Localized: Sharing

Thankfully (hopefully?), spring is upon us, and what better way to celebrate than with a breezy Kilby show. April’s Localized showcase features the dreamy, indie sounds of co-headliners Sharing and The Alpines alongside wunderkind openers Stage Fright. Come out to Kilby Court on Thursday, April 20 (doors at 7, music at 8) for the show. SLUG Localized is sponsored by Riso Geist.

Sharing is a group of college cuties that began collaborating in early 2020 under the name Good Color. Students at Utah State University, guitarist Miles Folsom and his synth savvy partner, Nicole Steinicke, formed a profound music relationship with Spencer Felix. With a love for their campus yoga class, Jack Antonoff and his project Bleachers, they synced with drummer Alek Nelson. With the release of their debut EP, Good Color, the four were playing energetic, sincere and euphoric shows together, connecting with their crowds on an emotional level.

One consistent showgoer would turn out to be the last piece in their ongoing musical orgy. Maggie Mattinson joined as the band’s bassist—a beloved friend already to the rest of its members through connections they had with Aggie Radio. After Mattinson joined, the band emerged as the free-spirited group under the name Sharing, a fitting new title for the group of friends that finishes each other’s sentences and celebrates the contributions of each member, distributing love and warmth in their artistry to listeners.

“There’s a lot of conversation about what we value, what we care about, what we want to say and then the sound kind of circles that.”

“We think of ourselves as a very collaboratively minded band,” Folsom says. During the writing process before Mattinson joined, Steinicke says, “The most likely thing to happen is Miles brings a riff and then we jam it. And then Spencer takes conversations we have about what we want the song to say and formulates lyrics.” Steinicke and Nelson fill in drum parts and thoughtfully choose layers of synth sounds, sometimes contributing to lyrics as well. Felix adds, “There’s a lot of conversation about what we value, what we care about, what we want to say and then the sound kind of circles that.”

The group’s unanimous favorite track to play live is the first song they wrote together, which remains unreleased. “That song predates the EP, but it didn’t feel right to just put it on the EP,” Folsom says. With plans to release this track, called “After Birth,” soon, it remains significant to them during live shows because of the way it takes over the room. “I was holding back tears on stage during ‘After Birth’,” Mattinson says. “It was just so powerful.”

Taking inspiration from artists such as Slowdive and Beach House, Sharing have a dream-pop and shoegaze-y sound, but they’ve also featured a meditation track on their EP called “Athemtide.” Calling back to their roots together in yoga class, the group performs this and other new tracks like it live. They describe what happens as a sentimental experience. “Spencer did the thing where he had the crowd do a bunch of square breathing [exercises] before we played [it],” Steinicke says. “Having that happen for the first time with a crowd that was so focused already—we didn’t need to do that, they were already going to be silent during the song. But Spencer still took the moment to breathe with the crowd. That’s when I almost cried.”

“Having that perfectly attentive, respectful [and] beautiful moment distinguishes a concert from being a social event to being a potentially spiritual and life-changing experience.”

Discussing their crowd involvement further, transitions between songs became of utmost importance. With their strategy being to fill the moments in between the songs with sounds instead of chit-chat, they found it actually enhances their ability to connect with the audience. “Having that perfectly attentive, respectful [and] beautiful moment distinguishes a concert from being a social event to being a potentially spiritual and life-changing experience,” Felix says. Folsom says this “is kind of shocking. I never thought our music would have that effect on people.”

Be sure to catch Sharing at April’s Localized to experience this highly revered show. Follow their socials @sharingband, listen to the EP wherever you listen and watch for more releases soon.

Read more features on prior Localized acts:
Localized: Numerohuno
Localized: Fonteyn