Three years ago, The Sheila Divine was the best new band on Roadrunner Records. They were also by far the lightest group on the revered metal/hardcore label's roster; the arrangement was a speculative one for both parties, and neither was exactly bursting with confidence over it. Roadrunner certainly couldn't market The Sheila Divine to its core audience, and the band knew that the company had little experience with pushing product in the college-rock realm. "I didn't think it was the greatest match to begin with," confirms TSD singer/guitarist Aaron Perrino. "We kind of ended up there by default, and just went with it. But we were never like, "Yeah! We're on Roadrunner! That's amazing!'"
Still, a deal's a deal, and they gave it a go. In 1999, Roadrunner released TSD's debut disc The New Parade, a near-perfect balance of ambitious new wave texture and melodic modern-rock muscle. The band toured incessantly, and the album seeped into the Indie Nation's consciousness. But both camps' qualms were justified, as a lack of aggressive promotion (along with the band's fairly tough-to-peg sound) kept the Sheila Divine from achieving a higher profile in fringe-rock land. When the time came to begin tracking for the group's sophomore full-length, it was pretty obvious to everyone involved that they were going to lose their deal.
The band couldn't have been happier.
"I'm not really bitter over it. It was actually pretty cool," says Perrino, who praises Roadrunner for making quick, professional work of an uncomfortable and potentially disastrous situation.
"Basically, when we were ready to record, we asked them if they were going to do it or not, and they said no. And we got our papers within two weeks. They let us off pretty easy, compared to a lot of bands who get caught up, and don't know what's going on."
Released from their contractual obligations, the group was free to sink a shitload of their own money into the follow-up record when another deal of equal or greater value failed to materialize. The result, last year's Where Have My Countrymen Gone?, was released on their own Co-Op Pop imprint.
"It's a fake-label thing. It's a front," Perrino says with a laugh.
Countrymen continued in the vein of its predecessor, blending pop-bred melodies and atmospheric touches with gnarly guitars and a compelling vocal delivery. A bit less raucous than New Parade, the new disc found The Sheila Divine working the ethereal aspects of their sound a bit harder than the rawk, but with no less success.
Surprisingly, the lack of a record deal did little to slow the band's momentum. With some help from famous Massachusetts indie retailer Newbury Comics (a charter member of the Coalition of Independent Music Stores), they were able to secure national distribution for Countrymen. TSD continued to tour the world, supporting acts from underground pop icons Sloan to one-time FM staple Our Lady Peace and their sophomore effort cracked CMJ's college radio charts.
"I really believed we were gonna get another deal, easy. But it didn't happen," says Perrino. "Then I kept waiting for things to die down, for there to be a lull, but that never seems to happen, either."
A perusal of the second record may lead one to believe that the quartet (Perrino, guitarist Colin Decker, bassist Jim Gilbert and new drummer Ryan Dolan) is moving gradually away from their guitar-centric style, but Perrino insists it's not true. In fact, with a year's hindsight, the songwriter, with refreshing honesty, considers the excellent release less than personally satisfying.
"I have to say Countrymen isn't exactly my favorite record, looking back," he says. "Basically, writing the second record was like … you read all your reviews. People are telling you what they like and don't like about your band. And then there's the pressure of coming up with something new.
"I was trying too hard, I think. It was fun, but now I think of it as half an album. Now, I'm back to just writing the kind of songs I like."
Following a short stateside jaunt to shake down the new material, The Sheila Divine will return to the studio and begin recording their third long-player. This will be the first TSD disc to include the collaborative contributions of guitarist Decker, who joined the band right before the Countrymen sessions; Perrino describes the fresh material as "the best of the first and second records," and is looking forward to utilizing Decker's input.
"I just think the songwriting's gotten better," Perrino says. "And Colin is fully integrated into the band now. I'm more on the vocal thing, and he's definitely taken over on the guitar end. He masters records for a living, and has produced stuff too. He's just one of those perfect pitch, perfect ear kind of guys.
While The Sheila Divine have definitely proven that a band can make some headway without the benefit of label support, they're not too hot on once again assuming the entire financial burden of producing a record. Several independents have expressed interest in signing them, but Perrino prefers not to get specific.
"We're kind of waiting it out a little bit. We have a new manager now, so there are a lot of exciting things in the works. The next few months should be very interesting," he hints.
As a group whose style flirts with the ambiguous, but remains grounded in hooky, emotional rock 'n' roll, The Sheila Divine can't help but feel encouraged by the current state of the indie scene. Even mainstream outlets such as MTV and corporate radio seem ready to embrace rock's next wave, as opposed to another cycle of packaged pop or formulaic, violent angst. Perrino can read the signs and thinks another substantial guitar-music renaissance may be on the horizon.
"It's an exciting time finally, now that the whole rap-metal thing has kind of died down, and bad rap has died down a bit. I really believe that in the next year, there are going to be some bands that break out — some stuff that, say, you or I would like is going to become very popular," he says. "I think that people want rock music that has a little bit of meaning, a little reality to it."
Would that make him a Strokes fan, then?
"I don't hate 'em. I'm not totally in love with them, but if it's a choice between seeing Staind or The Strokes on TV," says Perrino, "I'll take The Strokes."
Scott Harrell can be reached at 813-248-8888, ext. 109, or at scott.harrell@weekly planet.com.
This article appears in Mar 13-19, 2002.
