Shannon Dawn | Vocalist / Comedian / MC

03.10.25

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Dawn Cochran: All right. And we are live. Hi, how are you? 

Shannon Dawn: Hello, I'm doing great today. Thank You for having me on your. 

DC : Webzine. 

SD: Thank you for including me in your Webzane series. 

DC: Absolutely. So why don't we tell the readers who you are? Oh. 

SD: Where to start? Well. I am a local multifaceted entertainer. Lately I've been leading with. My projects where I'm a vocalist, uh, either as a songwriter or as a cover band Co band leader. And that itself is. And you watched experience. Umm, I'm also a lifelong comedian and, uh, this, uh, disciple of the silly arts. Umm, that's my nightlife. I also have a very. Knowing that you're recording this, I can take as long as I want to say things. I also have a. Normie daytime career that I'm very invested in and very proud of. I'm a technical writer and a user experience content designer for my day job, uh. But I also do a lot of creative, fun things. I'm also very uh. Invested in the the local music scene overall, supporting the punk, ******** and metal bands. And everything and the venues and all the growth, all the wonderful people that are doing so many fun things here in Buffalo. 

DC: And you're my friend. Wait, what did I say four years ago? You're my friend with benefits that I still don't know what that means. What? 

SD: Does that mean I was sure I would? Remember I you know, I used to have a great memory where I remembered every moment, every joke. I had a photographic 360 modeling context dialogue memory, but right, so readers, Don had a Facebook memory wherein we had we were joking that yeah, that we're friends with benefits and that must have referred to something. The best thing, my best guess is that it referred to you generously letting me be on your Spotify family plan. Yeah, but that doesn't make sense. And that's also not even funny. Yeah. I mean, I can't, but yeah. What other benefits? I mean, you know, do you want to be my emergency contact? I don't know if that's a benefit, but that's. 

DC: I would be, I would be honored. I'm wondering if it was like during the. Casey's seven and seven shows, or maybe the talent shows at. Masuda Chaos? I don't know. 

SD: Alright, 'cause yeah, there was some I yes, right. 

DC: Or the trucker. 

SD: Coming out to those Yeah, you were coming out to help with some of those things too, right? Do you know, tell your. Readership about Yeah, the Casey's show. 

DC: And then no, it's OK. This isn't about me, this is about you. Umm. So let's start with the most recent. So you are in. Are you in one band or are you in 2 bands? 

SD: I mean either two or three bands. Oh, geez. OK. 

DC: Let's all right, let's let's dive into that. 

SD: Sure. So my original band, that's very clearly defined as ******** Hour, that is a ******** thrash band wherein, you know, we write our own songs, we have our own practice space. Very. Mostly originals, maybe we'll do a cover, but we're not a cover band. Might be stretched. So that's yeah, crossover thrash. It's my first original band. We've been a band about two years. We have a a demo slash EP out. So it's heavy, it's a little goofy. It treads that party thrash, but also. A little bit of there's a little bit of cynicism and a little bit of party trash, but itching our our demo EP is called Crossover. I barely know her, which is a title that just stuck in my head and just made me laugh for so long. And when I started the band, I was very a very whimsical person and I became very. Serious person I leaned into my serious side as the band evolved, but. I my wackiness persists. So that's my original band. And then a lot of people know me as Shamzig 'cause I fronted Danzig tribute band. It's not just a cover band, it's a full tribute. I consider myself the greatest dance league impersonator. 

DC: I mean, I agree you. 

SD: Are female. Thank you. Thank you. I you know, it's a calling. It's a it's a hobby. It's a calling. Being Shanzig doing things in the Shandig way. Right. It's not a look, it's not an attitude, it's a way of being. So that is a cover band that has had a lot of different lineups through the years. It was the first band that I got people to be in a band with me for, so I sort of had to. I love the name so much, I had to make it a reality. And in the first several times I asked people to be in a band with me, they just laughed at me. But Robot Rob really took me seriously and we did the band I want to see in 2017. So then there's been you know interruptions and and things but then I when I was looking for a new drummer Angel Rivera of abandoned trains or super tugger a bunch of bands he's been he moved up here in 1997 so he's an OG punk he was a big shanzi fan fun fact Angel was at the first Danzig show he showed up for a Sam Haynes show and Danzig said no we know what san Sam this is Danzig now so he's an OG dancing fan being from. New York, but so he helped me find a new drummer, Craig, who is also now in. Spoiler alert, the cover band Gates of Steel, which is Angel Rivera's band. Also that he has Nick Gonzalez and their super talented bass player and local punk OG. So why I say I'm in two or three bands is because a I'm now the girl singer Slash Co lead vocalist of Gates of Steel. And then last fall when I wanted to do my birthday show. I had ***** in our play Also with a Shandig lineup backed by Gates of Steel musicians. 

