contact: steve fantasia phone: 3 0.889.5692 [email protected]

contact: steve fantasia
phone: 310.889.5692
[email protected]
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contact: steve fantasia
phone: 310.889.5692
[email protected]
Bio
Between Guitar Hero and Rock Band, Shaimus has forcibly (but legally) entered the homes of millions of people around the world. The Los Angeles-based rock band’s song “Like a Fool” has lit a fire
under plastic instrument-wielding rockers everywhere as a free download for Rock Band 2; the tune
also helps to usher in the next phase of Shaimus music with their second album, The Sad Thing Is,
We Like It Here—a collection of songs that showcases the band’s knack for memorable hooks, soulful
vocals and intricate-yet-somehow-tasteful playing.
The five members of Shaimus joined forces toward the end of 2004 while attending Berklee College
of Music in Boston. The quintet began locking in with each other musically almost immediately, and
soon began work on their debut album, Paper Sun. The disc had its genesis in the late night abandoned cubicles of the Rhode Island Food Bank and was completed in cramped apartment bedrooms
and other non-prestigious locations. Partway through the hasty recording process, “All Of This” was
tapped by a little known company called Harmonix to be in a quirky new game called Guitar Hero.
This would become the catalyst for Shaimus’ worldwide proliferation of rock.
Shortly after Shaimus’ cross-country pilgrimage to the City of Angels in 2005, Guitar Hero exploded
into a burgeoning pop culture phenomenon and left the band with an unexpected demand for their
bouncy first single and its accompanying album. Rushing to get Paper Sun out in a timely fashion,
the album was self-released in February 2006 and met with a positive response—thousands of CDs
sold, tens of thousands of iTunes sales, multiple five-star reviews, licensing for MTV Networks and an
international cooking show seen in 22 countries, radio play on mainstream, indie and satellite radio,
and an invitation to perform at the E3 video game convention.
Shaimus’ live shows, marked by energy, unadulterated volume, ripping guitar solos and sweatdrenched wristbands became the band’s trademark and led to a win at B.B. King’s Battle of the Bands
in Universal City and a 7-month residency in an LA rock club. With a newly refined style and a steady
demand from their fans, the guys realized it was time to record a new album—one that would prove
just how far they’d come since Paper Sun.
The result was 2009’s The Sad Thing Is, We Like It Here, with themes of morality, mundanity and
generational impassivity, plus the standard serving of love and ire that accompany most quality music.
Add to that a rhythm section that’s as solid as a petrified redwood trunk and guitar licks so acidic they
could melt just about any face, and you have the rock gospel according to Shaimus. The Sad Thing
Is, We Like It Here was highly anticipated noted by a sold out CD release party on March 4th, 2009
and a delightfully high number of pre-orders.
Thanks to the inclusion of “Like a Fool” in Rock Band 2, music videos for “Turn the Other Way” (2008
International Songwriting Competition Semi-Finalist) and “Interview”, a promotional agreement with
MySpace Records, and licensing for “Tie You Down” and “Let Go” to Sony/Screen Gems thriller “The
Roommate” (2010) Shaimus continues taking steps toward the band’s single, modest goal: total world
domination.
Shaimus is not currently signed to a label.
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contact: steve fantasia
phone: 310.889.5692
[email protected]
Cold Hard Facts
à Songs featured in hit video games Rock Band 2 (“Like A Fool”, “All Of This” and “Tie You
Down”) and Guitar Hero (“All Of This”)
à Music licensed to Sony/Screen Gems 2010 release “The Roommate” (“Let Go”, “Tie You
Down”) and to international cooking show “Bill’s Food” (“Left To Dry”)
à 2008 International Songwriting Competition Semi-Finalists (“Turn The Other Way”)
à Radio airplay on 98.7 FM (Los Angeles), Sophie 103.7 FM (San Diego), XM and College stations (regular rotation), top 25 on UCLA charts
à Publishing/Licensing agreement with North Star Media seeking film and TV placements,
creative branding partnerships and digital marketing strategy
à Promotional “Friends” agreement with MySpace Records
à Numerous appearances and performances on live interactive internet channel thestream.tv
à Winner, BB King’s Battle of the Bands, September 2006
(judges affiliated with Interscope, CAA, and the Grammys)
à Performed at E3 2006 at RedOctane booth (winner of best in E3)
à 5,000 CDs, over 30,000 iTunes sales
à 5,000 visitors per month to Shaimus.com; over 350,000 plays/170,000 visits on MySpace.com
Mailing list of 2,000 subscribers; 30,000 YouTube music video views
à Invited by iVideosongs.com to record guitar instructional videos
à Featured on Pandora™ Internet Radio
Recent Venues:
Troubadour
Hotel Cafe
University of Southern California
Harvey Mudd University
Loyola Marymount University
The Mint
Los Angeles Convention Center
BB King’s Blues Club
The Roxy
Club Fred
Brick By Brick
Berbati’s Pan
The Rainbow
West Hollywood, CA
Hollywood, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Claremont, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA (sold out for 2009 CD release)
Los Angeles, CA (E3 2006)
Universal City, CA (Battle of the Bands Winners)
Hollywood, CA
Fresno, CA
San Diego, CA
Portland, OR
Seattle, WA
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contact: steve fantasia
phone: 310.889.5692
[email protected]
Selected Press Coverage
Ears Wide Open: Shaimus
February 24th, 2009
by Kevin Bronson
Bands such as Shaimus are hardly a threat to become hipster favorites — purveyors of by-thediagrams pop-rock, they are almost ridiculously competent, and largely irony-free. Indie it isn’t.
