Aussie group Sheppard have released for the festive season, ’Christmas Without You’. The new single is a poignant track for the Xmas season that will hit home for all those who are missing a loved or special someone this Christmas. Sheppard are also taking part in Brisbane’s Lord Mayor Christmas Carols, at the iconic Riverstage, we’re they will play ‘Christmas Without You’ live on the 11th of December. We took time out of their preparations to ask them about the new song, performing at the carols in their home town and what they hope is under the tree come Christmas morning.

For those that haven’t heard your music before , how do you describe your sound?

The Sheppard sound is actually quite eclectic. We tend to jump around quite a bit with our sound, but at our core, we are a pop band specializing in big, catchy, atmospheric, stadium-ready anthems. We definitely try and put as much colour and energy into our music as we can.

"Christmas without you' is your touching and poignant new song that has just been released, what made you decide to do a Christmas song?

We’ve always been asked when we’re going to do a Christmas song, it’s definitely been on our bucket list for awhile, but for whatever reason this just felt like the right time. We’ve been separated from our father (who works overseas) for two years now thanks to Covid, and we knew there must be countless other families who would be in similar situations - so rather than putting out yet another version of one of the old Christmas classics, we decided we wanted to try and write an original Christmas song for all the people and families out there who are missing someone special, at a time of the year when it can be particularly challenging to be without your loved ones.

What does 'Christmas without you' mean to you personally?

As I mentioned, we’ve been separated from our father by an ocean for the last two years. As a close knit family, it’s been particularly hard for us to have him stuck overseas for so long. Christmas has been a particularly tough time for us recently, because it’s a very clear indication that a pivotal member of our family isn’t here with us and we’re constantly reminded of all the important milestones he’s missed out on over the last two years. He wasn’t even able to make his own daughter’s wedding. So yeah, our family has definitely felt incomplete for the last 24 months, and not being able to spend Christmas with our father for the second year in a row is the real personal meaning behind this song.

“ We decided we wanted to try and write an original Christmas song for all the people and families out there who are missing someone special”

— Sheppard

Sheppard have had a long standing relationship with Polish graphic design firm Ars Thanea, how did they pitch the concept for the video?

They didn’t actually pitch at all! We’ve been working with Ars Thanea on all of our album/single cover artworks since our second album, ‘Watching the Sky’. Time after time, we’ve always been thoroughly impressed with the work they’ve brought to the table, so we 100% trusted them on this one. All we knew was that they had a team of some of the best animators in the business, making something that was going to be truly beautiful. They’ve never let us down in the past, so we just gave them full creative control and let them do their thing!

Does working with an overseas graphic design company pose any challenges in communication and expressing ideas? especially as they celebrate a 'White ' Christmas?

There’s always going to be communication challenges with any creative working relationship, but in this instance I think the only real challenge was the difference in time zone. Even then, I’m a night owl so I was able to be in close communication with the Creative Director, Piotr the entire time. We always message each other directly, so there’s no middle men and very little red tape to cut through. Piotr would send me snippets of whatever segment they were working on so I could give notes which he would relay to his team in real time. Ars Thanea are always a dream to work with.

Were there any memorable moments during the making of the video?

It’s 100% CGI animated video clip produced in Poland, so we really had very little to do hands-on in terms of the ‘making of’, but there were plenty of times when Piotr would send me a clip with the lighting freshly rendered, or the colour grading having just been completed, and I would get goosebumps from how beautiful it all. It kept blowing my expectations out of the water as to what I thought we were getting delivered. Plenty of those kinds of memorable moments throughout the process.

“Brisbane is our home, so the fact that we get to be involved in such a prestigious event is a huge honour for us”

— Sheppard

You are participating in the Brisbane Lord Mayor's Christmas Carols on December 11th, what goes into the preparation for a carols performance?

An event like the Lord Mayor’s Christmas Carols is very different to a regular show. There are multiple artists and musicians, special guests, people in various costumes, choirs, orchestras, and the staging usually changes along with it. There are so many more moving parts, so it’s a momentous effort to organise. We’re only doing two songs, so our preparation isn’t too intense. We have our own band rehearsals so we all know our parts and then most of it will come together in the days leading up to the live performance when we actually get to be on the stage rehearsing with the orchestra and choir. It will be an extremely busy couple of days, but totally worth it.

Performing in a Christmas event in your home town must be a special feeling? Will your family and friends be attending?

Yes! Brisbane is our home, so the fact that we get to be involved in such a prestigious event is a huge honour for us. All our family and quite a few of our friends have got tickets and will be enjoying themselves in the crowd. It will be the first time we’ve played the iconic Riverstage venue here in Brisbane, so we’ll absolutely be buzzing.

Will this be one of the highlights of your career so far?

Every time we get to do an event of this calibre and size it’s definitely a career highlight. We’ve been fortunate enough to have played the Carols by Candlelight in Melbourne and that was easily one of the best nights we’ve had on stage so I can’t see why this would be any different. The amount of joy you can feel in the crowd is very infectious. Especially because of the heartache of the past two years, getting to see all the people and families having fun together in a sold out Riverstage will be particularly heart-warming.

Sheppard already boasts over 850 million streams across a multitude of platforms, given a good and not cheezy Christmas song is hard to find, are you expecting that stream number to rapidly rise with 'Christmas without you' , especially given its universally felt theme?

It’s definitely not something you can ever expect to happen. We obviously want people to hear the song and take something away from it, but there are songs that we have thought were great that never went anywhere and songs we didn’t think too much of that did better than expected, so at this point we’re all about making music that we love, that is true to us, that we hope also resonates with somebody out there who might need to hear it.

“We’re all about making music that we love, that is true to us, that we hope also resonates with somebody out there who might need to hear it. ”

— Sheppard

What's your favourite thing about Christmas and the YuleTide period?

I think it’s hard to take food out of the equation here… Christmas Ham. That would have to be my favourite thing. Oh and the fact that we get to have a summer Christmas every year here in Australia! Pools and BBQs for the eun!

How will you be spending your Christmas?

This year I’ll actually be heading to Melbourne with my fiancé Kathleen so that she can see her family. I’m lucky enough that I get to spend all year round with my family, but Kathleen hasn’t been able to see her family in two years either, so I think we’ll head down there and have ourselves a Melbourne Christmas!

What is the one thing you would love to be wrapped under the tree for you this year?

I’m a huge tech nerd, and I do love gaming when I get some down time, so I’d really love an Oculus Quest to show up under the tree. Totally wireless VR gaming. Right up my alley!

What is SHEPPARD's message to fans for Christmas 2021?

We just hope that no matter who you’re with (or without), that you’re able to find some joy and laughter this Christmas. Even if you’re separated from your loved ones, take some comfort in the fact that they’re somewhere out there, missing you too, and that you will all be together again one day soon.

Interview by Michelle Symes

December 2021

Christmas with Sheppard