Feature / One Question Interviews
Signals Midwest

Words: Loren • April 25, 2014

Signals Midwest
Signals Midwest

Loren Shumaker-Chupp (Signals Midwest, bass)

SPB: What do your parents think of your music?

Loren Shumaker-Chupp: My parents have always appreciated that I play music and what I get out of it. It was something that they encouraged me to learn when I was younger and supported throughout grade school when I began to draw serious interest into music. Now I think there is probably more of a disconnect in how well they understand what it is that we do. I tell them stories about tour, and give them updates of how we are progressing and that’s great, but it’s hard to explain to your parents why the best week you had this year was largely fueled by PBR tall boys and a town in Florida filled with sweaty black t-shirts. Another musician friend’s dad recently wrote an article in the New York Times about why he was proud of his son for something that many parents might see as wasting time in a van, and I think the perspective there is similar to my parents. My mom did want to make sure I remembered that it’s largely possible due to white privilege however.

As far as the music itself goes, I know my dad listens to all of our recordings, and I think he genuinely likes some of the songs. My mom has never really been one to sit down and listen to any music, so our sound is not something she can easily approach. They did both come to our Cleveland record release show last month, and I was pretty surprised my mom made it through the whole night. So the appreciation of what it means to me is still there, despite how well they can relate to it. Maybe it’s harder for me to gauge their opinions of it than it is for them to understand what playing music means for me.

 

Loren • April 25, 2014

Signals Midwest
Signals Midwest

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Dent
Lauren Records (2022)

Signals Midwest play punk with a lot of words. Words arranged in actual sentences, telling stories instead of using the lyrics for purely rhythmic and singalong purposes. Dent is their fifth album, and it’s the first I’ve personally reviewed even though I’ve followed the band from afar over the years. The lyrics are personal, but consistently positive in tone, which … Read more

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Light On The Lake
Tiny Engines (2013)

I’ve sat on this review for a while, waiting for that easy-to-describe-it moment to hit me. With Signals Midwest, I don’t know if that’s going to happen. The Cleveland band uses their Midwestern sensibility in their sound—it’s gritty, honest, and non-showy—but it’s also too distinct to tie to a geographic area. The band uses a punk influence throughout while playing … Read more

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Latitudes & Longitudes
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Placing the band Signals Midwest into a genre is a difficult task; their latest release Longitudes and Latitudes is a beautiful mesh of melodic interludes, upbeat pop punk and gritty punk rock. Having this many influences in your work can often lead to great things being lost in translation and the overall result being muddled. However, you can fully appreciate … Read more

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