Today we’d like to introduce you to Ian Whitmore (singer- Shareholder)
Hi Ian, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve been playing music with different bands for around 12 years. As a student in catholic school I was always annoying the nuns drumming on the desk with pencils. At 13 I got my first drum kit and played as much as I physically could- eventually picking up my mother’s old guitar and doing the same with that. I didn’t actually start my first proper band until a buddy of mine reached out about some guys wanting to start something in the ballpark of stuff i was into. Brett, the guitar player of Shareholder, had me over one night and we immediately wrote the better part of several songs and hit off a long term creative partnership. Flash forward several bands later- I was working mostly on my solo project and Brett had been jamming with some other guys in Alton bands and had me come mess around with some vocals. The group emerged so fast and naturally that I hardly remember the details and order of how it all happened- but eventually we had Cameron (Goeway) and Drew (Robertson) from 86 red, Tommy (Tavolacci) from Daisy-Chain and Brett (Kutter) and myself spanning members of 3 local bands. We’ve been doing some small gigging here and there around the regional area while we get our music on track. We’ve been fortunate enough to work with our dear friend Alex St Cin from Lighthouse Sounds here in Alton to record and work out the studio versions of these songs. Additionally, we managed to get one of our favorite engineers/producers to do mixing on our first batch of songs. Our first single “Candlelight” is out now with two more tracks coming down the pipeline sooner than later.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Playing music in general is challenging. You really have to decide what you want to get out of it and make sure what you’re playing aligns with that. Shareholder is fortunate enough to be in a great area for music between the Alton and St Louis scenes. We’ve built up a great network of friends from playing music in the area for so long that things are much easier these days in terms of playing the right gigs and making the whole music thing happen. That said, in the punk realm of music- it’s a much smaller audience you’re really able to tap into. Making music is really expensive and time consuming, especially when you’re chasing the best version it can be both live and on recording. Busting out of the “local band” niche and getting out to a broader audience, playing out of town shows and the business end of things are challenges we are working constantly to overcome.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a musician/artist usually doing many things any given time. Presently my musical endeavors are:
Shareholder- vocals
Olive- drums
my solo project (Ian Whitmore) where I write and record pretty much all of the instruments with the exception of featured parts from friends of mine.
I also do a lot of photography as well as being the lead coffee roaster/lead barista at Maeva’s coffee in Alton where I live and work in the same building.
I try to keep my creative brain at work all the time. Having everything under one roof has made my processes incredibly efficient and really allows me to do so much more than I would otherwise. Coffee, music and photography have a lot of differing aspect- but the execution on the creative end is really similar at a more abstract level.
How do you think about happiness?
Creating things brings me the most happiness. I like to keep my nose to the grindstone as it really keeps me grounded. Seeing the receiving end of the creating is always really fulfilling as well. Coffee is all about hospitality and creating an awesome environment and I pay attention to that in the music realm as well. Nature is also a love and obsession of mine.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/Ianwhitmore
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ianxwhitmore/?hl=en / https://www.instagram.com/shareholderr/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Shareholdertheband