DC: Dang. So not to like jump the gun, but are you playing the Gates of Steel show next Saturday? 

SD: We have a bunch of shows coming up, right? We're doing the Friday. We have one Friday and then I think 2:00 Saturday and then Sunday. So let me, yeah. Which we did last year too, and it's really fun. So I'd say my my job is just to not get sick, right? Get a cold, get those, get that speed. That's the that's the task, right? So I'm actually ******** hour has a show. I don't know if this interview will be live. Today's March 5th ******** hours playing Friday the 6th, a fun show with anthropic at Milky's with the Foxy thrills, which is a fun thing. It's a burlesque troupe that not the burlesque troop. IMC 40. Did I mention IMC for the. Stamps for less trips. That's still kind of me keeping like putting the comedy thing, but alright, so I'm ********. Hour is going to be playing with Anthropic and the Foxy Thrills and then Gates of Steel is going to do a show without me Friday then. Next week we have Friday the 13th at Revolution Gallery and then we're doing the Saint Patrick's Day Music Fest parade at the Rusty Nickel and then we're doing Night Angel produces a lot of shows at Good Bar, calls it Punk in the Attic. So this is Saint Punk's Day in the Attic. It's going to be Gates of Steel, our Irish punk band with Soul Butchers who are incredible. And Sunday the 15th. In the afternoon. Gates of Steel is going to be playing at the Tudor Lounge. 

DC: Oh nice, that's. 

SD: Like party adjacent. So that's gonna be really fun too. We love the tutor. We love Chris. Chris takes awesome care of every everybody there takes great care of us. Justin, you know I go to Steve case metal night the the the kitchen's open again. That little food stall they have in the corner. You can get a hot dog or some tacos. So that's great. I remember the night that they closed the little food stand. I wanted to jump over the couch and I'm like, I'm gonna make a hot dog and. Chris was like, not now you are not. So so yeah, I'm glad the the hot the the food counter. Tutor is operational again, then a sauce for party. So I'm going to have to rush home for. My roommate has an Oscar party that he's very pumped about. So I've been getting into that. I've watched one of the movies that's nominated. I saw Sinners. It was great. So, yeah, check out Gates of Steel. We're an Irish punk band. We play, uh, jams by, you know, the, the classics, like, you know, flogging Wally, uh, shipping up to Boston, The Pogues. I, I got into it doing, they had me do some of the duets and then just to make it worth my time, they gave me a couple cranberry songs and now I can even, uh, sing some, some leads of male vocals like I do a, a street dog song solo myself. The other vocalist, Day and night, he's from Hair the Dog. He's from playing out in bands for. About 20 or 30 years, I don't know. We were just talking last night about how he would go to open mic at Sportsman. He is a great voice and he's also a really goof, A goofball. So we have a great camaraderie. Just sharing, sharing that spotlight, goofing around. 

DC: So that was a lot to take in. I'm gonna dissect this a little bit. So yeah. So this interview will come out Tuesday the 10th. So the show on tomorrow will. Already be passed, but that's OK. Umm, I just interviewed the Soul Butchers yesterday. I'm not sure when that's going to come out because we actually ended up doing video and audio, so it's going to be on YouTube. But we did talk about the show on the 14th and I was pretty excited because I was like, oh man, I'm interviewing Shannon tomorrow. So that's cool that all that kind of came together. 

SD: Yeah, that's funny. I I just ran into Justin at the elevator at our rehearsal space. So such a small world. 

DC: Very, Yeah. I did not realize that Saint Patrick's Day is also right around the corner. I mean, I guess I should have. I'm not Irish, so it's not really like a integral part of my existence. Umm, I don't really ever celebrate. Uh, Saint Patrick, But that's OK. 

SD: You need help. You don't. Yeah, I have a whole. I have a whole Saint Patrick's room in my house. I don't a whole shrine. I I guess I will speak to the Irish punk thing. I like the heavier stuff, so Irish punk isn't my Forte. But I really love just the energy of the crowd. I love just how different it is from my other band and my roommate Dan. Last year, he dubbed me the L Vira. Of Saint Patrick's Day. 

DC: That's hilarious, I love that. 

SD: So I'll take it. 