Commercially viable and hookier than hell it is. This quintet honed their chops at Boston’s Berklee
School of Music before heading west, and its sophomore album, “The Sad Thing Is, We Like It
Here,” features music in “Rock Band 2″ (they’ve also had music in “Guitar Hero”).
(From 2002 until mid-2008, Kevin Bronson wrote the weekly Buzz Bands column and blog for the
Los Angeles Times)
Hail to the geeks
August 3rd, 2006
by Cody Ellerd
From ring tones to online forums like Myspace, there are lots of creative ways a band can make it
big these days. Islander Cameron Brousseau, a 21-year-old student at Boston’s Berklee College of
Music, owes the recent success of his band Shaimus to a video game.
Their song “All of This’’ was featured on the soundtrack of Guitar Hero, a popular video game for
PlayStation 2 that allows players to unleash their inner rock star by “playing’’ guitar on the controller
along with some of rock ‘n roll’s greatest anthems.
Brousseau, who plays drums in the band, said that at their live shows, they could always spot the
video game geeks in the crowd. “You’ll see these younger kids who know all the words to that
song. And they’re wearing Guitar Hero T-shirts.’’
The summer is giving the band an opportunity to tour the West Coast. They hit L.A., where they
played the gigantic E3 gaming convention, and are now in Seattle to play three shows, one on Mrs.
Brousseau’s front lawn, one at the Rainbow in Seattle’s University District on Wednesday, August 2
and the Dubliner in Fremont on August 3.
More information and music is at www.myspace.com/shaimus or www.shaimus.com.
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contact: steve fantasia
phone: 310.889.5692
[email protected]
Who Wants to Be a Rock Star?
January 23rd, 2008
“I’d never even heard of Heart before I started playing ‘Guitar Hero,’” McCausland said. “Now I
know a lot about them. For instance, I’ve learned they were the originators of female rock, and
they are still alive and still performing. They’ve sold over 30 million albums worldwide. It’s pretty
incredible.” It also teaches all the old fogies about the great new bands like Muse, a band that
McCausland calls “the ‘Queen’ of the 21st century.” “Guitar Hero” has also provided an opportunity for some of the lesser-known bands, such as Freezepop and Shaimus, to gain exposure.
Berklee Today
Vol. 18, Issue 3
Alumnotes 2005
The band Shaimus, featuring Evan Brown ‘05, Phil Beaudreau ‘04, Johannes
Raassina ‘03, Dave Middleton ‘07, and Cam Brousseau ‘07, recorded a CD
entitled Paper Sun. The track “All of This” is featured in the PlayStation 2
game Guitar Hero.
Reviews of debut album Paper Sun
Sputnik Music
2/19/07
Grade: 94%
“Paper Sun delivers soulful tracks akin to Guster, Phantom Planet, and Rooney, while still distancing
itself from these artists to a fascinating degree ... The biggest reason why Paper Sun has loads of
playback value is in Shaimus’ ability to consistently write catchy pop-rock tracks laden with addictive instrumental and vocal hooks ... Filled with attractive piano progressions, fetching guitarlines
and superb solos, strong vocals, and a consistently rock-solid rhythm section, Shaimus deliver an
incredibly exceptional album with Paper Sun.”
Prop Culture
5/29/06
Rating: 5/5
“Writing a good Pop/Rock song may be one of the hardest things to do in music, yet Shaimus nailed
it 10 times on the same album ... Shaimus definitely can increase your pulse rate through intricate
guitar play and excellent composition, then slow things down without making the listener think,
‘This doesn’t fit’ ... Simply put, Shaimus created a fantastic piece of art with Paper Sun. I cannot
recommend this album highly enough.”
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