Australian band Sheppard—half of which is composed of siblings George, Amy and Emma Sheppard––has achieved something of a coup with its smash hit “Geronimo.” To date, the song has grabbed more than 45 million listens on Spotify and nearly seven million combined views on YouTube. Impressive figures, particularly for an independent, unsigned band. The single was too hot to escape the notice of Scooter Braun, discoverer/manager of Justin Bieber and head of School Boy Records. He quickly snapped up the band.
“It’s so easy to get heard. So that's not the issue. It's learning how to write a song.”
“If something works in Australia, the labels know that it’ll work in America,” vocalist George Sheppard asserts. “It’s kind of a testing ground. Somebody in the States sent our [‘Geronimo’] video clip to Nano [Tissera], who works with Scooter at School Boy. Scooter went for it; he thought it was a great song. Before we knew it, he had a deal locked down with Republic and the rest of the world fell into place pretty quickly.” Prior to “Geronimo,” Sheppard had success with its single “Let Me Down Easy.” It was spun heavily by Portland, OR radio station KNRK. “It got to number one on KNRK and we got to come over and do a show,” the singer recalls. “It wasn’t long until Australia started to take notice and we were able to break through on commercial radio there.
“In this day and age, it’s so easy to get heard,” Sheppard continues. “So that's not the issue. It's learning how to write a song.”
Following the success of “Geronimo,” Sheppard released a four-song EP of the same name, which is also earning solid numbers. The band will hit the road in America, joining Meghan Trainor on her 2015 “That Bass” tour. Sheppard has already released the 11-track Bombs Away in Australia and aims to release it Stateside early this year.
– Rob Putnam
