“I think we’ve had some bad luck with Philly. It doesn’t seem like Philly likes us. We played two basements, and one was like 10 people and an active leak, and at the other one college kids got held at gunpoint,” says a half-joking Victoria Winter, Brazilian-American bandleader of NYC quartet shower curtain, before admitting that the ‘90s-inspired indie rockers did have a decent show at Philly Style Pizza last August, but goes on to say, “I’m excited to play a real venue!” Next month, shower curtain are hitting the road for a little more than a week of dates supporting Louisville trio Wombo, whose second stop will find the Fire Talk labelmates at Johnny Brenda’s on September 9th. During my recent phone chat with Winter, she tells me that audiences on this upcoming run can expect a handful of brand-new songs from shower curtain, who have spent the past year-ish touring debut full-length words from a wishing well, which dropped last October, and which she thinks the band have gotten quite good at playing: “Not to toot my own horn, but I do feel like [the live shows] sound pretty close to our record!”
Victoria admits that there have been a number of notable highlights for shower curtain since their debut album hit shelves, but quickly notes two in particular. “When the album had first come out, like a week after, a really young girl at our show in Cincinnati was singing along the whole time… It was the first time anyone sang the whole record, and we were really honored, because it was a show with like 10 people,” Winter shares, before going on to tell me that the other big, standout reaction actually came from social media: “Someone on Reddit, on the shoegaze thread, was like, ‘I’m obsessed with shower curtain! I need more recommendations of bands that sound like this! I’m obsessed!’ which was so cool and such an honor, because I get obsessed with records that I love!” (She says Armlock’s debut, Seashell Angel Lucky Charm, is a record that she’s been obsessed with in recent years: “I like that record so, so much!”)
In addition to Cincinnati, Winter says shower curtain also experienced tour highlights from Treefort Fest (“I really loved Treefort, just really amazing people.”), San Francisco (“Our San Francisco show was sold out! That was super awesome!”), and Eau Claire (“We played Wisconsin at this pizza place, and the pizza was so amazing! Definitely comparable to New York pizza! And it was like the most wholesome town ever and we had $1 beers after!”) This March, in-between appearances at SXSW and Treefort, shower curtain also recorded their first-ever Audiotree session (which dropped this June), featuring six of words from a wishing well’s nine tracks, which Victoria tells me was super validating for the whole band: “The experience was so awesome for all of us… It was a life goal, I guess. We’d all been watching them since teenagers.” She also tells me that the entire Audiotree crew was super nice!
While words from a whishing well may be the debut LP, shower curtain actually began as Victoria Winter’s bedroom pop solo project before bringing guitarist Ethan Williams, drummer Sean Terrell, and bassist Cody Hudgins officially into the fold for the full-length, which was self-produced by Winter and Williams, ushering in a more collaborative iteration of the project: “All of the stuff before the record was me by myself. There was no live band.” However, I can’t help but ask Victoria’s thoughts on shower curtain’s self-titled, four-song debut EP, considering it turned five this March, and she admits that her feelings about it are mixed, but in a good way! “I think I used to be really critical, like, ‘Wow! I really, really hate this! It’s so sweet!’ But now I look back and, honestly, I still really like those songs, but I’ve changed so much,” says Winter, clarifying, “I’m 25 now, and I wrote those songs when I was 18, so actually a child [laughs]. I think the new songs are better, but I keep them up [on streaming services] for a reason.”
This May, amidst playing live shows, shower curtain dropped words from a wishing well (Deluxe Edition), which features five remixes of album tracks, including one courtesy of fantasy of a broken heart, who will be providing direct support for our phriends Frankie Cosmos this coming Thursday, September 4th, at Underground Arts. “I think it’s just a way to collaborate more and give a second wind to the record… It feels like you need to go above and beyond to keep your record alive these days,” says Victoria of the decision to give the album a rerelease, before admitting that she’s very happy with the new material: “I was curious to see what people could do with the songs, and then it was like, “Oh, this is sick!” And when I ask what’s next for the band, Winter says she’s definitely hoping these new songs they’ll be debuting live will be part of the next chapter of shower curtain: “I want to just be writing and planning our next thing. A few months ago, I think we all needed a break, because I thought so much about this album, conceptually, that I wasn’t ready to start thinking about something else, but I’m getting ready to move on.”
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