“Hello, York Arts Centre!”
Shed Seven: Still Showing Off, Still Going Strong
By Darren Croft
More than three decades on, the Britpop favourites are still writing new music, packing out venues and enjoying the kind of fan devotion most bands can only dream of.
With new album ambitions, a seemingly endless appetite for the live stage and a fanbase that continues to grow in passion, the York band are enjoying a well-deserved moment in the spotlight. We caught up with Rick Witter to talk about the thrill of making music, the joy of seeing Shed Seven’s songs take on a life of their own, and why, even after all these years, there’s still plenty left to shout about.
You’re still keeping yourselves super-busy.
Yeah, we like to put a lot of work on ourselves. We’ve been mixing up the ‘Maximum High’ tour with a run of normal dates, and we’re chopping and changing our set all the time.
With so many great songs, it must be difficult choosing a setlist these days. I guess it’s a good problem to have?
Yes, we don’t make it any easier for ourselves by writing new ones. That’s the greatest thrill for us, really, ‘cause the songs we’ve been writing over the past few years we’re including in these ‘Greatest Hits’ sets, and they’re holding their own. Songs from ‘A Matter of Time’ like ‘Talk of the Town’ and ‘Let’s Go Dancing’ have become almost standards in the set.
Is the live performance still the beating heart of the Shed Seven operation?
Absolutely. When you’re 13, and you want to learn an instrument, you do it because you want to show off to people. And we’ve been showing off to people since 1990- which is a great slogan! We gig constantly, but we’re also quite canny about knowing when to draw away from the public eye for a while, because it can become overkill.
This is why we do Shedecember- which, by the way, was a phrase coined by fans, not ourselves. Now it could even be Shedtober or Shedvember, ‘cause we seem to be adding more and more gigs. It’s great to experience the thrill of a live crowd. I mean, we are very good at what we do, but people who like Shed Seven really, really like Shed Seven.
No matter where we play, the atmosphere is always intense. Increasingly, we’re walking on stage, and the audience won’t stop cheering and clapping before we’ve even played a note. It’s amazing that they’re overawed that we’re all in the same room together.
I’ve seen the excitement building up to your Number One albums on the social media chats. It’s like everyone's a teenager again.
It’s amazing. I think we’ve always kind of been the underdogs. Now we’re getting a bit of ‘due’; people are really happy for us. With all the shit happening in the world, it’s nice to have a little bit of love going on.
I was a proper indie nerd growing up. I’d get a thrill out of listening to bands that nobody else had ever heard of. It was always strange to see one of these bands chart, and I’d ask myself how this could have happened. This was my band. Then you grow up and realise that all music is good. There’s something for everyone.
Is everything in place for a full-on charge towards the Number One slot with your forthcoming album?
For an awful long time, we’d have a huge gap between album releases and the way the charts were compiled was totally different. The advantage we have is that we’re in total charge of what we do, and we love it. We had a lot of disagreements back in the day with Polydor, ‘cause it was all about the money for them. For us, it’s our art. It’s what we do. We want to be able to leave a proud legacy of music.
We’re good at advertising, too. We’re quite into data.
Watch out, everyone! A Shed Seven data centre is coming to your area soon…
Haha. We’re quite savvy on social media because it’s so important to engage with the fans. I remember in the old days, writing a letter to a P.O.Box and wondering if you’d ever get a reply, but if someone asked me about my favourite B-Side on social media, I could just answer it. I remember writing to The Soup Dragons way back in the day. I got a reply six years later. Their bass player, Sushil K. Dade, had found it behind a filing cabinet, and he apologised for the late reply!
That’s dedication. It’s a bit like when Ringo Starr was personally replying to every fan letter on The Simpsons.
Ah, well, there’s a Ringo Starr-ism on the new album. There’s a song on there called ‘The Fifth Amendment ’, and in the second verse there’s a line: “Send no letters, make no calls. I’m warning you with peace and love.” That’s from Ringo’s online meltdown when he was asking people to stop sending him things to sign. He kept saying. “I’m warning you with peace and love.” That’s a powerful thing.
One of the tracks that got me immediately was ‘Lost In Space’, which features your daughter.
She does. It’s amazing. I was writing the words at home, after Paul had sent me the melody, and I was getting the imagery in my head about floating around in space. I kept thinking it would be nice to get a female vocalist to sing that particular bit. Through the process of simply moving on, we never really got round to it. We found ourselves in the studio, recording the album, without a female vocalist.
