Between Guitar Hero and Rock Band, Shaimus has forcibly (but legally) entered the homes of millions of people around the world. The Los Angeles-based rock band's song "Like a Fool" has lit a fire under plastic instrument-wielding rockers everywhere as a free download for Rock Band 2. In 2010, "All Of This" and "Tie You Down" were added to the Rock Band song list.
In addition to their two video game appearances, Shaimus has been played on indie and mainstream radio, licensed their music to MTV, become International Songwriting Competition semi-finalists, appeared in the Sony/Screengems film The Roommate, had placements on CW's One Tree Hill and ABC Family's Ruby and the Rockits, signed a Friends Deal with MySpace Records, and had tens of thousands of music sales—all without the help of a record label.
The five original members of Shaimus joined forces toward the end of 2004 while attending Berklee College of Music in Boston. Their mysterious band name origins and dubious character traits aside, the quintet began locking in with each other musically almost immediately, and soon began work on their debut album, Paper Sun. Its third song "All Of This" was tapped by a little known company called Harmonix to be in a quirky new game called Guitar Hero. This would become the catalyst for Shaimus' worldwide proliferation of rock.
The band moved to Los Angeles and hit the road on tour, during which they honed their sound, songwriting process and performance chops. Their live shows, marked by energy, unadulterated volume and sweat-drenched wristbands became the band's trademark and led to a win at B.B. King's Battle of the Bands in Universal City and a 7-month residency in an LA rock club. With new songs that exemplified the Shaimus style and a steady demand from their fans, Shaimus realized it was time to record a new album.
Holing themselves up for most of 2008, Shaimus crafted a follow-up that would define the sound of a band coming into its own. The result was 2009's The Sad Thing Is, We Like It Here (and a sold-out CD release party), with themes of morality, mundanity and generational impassivity, plus the standard serving of love and ire that accompany most quality music. It was just one more step toward the band's single, modest goal: total world domination.
