Two Denton Prepare To Hit The Road, Change Perceptions Together

Shiny Around The Edge's Michael Seman knows what he's talking about: "I have a friend," he says, "that always says, 'In the city of Denton, people are into their music like other cities are into baseball.'"

But one needn't boast Seman's Peter Gammons-like knowledge of Denton's music history to see how that's true. In August, Shiny Around The Edges, a nine-year Denton staple, will embark on a two-and-a-half week tour with Denton colleagues Dust Congress. The tour will have them hitting some Midwest stops, with a couple of shows in Chicago, and then over to New York with some East Coast stops for good measure. The tour is meant to be a sort of Paperstain Records mini-showcase, as both bands have records coming out on the Denton label collective. Both albums are currently being mastered and prepared for release in the summer or early fall.

"We're all helping in some way to perpetuate Paperstain," says Seman. "Whether it's touring, giving your van for a tour, helping record, helping with the website—we all help each other out."

Shiny's new album, which Seman describes as having more of a focused intensity than their previous one, will be a vinyl-only release, something Seman says is very important to him.

"I don't think we'll ever release a CD again," Seman says.

Although it won't be too different from 2008's Holy Roller, Seman says the new album is a little more accessible in some ways: "There is some pop structure to it. There is some really soft ballad sort of piano, too."

Meanwhile, the upcoming Dust Congress release, titled Open Your Eyes, The World is Shit, will feature the full band, unlike the last album.

"It was recorded by Matt Barnhart, so it sounds a little different than the old analog technology that Paperstain has," says Dust Congress frontman Nick Foreman. "Because it was recorded at The Echo Lab, it's got a little bit of a cleaner sound."

Seman says the tour is scheduled equally between DIY venues and standard bar and club venues—although, given the choice, he prefers the former.

"It's a more immediate experience," he says. "Nothing beats a house show."

Foreman, meanwhile, is most looking forward to helping people outside of Denton get to know the diversity of the city's music community through the sheer difference between the two acts.

"People in Denton know what's going on in Denton," Foreman says. "But, as far as people outside our community, most people haven't heard of a lot of the bands. We're trying to clue people in that there's not only good music here, but lots of different types of music."