Coincidentally, my daughter had just got into singing, and she’d been sending me some stuff she’d been singing. She was into finding instrumental versions of songs online and singing over the top of them. Michael and Paul heard them and suggested we get her down to do the Lost In Space bit.
She came down to the studio at the weekend and just romped it. First time in a studio, hands in pockets, and just nailed it. My daughter and I singing together is a lovely thing to have on record.
The last time we spoke, I gave you a couple of Santa hats with cheesy slogans on them. I think one said “Snowing For Gold”. I suggested a Sled Seven Christmas album might be an idea. Are you dipping your toe in the water, as there’s a potential Christmas song on the new album in the form of ‘Winter’?
Ah, well, it wasn’t the intention, but if people decide it’s a Christmas song, that’s great. We do have an idea to release it, but I’m not sure how much of the plan I can give away at this minute…
When I sung “Winter” I didn’t eat anything for day-and-a-half beforehand as I wanted to sound as empty as possible. There were moments when I wondered if I might faint, but it all adds to the effect.
You’ve spoken in the past about getting the ‘shivers’ when a song really comes together. I’d bet my lunch you got major shivers when ‘The Centre of My Everything’ came together.
Well, that song. Definitely. I remember reaching the high point in that song and the rest of the band going, “Wow!”. We’ve had a lot of “Wow!” moments making this album. We went into the studio with a very posh demo because we wanted to know exactly what we were working with.
We played it on some of the live shows we did recently and it just sits there on its own. People might still be getting used to what the song is, but it’s such a buzz to stand there on the stage and see people in the audience absolutely loving it.
“We Got The Love” is a belter of a tune.
Yeah, we’re quite please with that one. We hope it’ll get quite a bit of airplay. It’s got some ‘House’ vibes going on. It’s about breaking free and getting together.
There are a few songs with the same idea going on.I want life to be a bit better for everyone. I want us to get along, so if this album can take people’s minds off of all the shit that’s going on, so be it.
You’ve touched on the charts, but to be honest, if this album comes in at number 78, so be it. I still want it to be listened to in forty years time.
Are there any milestones left for the band?
There’s always something to work towards. We’ve supported a few bands at Wembley, but it would be lovely to headline there. When I was 15 I was in a school band with Paul and we got to play York Arts Centre.
Before a note of music was played, Paul walked out and shouted, “Hello Wembley!” I thought it was awful, so I banned him from having a microphone from then onwards, but I did promise him that the next time he cound have one would be if we headlined Wembley.
The only premise is that he has to walk out on stage and say, “Hello, York Arts Centre!”
Shed Seven’s self-titled album is released on 8th January 2027.
Tour dates:
Shed Seven – Performing ‘A Maximum High’
29th October 2026 - Roadmender, Northampton, UK
30th October 2026 - Academy 2, Manchester, UK
31st October 2026 - Barrowland, Glasgow, UK
Further 2026 tour dates
Thu 12 Nov - Nottingham Rock City - LOW TICKETS
Fri 13 Nov - Nottingham Rock City - SOLD OUT
Sat 14 Nov - Birmingham O2 Academy 1 - SOLD OUT
Mon 16 Nov - King George's Hall, Blackburn
Tue 17 Nov - Norwich The Nick Rayns LCR, UEA - LOW TICKETS
Thu 19 Nov - Aberdeen Music Hall - LOW TICKETS
Fri 20 Nov - Glasgow O2 Academy Glasgow - SOLD OUT
Sat 21 Nov - Edinburgh Usher Hall - LOW TICKETS
Mon 23 Nov - Leicester O2 Academy 1
Tue 24 Nov - Brighton Dome
Thu 26 Nov - Cardiff University Great Hall
Fri 27 Nov - Sheffield Octagon - SOLD OUT
Sat 28 Nov - Newcastle O2 City Hall - SOLD OUT
Mon 30 Nov - Cambridge Corn Exchange - LOW TICKETS
Tue 01 Dec - Bristol Beacon - LOW TICKETS
Thu 03 Dec - Stockton Globe
Fri 04 Dec - Liverpool Uni The Mountford Hall - LOW TICKETS
Sat 05 Dec - Manchester O2 Apollo - SOLD OUT
Mon 07 Dec - Lincoln Engine Shed
Tue 08 Dec - Stoke-On-Trent Victoria Hall
Thu 10 Dec - Bournemouth O2 Academy
Fri 11 Dec - London O2 Brixton Academy - SOLD OUT
Sat 12 Dec - Leeds O2 Academy - SOLD OUT
Sun 13th Dec - Leeds O2 Academy - LOW TICKETS
Further details at shedseven.com