DC: Yeah, so. You are a person that I admire and look up to because you have your hand in so many different like. Facets of entertainment. And I feel like that's. Amazing because I, I don't want to categorize people, but a lot of people stick with one Ave. and they're like, this is this is me now. But you're like, no, I'm going to do bands, I'm going to do comedy, I'm going to do burlesque. I'm going to do, you know, you're just. Out here doing whatever the **** you want and that is great. 

SD: Well, thank you. Yeah. So, you know, sometimes I feel like I do things I want to do, and then sometimes I feel like I do things I have to do in the case of producing shows. That's one of those things I want to say like, oh, I'm, I'm done. I just want to get my band booked on shows. And then somebody reaches out and says, hey, do you want to do a show? All I have to do is find bands and then promote it and then make sure it runs OK. Now I have to find bands and promote it to make sure it runs OK. I was just thinking I was going to get out of the get out of the game, but some people have reached out about maybe a tutor. I've been booking a lot of shows at Milky's, which is just I happenstance my shows. Jeff from Coming of Rage or just the in-house Booker. Touring Bands, A touring band just reached out for us for a show in May. That we're going to be, that Kitchen Hour is going to be playing. So it's a lot of a lot of Milky shows. But now maybe maybe Tudor will be a thing too. I hear that there's they're looking to do more of a a live Thursday metal night, so. Maybe I'll make that another thing. But yeah, doing shows, doing stuff because I want to, making posters. I have reluctantly got better at graphic design just through necessity. But I appreciate you noticing that I that I do know so many things because sometimes I do things because I think I'm good at them, and other times I think. Why not? Why not me? 

DC: Who cares if you're, I mean, I think you're good at things, but who cares if you're not good at things? Just keep doing things, right? 

SD: Dumbest. Better than perfect. 

DC: Let's see where do I want to go from here So. I know you've been in the music scene for. A really long time, but what was the beginning? What was the beginning of the music scene like for you? 

SD: Wow, well I grew up in Erie, PA in I'm an 80 baby. So I first became aware of of punk and just non mainstream underground music. I believe I was 11. I was at my grandma's house and we were there to help my grandma do some stuff, mow her lawn, etcetera, move some boxes and my other my aunt and her her son's, my cousins were there. And at this point my cousin was 13 and 14 and he had a leather jacket that. And a misfit skull on the back. And I think, yeah, I know. I was 11. I just saw it. And I was like, whatever that is. That's it, that's it. So I just was really eager to discover. It's really eager to discover underground culture. And my sister, my older sister and her friends were really into hip hop, which at that time still was underground. It still scratched a lot of those itches. So I got into college radio. I would walk to the record store, you know, in the sun, uphill both ways. Get a skate catalog, look at the band logos. Take that gamble and see if the CD was good. Sometimes it was, sometimes it wasn't. But interestingly enough, I have, uh, I lost touch with a lot of my family for a bunch of years when I moved, but I've reconnected with that same cousin. And just last Friday I went to Erie with, uh, I rode with Mark Miller, the photographer here and his girlfriend, uh, Emily who drove. She was great. So I wrote down with those two and I hung out with my cousin Joe and we had a blast. We, uh, there was a, we watched terror and eerie local openers, human animal, who you know, have been. For instance, that scene where I came up in. So we had a great time. We reconnected, you know, buying my cousin a beer, my cousin buying me a beer, watching ********. 

DC: And he's still. 

SD: About the old times, that was, yeah, it was a really great. It was a really Really great night  

DC: And he's still in the scene. It wasn't like he just came out for you, like he's still going strong. 

SD: Right, right, right. So he yeah, he's in more of like AI want to call him an indie rock band. Don't quote me, but he is in a non ******** band called Vices out of Erie. They're really good. But yeah, he still participates in the scene. People still know him. You know, he still is active. He teaches music lessons. It was it was a really great time. And this is wild. He and his brother, my other cousin, also in Erie, have an Irish band called the Mulligans. Oh, that's too funny. It is too funny. So if you just can't get enough of my bloodline doing Irish stuff, they are playing 1 gig. At the Buffalo Irish Center on the 14th, so if you. 

DC: Now, are either of you Irish? 

SD: Oh, we are. Yeah, we are. I think I'm about 1/4 of our, about 1/4 Irish on my dad's side, and I think his so which is his mom's side. I think his dad might be more Irish. But you know, my name's Shannon, so. 

DC: Oh, does that, does that define that just means that you're Irish? I don't know. 

SD: I think she yeah, you know what? It's only it's it's on that list. Of Irish girl names like Megan Maury. 

