Seattle’s fast-rising alternative outfit Sharkeologist return with their explosive new single 'There Will Be Bread', a high-energy introduction to their forthcoming EP 'TAXIDERMY IS FOREVER', set for release in May. Since emerging in 2024, the band have quickly built a reputation for their genre-blurring sound; melding indie, punk, pop, and grunge into something both emotionally charged and irresistibly immediate.
Driven by gritty guitars, pounding rhythms, shimmering keys, and a striking saxophone feature from Grammy-winning musician Johnny Butler, 'There Will Be Bread' captures the band at their most dynamic. Beneath its danceable, riff-heavy exterior lies a restless lyrical core, exploring uncomfortable questions around authenticity, connection, and whether the people we rely on truly care, or are simply driven by self-interest.
So with the new single out now, we sat down with them to find out more about their origins and what has been inspiring them most over the years.
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What was the first instrument you fell in love with?
The first instrument I ever fell in love with was the plastic toy guitar that my parents got me for my 3rd birthday.
What kind of music did you love when you were younger?
When I was very young I would go on long drives with my dad and listen to his collection of tapes; we’d listen to Little Richard, Elvis, and Fats Domino while we drove in his fancy German car and he’d smoke cigarillos. That was the music, and the vibe, I remember falling in love with first. Excellent memories.
What was the first album you remember owning?
Nirvana’s “Nevermind” was the first CD I ever bought with my own money. Still have that exactly same copy. Bought it from a Warehouse Music store, if you remember those.
What is the one song you wished you could have written yourself?
I could give you a different answer to this question with every passing breath - there are just too many. But I’ll give you one that you might not expect, and it really is just a single moment: the beginning of the second movement of Rachmaninoff’s third piano concerto, the orchestral interlude before the piano comes in. I am painfully aware of how pretentious this answer may seem, but I have listened to that single moment of music more than any other in my life - and that includes “Nevermind” and all those Fats Domino tunes with my dad. I have wept listening to it. I wish I had the complexity of musical thought and the vision to write something so achingly beautiful.
Do you have any habits or rituals you go through when trying to write new music?
This question has two answers. First is a pragmatic one: I once heard a songwriter say that the surest cure for writer’s block is writing a lot, doing it consistently, and not judging the many horrible ideas you’ll generate before you happen onto something good. “Try to write a bad song every day for a week,” she commented, “you won’t be able to do it!” Her point was that eventually, if you keep grinding at it and producing horrible ideas, you’ll fart out a good one, and you’ll be on your way.
Second answer: sometimes I just get hit by an animalistic urge to write - like EVERYTHING MUST STOP AND I HAVE TO DO THIS RIGHT NOW. It feels like ants under your skin, or an itch on the bottom of your foot when you have hiking boots on. You just have to scratch it. They feel manic, in the good and bad senses of that word. Like riding lightning.
Who are your favourite artists you have found yourself listening to at the moment?
I absolutely loved the new Deftones record “private music;” like Rachmaninoff, it rewards repeated listening. Very inspired by that right now. I also love the new Agriculture album: my god, the song “Bodhidharma” is one of the most arresting pieces of art I’ve heard in a while. And I gotta say, “End of Beginning” by Djo is just incredible. What a relatable, poignant, banging groover that is. But I mean, fuck that guy for being so handsome and successful. Some people don’t know when to stop.
If you could open a show for anyone in the world, who would it be?
I would love to open for Deftones, but I think their audience wouldn’t be into it. And we’d be outshined by Chino and the gang anyway. But it would be fun to open for a band that (selfishly, narcissistically), I was convinced did not rock as hard as us, so we could upstage them. Our energy on stage is our biggest selling point, and I like the thought of being the opener that gets people saying “wait, where did they come from?”
So…I’d love to open for Maroon 5. We’d rock way harder than those guys.
What do you find is the most rewarding part about being a musician?
It makes me feel alive. Many other parts of my life - my day job, my marriage, my family - fulfill me so deeply. But playing and writing music makes a very young and tender part of me feel like it’s still alive. That it hasn’t shriveled up. It makes me feel like things are still possible. Like the future isn’t written yet.
And what is the most frustrating part?
The worst part of all this is narcissism. It’s the way in which my value as a human being gets wrapped up in how my band’s music is received. At times, my fragile ego needs everyone on planet Earth to love my music, to come to our shows, to like our social media posts. And in those moments, the art I make, and the internal place from which I make it, gets buried and forgotten. It’s like there is no inherent value to my art - or to me - in moments like that. And so every show becomes a crucible of self-worth, and every musical releases a validation or condemnation of my place on this earth. I cannot express to you how much I hate that. It’s gotten better recently…because I see my therapist twice a week.
And what is the best piece of advice you have received as a musician?
Just fucking do it. Write that song. Release that album. Play that show. And get your ego out of it. Life is too short, the opportunities too scarce. If you make art, you have a gift and a responsibility to the world to pursue it. Doesn’t matter if you’re Rachmaninoff writing symphonies or some dad in a basement somewhere churning out songs about your therapist (hint, hint). Do it. You have no other choice.
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Sharkeologist's new single 'There Will Be Bread' is out now. Check it out in the player below.