2020 may now officially be behind us, but that hasn’t changed the uncertainty that has taken over the future of the music industry over the past nine months.

With tours still postponed, releases still being delayed, the new year has only left us longing for more answers and praying for live shows to make their triumphant comeback.

And for artists such as New York’s rock and roll meets grunge quartet Baby Shakes, who had to put off four international tours due to the pandemic and travel restrictions- 2021 is beginning as a year full of hope that life will soon once more return to normal.

We had the chance to chat with Baby Shakes about their 2020 and how the pandemic has impacted them both individually and as a group.

You can read our full interview with the band below, and be sure to support them by checking out their latest singles “Sweet ‘n’ Sour (Pt. 2)” and “Really Really,” out now.

Second Society Report: How are you holding up during the insane year that was 2020? Hopefully your friends and families are staying safe and healthy!

Baby Shakes: We’ve been hanging in there and just trying to make the best of a horrible situation by staying busy and focused. We’ve been safe and we’re glad that all of our friends and loved ones are okay too. 

SSR: Did you have any big releases or tours that were put on hold because of the pandemic? How has that affected the band? (could be personally, financially, morale wise, etc.)

Baby Shakes: Yes, we’ve had a few tours that were cancelled due to the pandemic, starting with a European tour that we had booked in March to support our last LP Cause a Scene. In addition we’ve had 3 other tours (U.K. Europe and Canada) cancelled since the pandemic as well as a few festivals and a supporting slot for the Lunachicks here in New York. It would’ve been a really busy year for us, but that’s the state of the world now and we’ve all had to make sacrifices. 

SSR: How have you been spending your newfound “downtime” while the world has been essentially shut down? 

Baby Shakes: Taking up new hobbies and trying to perfect old ones; playing instruments, sewing, drawing and writing. We’ve also been trying to stay calm and take care of ourselves, catching up on TV, movies, reading, cooking good meals and trying to exercise at home to keep ourselves moving. 

SSR: Have you picked up any new hobbies while quarantining that you’d like to share?

Baby Shakes: Yoga and cooking. We also made a homemade quarantine music video that’s on youtube, it’s a glance into life in lockdown. 

SSR: Have you worked on any new releases during this time? Any that are already out or that we can get a sneak peak of?  

Baby Shakes: We just had a release on the fabulous Dimple Discs label that is one of 2 singles from the EP collaboration with Billy and Damian of the Undertones. So, look out for the follow up coming your way pretty soon, it’s just as catchy as the first one. In the meantime, we’re writing some new songs of our own and hope to record and release an LP by the time this pandemic let’s up and it’s safe to tour again.

You can listen to the tracks here. 

SSR: If already out- what was the inspiration for the release? Have you written any songs specifically about the state of the world right now?

Baby Shakes: The idea for the collaboration was spearheaded by drummer Billy Doherty, after we played a show with his band the Undertones. They’ve always been a big inspiration on our music so we jumped at the opportunity to be produced by and record with them.

We usually write about having fun or things that make us feel happy or angry as a release to get out our frustrations. So yes, we have some new songs that we’ve been writing about the current state of the world, there’s been a lot of mixed emotions that we needed to release. 

SSR: How has it been being an artist in a time when you cannot tour? How have you been working to promote your music and expand your reach? 

Baby Shakes: Interviews and online features definitely help so thanks for having us. We’ve also been making DJ playlists on Spotify with some of our favorite songs by other bands for our fans listening pleasure. We had a monthly radio show, made a few homemade music videos on our iphones as well as a professional music video filmed in our friend’s home studio. We’re also just trying to reach out and communicate with fans on social media as much as possible. People have been writing to us a lot and we try to be as responsive as we can. 

SSR: Do you have any words of advice for fans that are feeling particularly bummed out about the live music world coming to a halt?

Baby Shakes: It’s important to realize that we’re all going through this together, it really stinks right now, but when we can perform and attend live shows again with our friends, it’ll be even greater than it was before! All the pent up energy and excitement will be explosive! Can’t wait for those days to come and they’re just around the corner. 

SSR: When the world returns to a safer spot and we are able to (hopefully) attend live shows again- what do you hope to achieve? 

Baby Shakes: We still want to play that show with the Lunachicks and we hope to rebook all of the tour dates that got cancelled this year. We also want to play in places we’ve never been to before like Australia, Hawaii and Russia.

SSR: Is there anything you wish your fans would know about you or about the current state of the music world?

Baby Shakes: It’s important to support and participate as much as you can, buy merch and records if you can afford to do so, if not stream them on the internet and help spread the word to your friends on social media about bands that you like. We hope people have been inspired to become DJs or to start their own bands during this time as well. It’s the best time to create and to discover something new. 

You can stream Baby Shakes’ latest releases “Sweet ‘n’ Sour (Pt. 2)” and “Really Really,” out now. 

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