DC: Uh, anytime I hear Shannon, I think of the movie far and Away where Tom Cruise is like Shannon and it's not going to translate in this interview at all because it's not audio, but I love that movie. 

SD: Italicize that are used in like fake Gaelic characters. Right, Right. Posted a a GIF. I haven't I hadn't seen that movie. I mean, I'm familiar with it. I remember like them like waiting. They were waiting across the Moor or something like that. Also, I did an accent that's not going to come through. Yeah, that's OK. 

DC: Maybe I'll post the audio. No, I don't know. So, OK, so you got into the scene, you know, 11 you're feeling it out now. I think we might have covered this before you refer your first band was Shanzig though, correct? Or did you dilly dally in high school and college? 

SD: I I had. Maybe had a couple bands that had like 3 practices but no nothing that ever like. 

DC: Stuck. 

SD: Yeah, nothing that ever stuck and played a show. I had some attempts, some Hardy attempts, but. 

DC: Did you ever try to attempt an instrument? 

SD: Oh, sure. Yeah. You know, my father got me into playing drums. So in middle school and high school, I was in the music program in the percussion, percussion section. I played concert snare. Or come Christmas time, they would put me on all the auxiliary instruments. So, yeah, so I have a background, you know, in reading rhythm. I have a really, I think I have a really great sense of natural rhythm, can read notes. You know, I have to do it very methodically. So I was in marching band, which was. Hard. I did that for two years in Erie. So I tried to stick with drums. I had my dad's drum set. I just never really had a good space or never really need the time to, you know? That's an instrument really disciplined with. Yeah. And yeah. So now I am also slowly but surely working on guitar. I guess I'll say this for accountability. I really want to be able to write riffs so I'm finding time to just develop. Just very rudimentally rudimentary. I mean, I don't even need to to shred, I really just want to make some sure the chug rifts in my head I think I need. 

DC: To you want to translate the the Yeah, translate the the head music to the I got. I got you. 

SD: Yeah, my bandmates, what I scatting them they. Apparently it's more funny than inspiringly heavy, so. Yeah, I, I would like to get more into that. I mean, I also would, I sometimes also think like, oh, I'd love to get more into drawing. I, you know, also like drawing in school. I was decent at it, which is another thing you have to put in the time. Right, lots of repetition and I'm very guilty myself of really wanting to do something and then never setting aside the time. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Between work and fitness and. And still I've lived where I live for a year and a half. I'm still framing and hanging apart, still getting things. Just just so I am using my percussion skills with Gates of Steel. So I'm the the auxiliary or now I'm the Co lead singer. But when I was just back up to give myself something to do, I brought a tambourine. Then I expanded that I have like an egg shaker for a couple couple very special songs. The cowbell. 

DC: I for some reason I thought you were going to say triangle, which I could not imagine just with the cowbell. Cowbell is pretty good. You know adult me on a triangle? I don't know, but if you could picture 5th grade me being mad that all the boys are playing snare drum for the Christmas concert and I'm stuck with the wood blocks in the triangle and we just doing 4 times as many notes at the concert as I did during all the rehearsals all year. Maybe. 

SD: You can picture that. 

DC: That's that's too good. Umm, I'm going to. Pivot to. Comedy. Umm, I know that I had recently told you that I want to see you do comedy more often again. And how did you start? What got you into it and why is it? I well, I guess being in bands kind of. There's only so much time in the world, right? 

SD: Yeah, yeah. You can't do everything. I consider myself a lifelong comedian, but as far as being a working comic, there's and there's a certain amount of effort you can put in and just be an open mic or that has enough jokes to play just to to keep yourself active as a comedian. And then just to get to that next level where you're really working and you're really improving. It's a lot more work, and I hit the point where I just didn't want to edit reels. I used to wear jeans and black T-shirts on stage. When I just saw how that looked, I was at a point in my life where I just really needed to decide if I was gonna really dig in and make the effort and. I just kind of chose being a miker for a while and then music called but. There are a lot of Buffalo comics who, you know, moved to New York and worked for a couple years, you know? Yeah. I mean, you have to be funny. You have to put in the work writing your jokes. Remember, you know, I'm right now I'm watching the HBO show Hacks. That's a really good insight into just you have to you have to live it, you have to keep doing it and you want to be working comic to come. Jordan Jensen, you know, Jordan Jensen isn't in a band. Maybe she builds stuff, but you know. You you can't do too many things. So yeah, yeah. So I mean, I would love to say I could just go to open. Like I, I actually have some some girlfriends that are we do pranks and dares and we come up with silly things to do. And one of the things that's coming up is Shannon, tell us a joke. So now when I hang out with the punk moms, I am making a point to now always have a like a one liner and a more long form joke to go, but I'm relying on jokes they haven't heard. You know my last week at this terror show? My cousin. They've asked me, you know, are you still doing comedy? And people look so disappointed when I say no. But then if I just have a joke, even if it's not great, I say, you know what? I still write them down even if they're not. Yeah, even if I don't have time to shop them, I I like that I still have that instinct to stop what I'm doing and write it down. Like one joke on hacks was like, oh, if it's that good, you'll remember it. Not how it works. So actually I did. 2 weeks ago I wrote a joke that I think. Like I would consider it A1 liner. My two goals this year are to become more mysterious and to develop a rounder *** making making progress on one of them. 

