplay, Hawksley Workman, Foo Fighters, Muse, Supergrass, Superdrag, Oasis, Allman Brothers, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, Spacehog, Ben Folds Five, Cursive, Feist, Headphones, Tom Petty, Nick Drake, Rage Against The Machine, Talking Heads, Fiona Apple, Nirvana, Wilco, Queens of the Stone Age, Spoon and others...
Sounds Like: The Rock Music
Type of Label: Unsigned

My Blog

Middle East Upstairs 11/1

Saturday November 1st we have an amazing show with 3 of our favorite bands on the planet! The Shills w/ This Car Up, Thick As Thieves & Left Hand Does!!! Best. Show. Ever.18+ $9
Posted by on Mon, 20 Oct 2008 10:49:00 GMT

THE SHILLS IN BOSTON & PROVIDENCE THIS WEEKEND!!!

Saturday May 17th @ Bill's Bar - Boston w/ Ellis Ashbrook, Ebu Gogo & Captain Cutthroat.18+ $10Sunday May 18th @ Club Hell - Providence. w/ Ebu Gogo, The Dig & Math The Band.All Ages $7
Posted by on Thu, 15 May 2008 19:24:00 GMT

We do stuff, things happen

Stuff we do: We're in the midst of working on a new record! We've been happily toiling away in our secret labratories cross breeding songs and creating mutant songs. We're about half way done with the...
Posted by on Mon, 25 Feb 2008 08:30:00 GMT

Radio loves us

Rumor has it we were featured as the local band of the week or something, maybe local song of the week. The point is 104.1 WBCN played a bunch of our songs on Friday and told people to come to our sho...
Posted by on Sat, 09 Feb 2008 11:28:00 GMT

Review in Northeast Performer

Check it out:The Shills' eponymous record is filled with the instrumental artistry one rarely sees. The band locks in with unison sections rarely seen outside of emo or metal, but manages to channel t...
Posted by on Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:14:00 GMT

Bills Bar was a fun show.

Thanks to everybody who came out on Saturday night! That was a hell of a rock show! It was great to have Ellis Ashbrook back in town, those are some motherfuckers. For those of you that may have misse...
Posted by on Mon, 21 Jan 2008 21:11:00 GMT

BRAND NEW FULL LENGTH ALBUM

We're happy to announce that we have finished our first full length record! Look out for it on Saturday, November 10th when we will be releasing it at Great Scott in Allston with a little help from o...
Posted by on Sun, 30 Sep 2007 21:59:00 GMT

Updates from the studio!

We're at Blue Jay studios right now recording our new full length to be released in October. Mom gave us all enough lunch (beer) money to last through the sessions. But we're all excited to finally ...
Posted by on Sat, 16 Jun 2007 16:11:00 GMT

Hey! Go check out our new website! and Hey! We got Press!

So yeah. Our website has been spit shined to a blinding gleam and we gave it a new hair cut(kind of retro 80's new wave sheik). We hope you like it. If it gives you an orgasm you may thank the esteeme...
Posted by on Sat, 09 Dec 2006 16:43:00 GMT

CD Release Show a success, Thanks for the support

We'd just like to thank everyone that came out to The Middle East last night. That place was packed!! We really apreciate the support and kind words from everyone. Thank you very much.............Our ...
Posted by on Sun, 10 Sep 2006 07:39:00 GMT