Lovedrug has renewed optimism in its ‘Blood’
By John Benson
Having gone through the music-industry machine and come out the other side somewhat intact, Alliance native Michael Shepard is feeling happy these days. In fact, he’s downright optimistic about his rock act, Lovedrug, which just released its fourth full-length studio effort, “Wild Blood.”
“It’s really sort of like a youth anthem,” Shepard said. “This record is really about the feeling you have when you’re young and the world is your oyster. You can sort of accomplish anything, and no one is going to stand in your way. That’s sort of the mantra for this album — for us, too, coming from a place of sort of renewal.”
Such renewal doesn’t come without a struggle, which is what Lovedrug experienced during its time on Columbia Records and The Militia Group — specifically, the latter indie rock label, which decided to announce its bankruptcy on the same day the band released its studio effort “The Sucker Punch Show.”
Leading up to that album, the outfit had plenty of momentum. It opened for the likes of The Killers, Robert Plant, Switchfoot and Coheed & Cambria, while growing its own fan base. However, The Militia Group’s demise put the brakes on any album or tour support, leaving the band somewhat in limbo.
“We decided to take a little time to figure out what we wanted to do, how we wanted to sound and just reassess, basically,” Shepard said. “We thought about packing it in, absolutely. There’s always that thought, but we decided against it because we love playing music, and it’s not something we could just walk away from.”
It didn’t take long for Lovedrug to see the silver lining. During its three-album stint working with music labels, the group got its name out there into national circles. Now, the independent band was free to record what it wanted. After releasing a series of EPs and monitoring its fans’ response to certain songs and sounds, the group recorded “Wild Blood.”
“It’s like getting back to the roots of how the band was when it started, which is just writing songs we enjoy,” Shepard said. “So this album is more in the alternative sort of vein, and this is more a live feeling. It’s just good, old-fashioned rock.” Among Shepard’s favorite are the up-tempo “Pink Champagne” and the poppy title track, which Lovedrug will be playing when it returns home for a Friday show at Musica in Akron.
Over the years, Lovedrug has garnered plenty of comparisons — some good, some bad and some unexpectedly rocking.
“When I first started playing, they said Coldplay,” Shepard said. “But we don’t sound anything like Coldplay. They just said that because I play piano. We’ve also gotten Foo Fighters to Radiohead to Def Leppard.”
It took a few seconds for the latter comparison to sink in. More so, Shepard’s silence added to the moment. So where did he fall on the Lovedrug sounds like Def Leppard notion?
“It was a compliment. I love Def Leppard,” Shepard said. “It’s pretty random. I don’t get that every night.”