DC: Those are actually my two goals this year as well because I don't ever shut the **** **. 

SD: Yeah, you're, yeah, Nice, but not so mysterious, both of us. 

DC: No, but I have been getting my squats in so you know. 

SD: You got you can't do everything. 

DC: I can't do everything I have. I am looking at my weights and I'm like man, I should up the weights. I need more. I need deeper. What is it? Deeper gains, deeper gains. You gotta activate your glutes, yeah. Uh, ****. I umm. Drink a little bit of this. I bought a, a weed drink yesterday, weed water. It drank a little bit of it and I feel like, uh, I'm starting to get a little giggly, so I should probably should probably calm down so I can focus. 

SD: Wound up? Let's get silly. 

DC: Getting a little wild over here with my weed water. Man, OK, so well. 

SD: We could talk about. We could you. Know I guess we could talk about drugs you guys straight edge for 10. 

DC: Years yeah, let's talk about drugs yeah, I was straight edge when I was 12 and I told my mom I was straight edge and. Then I promptly smoked weed for the first time. 

SD: How promptly? 

DC: Actually, like the next day, I think I'm pretty sure I was like, mom, don't worry about me, I'm straight edge because like all of the bands I listened to were well, not all of them, but you know, the ones I was getting into like AFI and stuff were straight edge and, and I was like, don't worry. So she told everybody for years, Dawn straightedge, but. You know, there was, there was a lot of dabbling here and there. 

SD: Yeah, there was a summer I was really into basketball and my family thought it was really into basketball for like 10 years. No, just a dream team. Everybody likes the dream. They probably still like, think I like the dream team. I mean, I don't dislike them, but I think I had a different approach. I learned what straight edge was, I think when I was in 7th grade. But I just sort of. Being an old soul thought I wasn't ready to commit, you know, And then I had a serious boyfriend who told me we were engaged and I still wasn't ready to say I was stranded. Even though I hadn't smoked. I hated smoking. I didn't drink. I knew being a. A loudmouth woman in Pennsylvania that just getting drunk around these dudes just didn't seem like anything I needed to do. 

DC: Yeah, seems like a bad idea. 

SD: Yes, when I was 16 I was like I'm straight edge, I am straight edge and that works for me till I was 26. And then I had joined roller Derby, which wasn't the cause of it. And then I joined, I had, I was in her living with someone that toured a lot and was gone a lot. So I was shouldering a lot of responsibilities. I felt just very grown up. Way to, you know, budgets, shoestring budget, full time job, grad school. 

DC: Right. 

SD: And then my so I went for library and information science at UB School of Informatics, which has now been rolled into the School of Education. But yeah, that's I'm getting my info science degree I finished in a year and a half. So I'd pay less tuition take very aggressive. Class load. Wow. And then my yeah, yeah. And then my classmates are just like, why can't you? Drink a beer and that you know. Get you to doing during a full day of work in an office, going to class for records management and accessible web design, and then having somebody text me, hey, can you pick up food on the way home? Yeah, I think I want a. 

DC: Beer. Yeah, that, that definitely, uh. That'll put a strain on. Things you need a release or like a exit, not an exit. You know what I'm trying to say. 

SD: Yeah, yeah. I just thought, you know, it just. Yeah. It just straight edge just didn't make sense to me anymore. I just feel like I don't feel like youth. Yeah. So I dabbled into drinking, and then it was years later that I tried anything else. 

DC: I yeah, I dabbled in the drinking. Uh, forever, but. 2026 is the year of. Uh, I microdose mushrooms for the first time yesterday. Umm, I think it's going to rewire my brain and fix me, so I'm pretty excited about my journey here. Umm, I don't want a trip. I don't have any desire to trip. Uh, I think that it's scary. 

SD: Yeah, yeah. You know what? People used to always tell me? You should never do drugs. You are crazy. Everybody else here should do drugs. Not Shannon. 

