They're toting an electro-post-punk sound that kicks you in the teeth. Not content with the sonic assault, Sabrina shouts the house down. It swaggers and goads, leaving no room for apologies. As for where that all comes from for the pair, Johnny gruffly says, "A deep, pitted anger inside. A deep dark, grungy, gross anger…" before breaking and laughing. "No. I don't really know."

While Johnny has been a part of artistic endeavours previously, Shelf Lives is Sabrina's first outing. For her, it's been a good way to figure things out. "I was like, wow, I've never felt this liberation." Under Johnny's tutelage, Sabrina discovered what input she could offer Shelf Lives. "I would try something, and he'd be like, 'Yeah, that's cool.' Like… is it?" she laughs. "I don't know! It was things like that. And the multitude of years I spent singing in a hairbrush while in my room by myself actually ended up being practice. So the lesson of the day is pick up the hairbrush! You never know what you're preparing for."

The balance between Johnny's artistic experience and Sabrina's lack thereof is the makeup of Shelf Lives' basic DNA. But the pair keep a keen eye on the goings on of the world to fuse meaning within the rowdy sounds. Johnny cites his interest in society and how "gross the consumerism side of society can be." Particularly nodding towards our friends over the pond, "and how consumerist mentality they are and how they've done things. Everything's quite hyper over there. I feel like we're in a hyper-Western society."

While it takes some level of premeditation, in the form of keeping up with whatever's going on, Shelf Lives' approach is far more reflexive. "We just spew things out," Johnny smirks. "It's just this primal feeling you get," Sabrina adds. "Like something is telling you to unleash it or to be dramatic about it."

In order for this to all work, the pair had to be on the same wavelength. This synchronicity between their chaos and meaning is unique, and one of the reasons it all works. On what it is they think made them a good fit, Sabrina offers up that it was easy due to "feeling super comfortable with each other." Realising that the level of sound experimentation required open minds, Sabrina adds that "you have to feel super comfortable in yourself, of course, but also with the other person. Being able to give each other notes on stuff - it just works."

There's no denying that Shelf Lives have tapped into something a bit special. Their raucous energy is as addictive as it is rallying. But since forming just two years ago, things have ramped up for the pair. "As soon as you start kind of overthinking that, and you start thinking about why it's happened, that's when I think you start getting in trouble," Sabrina warns. "That's why an artist or band's second or third album sometimes doesn't click like the first one does. It's because they start thinking about things that they weren't thinking about when they made that first one."

Ignoring opinions, Shelf Lives know the key to survival is staying true to themselves. "This might come across as a bit egotistical, but everyone has to realise why you're there to begin with. It's because you made a great body of work without any input. So as much as all of that means something, you can't think about making everyone happy," she affirms before resolutely hammering home Shelf Lives' ultimate motto: "You have to stick to your guns."

Taken from the July 2023 edition of Upset.