The Shut-Ups profile picture

The Shut-Ups

About Me


We are a five-piece new-wave power-pop band from Atlanta and Athens, GA.We are all about Duty. And Destiny. And Drudgery. We practice every day (excluding Sundays) at 6:00 a.m. sharp. We do more before 8:30 a.m. than most bands do in an entire week. We are not about Pleasure. We are not about Fun. You might enjoy listening to our music. You might not. You might pretend to enjoy it because others whom you respect seem to be enjoying it. It may be that they are pretending, too. In which case you might want to ask yourself what else they're pretending about.

We have three albums out. Our third, The STUD Album: Seduction Strategies for the Twenty-First Century, is loud and skanky. Our fourth, scheduled for release in 2008, is cold and sterile. Our first and second albums defy all modifiers.

We tend to appear. Live. We usually give notice. You could come. If you seem unintelligent, we may ask you to leave. If you speak during the show, we may ask you to leave. If you seem overly enthusiastic, we will definitely ask you to leave.

Sometimes, in the middle of a performance, we grow hungry and pass a sandwich around. The sandwich will not be passed to you. You will not be told what is in the sandwich.

Sometimes we grow bored onstage and do a little light reading. You will not know what we are reading.

Sometimes during a show we meditate until we achieve a state of Oneness. You will not notice any outward signs of this Oneness, but it is not our fault if you are spiritually underdeveloped.

Sometimes, when we are feeling especially formal, each of us wears two ties. You will feel - and be -inadequate.We grade our fans every semester. Harshly. There is a penalty for showing up late to shows. There is a penalty for speaking to us after shows. There is a penalty for dancing ungracefully. And for applauding prematurely. And for using rude words in mixed company. And for drinking to excess.

It may be helpful to re-read Leviticus prior to each performance.

Men must wear a suit and tie. Make sure the belt matches the shoes and that your face is closely shaven (mustaches are optional and must be well-combed). There is a deduction for beards. Women must not expose their knees and in general must take care not to dress too provocatively. We frown on contractions such as "Don't", "Can't" and "Shouldn't", and we abhor the misuse of the words "literally", "hopefully" and "ironic".There are secret bonus points, but they have not been earned and are not likely to be.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 07/02/2006
Band Website: www.shutups.com
Band Members: Don Condescending - Keyboards and Voices
Ben Spraker - Guitars and Voices
Shadraq Meeshaq - More Guitars and Occasional Voices
Teenage Man - Drums
Thaddeus Thompson - Basses, keyboards, and Occasional Voices

Influences: Stanley Kubrick, Flannery O'Connor, Mogendavid, Arthur Fonzarelli, Sensory Processing Disorder.
Sounds Like: No one. But if you must make comparisons, we require them to be favorable and we insist that they include only names from the following list:Prince, Blondie, Joe Jackson, Sparks, Gary Numan, Randy Newman, Donna Summer, Nick Lowe, Sweet, The Cars, Depeche Mode, They Might Be Giants, The Del-Fonics, Kraftwerk, Beach Boys, Adam Ant, & Leonard Bernstein.
Record Label: Waikiki (Japan)
Type of Label: Major

My Blog

Shut-Ups in the studio.

Greetings.It's been awhile since our last post, but we have returned with multi-media! We've already begun recording our next record, and we have been followed into the studio by a mysterious man know...
Posted by on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:08:00 GMT

Japan photos.

We took a brief break from our recording (already?) preparations to upload the photos from our recent tour of Japan. Check out the albums to experience life on the road with your favorite band.
Posted by on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 19:05:00 GMT

More video from Japan.

We are still not at liberty to disclose full details of our trip, as the debrief is not scheduled until January 23 at the GO Bar in Athens. Rest assured that we have heard your requests for more morse...
Posted by on Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:49:00 GMT

We dance in Osaka, Japan

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=hbTXl8TrL3g
Posted by on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 22:47:00 GMT

New photos and mailing list plea.

No, not a plea. A command. More on that in a minute.The Shut-Ups have a new set of photos posted from our show at the Go Bar in Athens this past June. Take a look and relive the glory. Thanks to our f...
Posted by on Tue, 12 Aug 2008 01:28:00 GMT

Updates and new songs.

Spring is in the air, which is full of pollen, which has turned us yellow. However, The Shut-Ups are not known for being yellow (in fact, we dislike most primary colors), as anyone who saw last year's...
Posted by on Sat, 10 May 2008 07:34:00 GMT

Star Bar performance posted on SouthernShelter.com

Greetings, We currently are enjoying the distinction of having a recording of our Star Bar performance from 7-14-07 featured on Southern Shelter (www.southernshelter.com), a website that pos...
Posted by on Tue, 31 Jul 2007 15:18:00 GMT

Another STUD Album review.

The word continues to spread...babysue.com:Shut-Ups - The Stud Album (CD, Fraudulent, Pop)It sometimes seems as if we compare every pure pop band to Ben Folds. It really is amazing how many bands have...
Posted by on Sun, 19 Nov 2006 15:47:00 GMT

Shut-Ups in Stomp & Stammer

It has come to our attention that not everyone has access to the recent article about us in Stomp and Stammer. Though we have serious doubts about the literacy of many of our audience, we will post i...
Posted by on Sun, 13 Aug 2006 19:28:00 GMT

The STUD Album is HERE!

The time has finally arrived.  You've heard it mentioned by people in the street in reverential tones.   You've listened to the songs from the stage in various concert halls.&nbs...
Posted by on Tue, 02 May 2006 05:24:00 GMT