DC: I don't think you're crazy. 

SD: Or something people would just be like you or maybe I don't need them or too much whether it was I was too wacky or or too. Dealing with too many demons. 

DC: Has anyone ever. 

SD: Told you, people just wanted me to drive. 

DC: Who knows? Yeah. Has anyone ever told you you are overzealous? 

SD: You know, I've had a lot of similar. 

DC: I've got, I've gotten that before. 

SD: Strong personality, I guess, not overzealous. I haven't had that particular one. 

DC: Yeah, I was like Dang, uh, let me just. Not be a good fun fun time or whatever. I don't know, it was weird. I feel like we're similar in that aspect of not that we're overzealous, but just that. We are not like meek little women, so. Yeah. Yeah. 

SD: Oh, wow, we're at, you know, the yeah, we're at 30 foot. We're we're are we overtime? 

DC: No, no, no, we keep going. 

SD: But I said that. I said that in the the like the the online meeting voice, you know, I work. 

DC: Oh yes, mostly the. Zoom, the Zoom chair is promoting. 

SD: Working remotely has its own set of conventions. Oh, is our Zoom chat gonna end at 35? 

DC: No, I'm just kidding. Oh, OK. 

SD: Yeah. So yeah, working remotely has its own set of conventions and cliches. 

DC: Yeah, I worked remote for three years and, uh. I really miss it, I got so much **** done. During the day, like, oh, it's my lunch time, let me go put the laundry in, let me do the dishes real quick. Oh my God, I can make a meal that's healthy and I'm not like door dashing, you know, all of these things or. You're not? Well, the commute I feel like is the biggest part. Uh, yeah. So I do miss it. Umm, how do you feel about it? 

SD: Well, I started working remotely for the most part in I think 2016 or 2017. I I was working on a. University grant that was itself off campus and very chill. But then when that grant was defunded, I went into freelancing. So before the pandemic, I was working either of mostly freelance and flexible where maybe I had a part-time office job with like a doctor or some consultancies where I had to stop in some places. But I was, I had sort of really set my sails to be remote content person. And that that's where. That's where I'm staying. I. Can't. Yeah, knock on wood. I love working from home. I love this. I mean, I really lock it. Sometimes I open my laptop and I say, oh, I'm just gonna check for messages and then get dressed. And then I I realize I'm stuck, I'm sucked in. But then other times, the flexibility does work in my favor. You know. But. 

DC: Yeah. Do you get to try? Do you get to travel and still work remote like or do you have to be in Buffalo while you're working? 

SD: I went on one trip where I did work half day while I was in transit. Being that I'm a technical writer, I was able to set myself up with some just async working asynchronously. Sorry, I'm gonna try not to abuse that. I am also this month going to Hell's Heroes in Houston. And the friend that I'm rooming with is also very career minded, so she and I are going to work half days, two of the days. 

DC: But oh, nice. 

SD: Yeah so, but the fest doesn't start until you know one anyway so yeah so I'm gonna balance that because as a as a contractor, I'll get a ton of PTO or I just don't want to eat it out of my check Yeah even though being. Being a contractor, that's sort of that's the deal where I could just take time off and and miss the hours, but it's just tough. So I I make it work. Yeah. So I'm I am allowed to travel, but there are some situations where they say like, oh, you need to be working out of. Yeah. Such and such a time zone. Oh yeah. But even, yeah, even my job is Pacific Time. So some days I have to stay late and I just try to work day. I try to work late the days that I can. And then when I have band practice, you know, I just block it out on my calendar and try to make sure nobody needs me. 

DC: How many? How many days do you practice? Do you practice every week? 

SD: Yeah, Mitch and our, you know, we're writing new stuff and we're looking for more shows, so we do practice every week, whereas Gates of Steel is only active when we have cover gigs coming up. So that's right, you know, so right now Gates of Steel is practicing once or twice a week. Real fun for me. Our practice spaces are right next door the ***** and our space used to be Gates of Steel smoking room. So is your next. 

DC: Door is this at 700 main? It is nice I was there yesterday. 

SD: Oh, with the saltwater, yeah. Oh, cool. Yes. So Joe the drummer was. I believe the first drummer of Shanzig. 

DC: Oh, really? Great. 

SD: Yeah. So we used to practice in this in the butcher space. 

DC: I did not even know that. I don't know how it didn't come up yesterday. I actually met Joe on Halloween at the Soul Butcher show and I had said, oh, I've seen your name online. And then the rest is history. Umm. But yeah, Shanzi Shanzig, honestly. 

