SHINEDOWN bassist and producer Eric Bass spoke to FaceCulture about the band’s newly released two singles, ” “, which were made available on January 24 via Atlantic Records. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET) “The first song is a song called ‘Three Six Five’, and Brent [Smith, SHINEDOWN singer] and I wrote that song about — well, we really wrote it about a lot of stuff. We wrote it about my father’s death. Aside from my father’s illness, my sister-in-law had cancer and lived with us for a long time and she passed away. My aunt, who was basically my second mother, passed away. My mentor, Doug McKean, passed away. This all happened within about a two-year period, all this death took place. And so we wrote this song called ‘Three Six Five’ about 365 days, and the hook of the song is ‘a lot can happen in a year’. So, the song means a lot to me. There’s a lot of personal stuff tied up in that song.”
He continued: “The other song is a heavy rocker called ‘Dance, Kid, Dance’, and that song is about how, as a society, we put kids on a lot of pharmaceutical drugs, at least in America we do, for sure — a lot of antidepressants and Ritalin and things like this. And by the way, that’s one place that I was fortunate as a child. I was diagnosed with what was just termed as ADD back in the 1970s when I was was diagnosed with it, but there was no ‘H’ in ADHD. But they wanted to put me on Ritalin, and my mother said no, which I’m really happy she didn’t. At the time, me being a kid, I wasn’t sure how to navigate those waters.
“So that’s what the two songs are,” he added. “I think ‘Dance, Kid, Dance’ is a really good rock track, man. It’s super-heavy and slamming. And ‘Three Six Five’ has a lot of heart in it, much in the way that ‘A Symptom Of Being Human’ and ‘Second Chance’ and songs like that do. So we’re super excited about it, man.”
Regarding a possible release date for the next SHINEDOWN studio album, Eric said: “We were just tracking [for it] yesterday. I would say we’re probably two-thirds — maybe even more than that — two-thirds of the way through making the record at this point. We’re just not sure of a release date for it. It will probably be later in the year — July, I would imagine, somewhere around in there. That’s just an arbitrary guess.”
Earlier in the month, Brent addressed the fact that “Three Six Five” and “Dance, Kid, Dance” are musically completely different from each other, telling Audacy Check In: “I think it definitely had a bit more tempo than maybe the last song that people were familiar with on maybe the more mainstream-leaning, pop-leaning-type songs. So we kind of bumped up the BPMs a little bit on that. And ‘Dance, Kid, Dance’, we just went to the wall with that.”
He continued: “It’s interesting. I had a friend of mine the other day say to me, ‘Are you a rock band? Are you a metal band? Are you an alternative band? Are you a pop [band]? What are you?’ And I’m, like, ‘We’re just SHINEDOWN.’ We play in a big sandbox.
“We’ve always been a genre-bending band because we’re inspired by a lot of different styles and we’re constantly evolving,” Brent said. “So we felt like the right move, with the first new material that people would hear from us, that we gave them kind of two sides of us.”
Elaborating on SHINEDOWN‘s need to explore a variety of different styles on each album, Brent said: “I think along the way, people started to get pigeonholed or they started using boxes or ‘stay in your lane’ or ‘you’re only this genre’.
“When you expand your palette sonically or what have you, you’re just trying to reach as much of the audience as you can. Some days you feel like you wanna throw down and rock, some days you’re a little bit more emotional. But that’s the beauty of music, man. It constantly evolves. And the only thing that we’ve ever done in this band is anybody from anywhere at any time, we wanted them to be able to know that SHINEDOWN has a lot of peaks and valleys, kind of like a rollercoaster ride. But there’s something for everyone.”
The two new singles embody the many multifaceted talents of the SHINEDOWN: One part rock ‘n’ roll dynamism and one part incredible songwriting and passion. “Dance, Kid, Dance” hits hard right out of the gate with incredibly heavy guitars and a tempo that just doesn’t quit. It’s part social commentary and part “don’t overthink it, let’s just rock out and LET’S DANCE!” The song pushes boundaries and is a reminder of why SHINEDOWN hold the record for the most No. 1 songs at Active Rock Radio of all time with “Dance, Kid, Dance”.
