Shallow Side offer up near-death riff rock on “Sound The Alarm”
A touring band on the road getting drunk and raising some hell is about as unusual as people yelling at a flatscreen at a sports bar during a playoff week. A band dude getting blind drunk and ending up in ER triage? That’s some scary hell, right there.
Today we premiere the new video for “Sound The Alarm,” the single from Alabaman rock unit Shallow Side. The song, slated to appear on the band’s full-length Saints & Sinners, was born from a near-death experience frontman Eric Boatright went through.
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While Shallow Side were on tour in Jacksonville, Florida, with Saving Abel in the spring of 2016, they raged a bit harder than most humans should. “This day in particular came on an off day on the beach where the sun and Knob Creek would become my own worst enemy,” Boatright recalls. “With the weather in perfection and the drinks heavily flowing, I found myself searching for a familiar face as I crossed bars and streets. Then, all of a sudden, I came to.
“In the puddle of blood my face was laying in, I could hear Heath [Fields, drummer] saying, ‘Boat, hey man! Look at me. Can you hear me?’ I opened an eye to see the blood dripping from my nose and ear. Blackout. The second time I opened my eyes, I was in a hospital emergency room. It seemed exactly like a movie because the second I came to in the first emergency room I zoned in on the phrase ‘swelling and trauma unit, stat.’ Bam! Blackout.
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“A third time I woke up in the ambulance as they are trying to keep me awake, explaining I’ve had a severe skull fracture and brain hemorrhage. The only words I could muster up were, ‘Am I going to make it?’ Reading the room is a talent I have. Far greater than any other ability I’ve been blessed with, and that night, the silence needed no talent. It said everything without words. They had no clue. They’d scan my CAT a few times more and continue to wake me in trauma one as other patients came in. Limbs missing and blood-curdling screams would ring out as if the nightmare had became all of our realities. The humans that work as first responders are more than the rest of us, and that’s a fact.
“After two days in the ICU, I walked out of the hospital on my own and made my way home to Nashville where I’d spend another month terrified of doors, sharp objects, countertops, as well as the ever-daunting question, ‘Would I be able to perform again?’ Touring as much as we have, I’ve been lucky enough to meet some real heroes that went through some extremely difficult situations in the military. A lot with similar injuries. TBI was my diagnosis, and I found comfort with combat heroes who would explain things will be different for a bit, but you’ll find yourself again.
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“I went through that difficult couple of months with extreme headaches and flashbacks that made sleep impossible and conversations difficult to follow. Continuing to push through, we hit the road again, and I never revisited the situation until we hit the studio with ‘Elvis’ Baskette [The Amity Affliction, Blessthefall]. The riff was there, the chord progression screamed triumph and I felt it was my duty to explain in song that life will inevitably take us all. What will we do with the time that’s allowed? Strip down, fully exposed, balls to the wall. That’s the only way to make things work. Pure and wholeheartedly, because when it’s all said and done, this will all have made no difference unless you start sounding off your own alarm!”
The video was lensed by the good people at Red 13 Studios in Framingham, Massachusetts. After taking a red-eye flight, the band entered the studio to film the video. “We wanted to add our life elements into the scenery,” Boatright says. “With temptations, self-deprivation and debauchery being highest on the list, we started the film in working order showing all sides. We had a lot of fun working on this video which only sparked ideas and movement for our next upcoming video.”
Check out “Sound The Alarm” below.
After a series of three EPs, Shallow Side will have their proper debut LP, Saints & Sinners, released July 26 via Thermal Entertainment. You can stream or download “Sound The Alarm” here. The band are also hitting the road next month with tickets available here.
Dates:
06/01 – Mansfield, OH @ Shockwave Music Festival
06/04 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Crafthouse Stage & Grill
06/07 – Richmond, VA @ Canal Club (w/ Texas Hippie Coalition)
06/15 – Akron, OH @ The Empire Concert Club
06/19 – Lancaster, PA @ The Lizard Lounge at Chameleon Club
06/20 – Providence, RI @ Fete Music Hall
06/21– Poughkeepsie, NY @ The Loft (Chance Theater)
06/22 – Hampton Beach, NH @ Wally’s (w/ Prospect Hill)
06/23 – Clifton, NJ @ Dingbatz
06/28 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade (w/ Framing Hanley)
06/29 – Memphis, TN @ Growlers (w/Framing Hanley)
06/30 – Nashville, TN @ High Watt