SD: He's a really great, funny dude. Oh yeah. 

DC: Go ahead. Oh, no, I was Shanzig. Is is. One of my favorite, uh, tribute bands. Umm, I do miss seeing you guys, you know, at Mohawk and stuff. Maybe you should put one together. Uh. Well, for Halloween, I guess. 

SD: Yeah, yeah. I think either like my birthday is mid-september or Halloween. I don't see why why we couldn't get that going. 

DC: We have, it's only March we have. We have time. Maybe I'll, maybe I'll be in your band. Maybe I'll play the bass. I'm just kidding. Jump in. 

SD: The triangle. Yeah, yeah, we added one Ding. We're gonna play godless. We'll let. You do one Ding. 

DC: Oh, I'll be the merch girl again. 

SD: Oh, that's. That's an important. 

DC: Job. Yeah, well, you did great. What a what? A what an era of two years of my life anyway. 

SD: Psycho Nino, those circumstances notwithstanding. You're you're in the crew. 

DC: Hell yeah. Umm. Let's see, what else do we want to touch base on? I feel like we've skipped around so many times and I can't believe that I forgot that you were a roller roller Derby girl too. Like that. I was so intimidated and everyone would always tell me, you should do roller Derby, you should do roller Derby. And I was like, I don't think I can. Like these girls are gonna fight me. 

SD: I mean, it's a full contact sport for sure. You know, I think there were a lot of a lot of people that. You know that that quote about like, oh, you never know a woman or like a tea bag, you never know a strength until you put it in water. For the most part, some people's abilities and Dr. match their personalities, but that wasn't an absolute. You would see people that were big talkers that would freeze out there or just didn't have the discipline to get good where you're, you know, when your taste doesn't match your, when your abilities don't match your standards that. That's where you find out who you are. You know, you either have to work there. You either have to work there or fake it or give up. But. There were a lot of really fantastic skaters who you wouldn't say, oh, that that chicks in roller Derby, that that really stuck it out. One person that comes to mind is Rex Kitten, who is on the sauce. He's with me. She wears heels everywhere. She, you know, doesn't have tattoos. You know, just it looks like a classy, nice lady where you're like, oh, maybe she's into music, but you don't go, that's a punk. She kicks ***. She got right back on skates, I want to say two weeks after she gave birth. Oh wow. Not two weeks. Maybe not two weeks, but. 

DC: Some very. 

SD: Soon some some absurdly short amount of time and then she is still skating. That's awesome. Yeah. You never. So you really never know. Yeah. So people really stick it out when people ask why I didn't stick with it. You know, if at that point, if I was going to, if I was going to do that much to my body and spend that much time, I should have been a wrestler or a wrestling manager. So that's my only regret is that I did dip out after two or three years and just go in. 

DC: That direction, but yeah. 

SD: Because I it's a big I love pro wrestling. I love the the artistry and just the. That carny attitude out there. 

DC: The other characters are hysterical sometimes. I mean, yeah. And you? Really. You really have to become. That person that you're portraying in front, you know, in front of a live audience, kind of you. 

SD: Know yeah I'm really I haven't wrestling is one of those things like where you can just go back to it any moment and they just catch you right up and it's always the same it's different but it's always the same. I'm really excited to see as far as like, you know, weirdos making it in. The real world, uh, Dan Hausen. Is on WWE now. So I'm looking forward to seeing weirdness celebrated. Maybe that'll offset A cultural movement where you have to accept the workplace, the weirdo in your workplace. 

DC: Umm, I think that the people that I work with have accepted me. I'm definitely the weirdo of the workplace. Umm, they're definitely all. Weird, not weird. They're all blue collar men, you know. 

SD: Oh, for sure. Oh yeah, I've, I've, I've, I've, uh, patronized your workplace. 

DC: Yeah, yeah, um. Here I'll end with a couple questions about Buffalo. Umm, what is your favorite thing about Buffalo? 

SD: The people. 

DC: Yeah, that's my worst thing about Buffalo. 

SD: You know what? That's what drew me when I lived in Fredonia. I, I wanted, I was finishing college. I wanted, I thought about moving to Chicago because I was studying radio and it was just the starting to feel more welcomed. That's just what what kept me coming back. 

DC: He got sucked in. What are your favorite venues in Buffalo? I I'm going to assume Milky is in Tudor but I will let you answer. 

SD: Oh, we'll see. Who has really. I missed the sound at the icon. That was great. 

DC: Yeah. They had good shows. 