“Three Six Five” is an example of the band’s ability to tackle the tough subjects through impeccable songwriting. Anyone who has ever experienced loss knows that every day we draw breath is an opportunity to live out loud — to live for those we have lost. At its core, “Three Six Five” is a reminder to stop wasting time and focus on the moments we have right now and treasure time with the ones you love the most. The song honors the people in our lives who aren’t with us anymore. It reminds us to stop taking time for granted, because it’s not promised. Take chances, be bold, and don’t sweat the small stuff, because as the song says: a lot can happen in a year. “Even though I said all the things that mattered most, while I held on tight to the end of the rope, I could keep you close, but I couldn’t keep you here, a lot can happen in a year.”
Smith and Bass co-wrote “Three Six Five”, and “Dance, Kid, Dance” was co-written by Smith, Bass and Dave Bassett. The songs were produced by Bass at his own Big Animal Studio in Charleston, South Carolina.
When “Three Six Five” and “Dance, Kid, Dance” were first released, Smith said: “We needed to approach everything different this time… The last two albums were both conceptual so it was important for us to really ask ourselves creatively where do we want to go. The answer to that was we want to go everywhere so there was no specific direction. We just started writing, and let the new songs guide us. I also think we stopped saying ‘why?’ and started saying ‘why not?'”
In celebration of the new songs for 2025, the “Dance, Kid, Dance” tour kicks off on April 25 in Des Moines, Iowa and will be one of the band’s largest U.S. tours ever. The 35-date run will hit some of the country’s most iconic venues, including New York’s Madison Square Garden (July 20),Boston’s TD Garden (July 19) and Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena (May 10) and more! Joining them on the tour are BEARTOOTH and BUSH (on select dates),as well as Morgan Wade on all shows.
For the tour SHINEDOWN has teamed up with Musicians On Call (MOC) and will be donating $1 for every ticket sold for the tour. As the nation’s leading provider of live music in hospitals, Musicians On Call has delivered the healing power of music to patients, families and caregivers in healthcare environments for 25 years. More than one million people across all 50 states have experienced the joys of live music in the hospital setting through MOC‘s bedside, virtual and streaming programs. MOC Volunteers perform live for children and adults facing any health challenge, including Veterans recovering in VA facilities, family members supporting loved ones in need and healthcare workers caring for patients. The collaboration is just one of the many charities SHINEDOWN supports as they frequently give back to organizations in need.
Smith said: “When we were thinking about touring, we had certain artists in mind,” he continued. “Instead of being of the mindset that they wouldn’t want to come out to tour with us, we just asked them — and they said yes. Honestly, it’s quite humbling, we are extremely excited for this new chapter, and tour. SO LET’S GO!!!!”
Last week, SHINEDOWN was nominated for numerous iHeartRadio Music Awards including “Rock Song Of The Year” for “A Symptom Of Being Human”, “Rock Artist Of The Year”, and Sanjay Parikh was nominated for “Favorite Tour Photographer” for SHINEDOWN. The new nods bring the band to a total of 13 iHeartRadio Music Awards since the band’s inception with no sign of slowing down.
SHINEDOWN continues to demonstrate that they are one of the most forward-thinking powerhouses in music, forever pushing the boundaries of what it means to be a modern-day rock band. The tour and new music not only kick off a new era for SHINEDOWN but continues to celebrate the momentous acclaim the band received from their juggernaut song “A Symptom Of Being Human” off their seventh studio album “Planet Zero” (Atlantic Records). The song, which has reached over 100 million streams and counting, crossed over not only to Alternative but Top 40 radio and resonated with fans across the globe for the unifying message of its lyrics: that it is our human connections that matter the most.
Photo credit: Ebru Yildiz
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