An Interview with Shannon Summit

Listening to the radio today, you hear much of the same type of music played over and over again. If you would like to listen to something a little different, you may want to listen to "Peephole" by Shannon Summit. This is a recently released cd not available in mainstream stores.
I had the opportunity to interview Shannon about his type of music and his cd. His interview offers a good look at what you can expect from "Peephole".

Jamie Burke: How would you introduce yourself to prospective fans?

Shannon Summit: I think I would introduce myself to prospective fans just by asking them to listen to what I do and hope that they enjoy it. I think that if enough people listen, some will really love it. I don't care about everyone liking it. Some won't. I just want to reach the people who are already my fans, but just don't know it yet.

JB: How do you describe your music?

SS: I generally describe my music as a type of pop rock with an emphasis on lyrics. It seems to me that it's very difficult these days to find music in which the lyrics say anything interesting or even entertaining. I have little interest in writing songs that have already been written a million times. Although, I don't consider anything I do to be comedy, I'm not afraid to use my somewhat twisted since of humor. I also like to write about things that you aren't used to hearing about in a song.

JB: At what age did you know that music was your future?

SS: As far back as I can remember, I knew I wanted to be a musician. First, the only instrument I wanted to play was the drumset. But when I was five or six years old, my mother wanted me to take piano lessons. When she told me that if I learned to play the piano I could play any instrument I wanted, I agreed to start piano lessons. So, the piano was really my first instrument. It wasn't until the age of eleven that I finally convinced my parents to get me a set of drums.

JB: What music did you listen to as a child?

SS: As a child, I can't really say that I listened to a great variety of music. Depending on which adult was in charge of the radio, it was either country, pop, or rock and roll. There was some Beatles, Elvis Presley, and whatever was on the radio at the time. There also was a little Ray Stevens. That's probably where I learned that it's ok to put humor in music.

JB: Who or what inspires you?

SS: I'm inspired by people who overcome adversity and go on to do amazing things. I also find people who are very independent thinkers who live life in their own way to be inspirational - whether they are artists with a unique vision (such as Salvador Dali, film director Tim Burton, late comedian Andy Kaufmann) or simply a person who lives his or her life without regard to the norms of society.

JB: How long have you been writing/producing music?

SS: I started writing lyrics when I was about fifteen or so. I was playing drums in a three piece band and was elected to be the vocalist. The guitarist came up with the music and I had to write the words to sing to it. I started writing my own music when I was sixteen or seventeen and got into home recording a couple of years later.

JB: Do you allow events in your life to influence your music?

SS: It's rare that I write a song that is purely autobiographical. I usually just get the spark of an idea from real life, then twist it into something more interesting.

JB: Did you work alone or did others help with the music on your cd "Peephole"?

SS: As far as the music goes on my cd 'Peephole', it's all me. I wrote, played and sang every note - unless you count the dog featured in the song 'Bitter Old Man'. That was my mother's pug, Sadie, who's now in 'Doggie Heaven'. I did have some help with the photography and other artwork for the cd -which was much appreciated.

JB: What is your outlook on the music industry?

SS: I have a pretty grim outlook on the music industry. With just a handful of big corporations owning the majority of radio stations and tv channels, the music that gets played has gotten more and more generic. There is great music out there. You just have to dig for it. I think the chances of a really hot new music scene developing somewhere in the country is getting slimmer. We haven't really seen that happen since the grunge scene in Seattle - unless you count the 'Alt-Country' scene based mainly in Austin (which had a much smaller impact on the mainstream). My worst prediction is that eventually the only musicians making a living will be surviving on corporate sponsorships. Hopefully, before that happens people will get tired of hearing the same song over and over again and the corporations will catch on and start dishing out a little more variety.

JB: Are you involved in other arts besides music?

SS: I'm not really involved in any other arts besides music. I would like to be. But, right now my life just doesn't allow the time.

JB: What can fans expect from you in the future?

SS: It's hard to say exactly which direction my music will be moving in the future. I think I will just continue trying to write better and better songs and present them in a way that does them justice.

JB: What are you most proud of in your life?

SS: My proudest achievement is completing my first cd 'Peephole'. It was really a lot of work to get to a point where I knew I would always be proud of it. Also, there were some psychological barriers to get past. Releasing my first cd had become so important to me that I guess I was a little afraid to actually go through with it. Also, I really exposed myself on that album. So, I had to overcome any fear of criticism that I had. But, in the end I feel like I made a truly unique album that a lot of people really seem to love.

JB: What do you want to be remembered for?

SS: I would like to be remembered as being a good, honest person, who did very little damage to the world, and left behind no debts to anyone.

JB: Anything else you'd like to add?

SS: If people are interested in learning more, they can go to www.myspace.com/shannonsummit to hear a few samples from my cd, send a friendship request, and keep up with where I'm performing. Also, visit my website www.shannonsummit.com where you can find a link to cdbaby where you can hear more samples and order a copy of my cd 'Peephole'. Or, if you're of the downloading type, you can find me on itunes and some other outlets online. Just google me.