SD: Yeah, I think I always have fun. At Nietzsche's, the place gets really, I like how how much it gets packed and there's just that, that dark vibe in there. 

DC: Yeah, and they have a lot going on every single day. It's incredible. They're really, like holding it together, like. 

SD: Yeah, I like even the underneath management. Now you can use a credit card. I think they did the thing where they kept what was cool and improved the things that were just little, little bits of sticky points. Yeah. Oh, where else am I really excited to see a show? I like all kinds of shows I love. I love those like those wasteland generator shows I like a a big show at Town ballroom I like. You know, when Mohawk places operable, I think it's it's it's that that watchman being where it's like it is 1997. I am 17 years old in Mohawk places closing. It is 2525 years old and Mohawk is closed. Yeah. So and then even last year I went I I. The Gland vamps, you know, I work with Marty a lot for Shanzig and Halloween and such. And then the Glam vamps had sort of taken the helm for a lot of the holiday shows. And I'm not the lead of the glam fans, but I'm the MC I talked with Vanessa or Suga Tush a lot about. We know the shows and stuff, so I went over to Mohawk and did a little volunteering. I painted the archway that that patina green color. And now here, now there's new management. I just read that today. So new management again. Yeah, it's the same owner, but now they're having new management within there. Oh, another great place is the Amvets. 

DC: I've never been to the show there. 

SD: Yeah, it looks like a place where historically when you go to an event show this, the sound is rough. Yeah, I've been to some shows there where they have had sound engineers who know what they're doing and it sounds great. And it's just a very. They have a room with a stage, but they do shows in just the the open. 

DC: Yeah, I've seen a. Lot of people, yeah, I've seen a lot of people post on their stories and I'm always like, man, I should really just go to one of these. But I also feel like I'll just get my *** beat. Like some of those guys are still still in their tough guy era. 

SD: That you know, there's Craig I I've seen a handful of crowd killings there. I think the the videos of crowd killing a rowdiness are. Misrepresentative of just the general. 

DC: Good. 

SD: Turnouts. Good kids, good adults. 

DC : Yeah. 

SD: Yeah. So I'd say that's, yeah, that's where I would like to locally, that's where I would like to play this year. We're we're branching out. I'm actually in the process of doing a weekend in June which an hour is going out to Albany to open up for extinction, extinction AD in June. And then so I'm I'm putting together a show the night before the bug jar. So that's like I said, Booker by necessity. Sure. 

DC: Yeah, little Rochester action. Nice, Yeah. 

SD: Well, yeah, yeah, yeah. So as of now, let's actually we've been a band for two years, but this will be our first at a town show. 

DC: That's super exciting, yeah. And you. 

SD: Know the progress with that I when Mitch and I were had been a band six months I was really eager to record and then we were practicing the other day and I realized that. I want it when I want decided. I wanted to be in a heavy band. I knew I didn't even know how to sing heavy yet. I hadn't decided how I wanted to. So that fell into place at its own. Natural pace. Just me figuring out like how do I? I'm writing songs to scream and I'm not even sure how. 

DC: I scream. Right, right. 

SD: So. So now I've settled into sort of like what my heavy voice sounds like. I don't even. 

DC: Have to think about it. Yeah. So now you're ready to expand the expand the horizons of of New York State and, and beyond? The. 

SD: Whole Rust Belt region. 

DC: Hell yeah. Umm. Is there anything else that you wanted me to bring up that you want to talk about that you want to touch on? 

SD: Umm, just shout out to Goody the goodest. 

DC: Boy, hell yeah. 

SD: Yeah, I love I take you know, I dabble in photography. So if you want to give a follow on Instagram to goody the good boy, you'll see a very good dog and then just also just some lovingly taken, well composed photos. Also the captions, you know, as a, as a writer, I like to, I don't want to do the my home. And so the the captions are. The voiceless voice. Also, you know I don't, you know, it's like, is it me talking or him? Right, right. I caption in an objective, not I try to be cute but not cringey, but man, he's cute. 

DC: He is cute. I got my cute boy sitting right behind me sleeping. I don't really know what I'm gonna. I don't really know what's happening with this guy, but he's here now, so. You know. 

SD: Yeah, but they're good. 

DC: Yeah, yeah, they're the goodest boys. Alright, cool. 4546 minutes. I mean, that's, that's pretty good. Uh, so yeah, I will. Umm. Put this up on Tuesday and I thank you for your time and good luck with your show tomorrow and your shows next week and uh, thank you. I think I said thank you twice. Yeah, it. 

SD: Was great talking to you. Thank you.