Watch Out For Those Shameless Strangers

Plattsburgh's funny rockers.

Story by Mathias Kamin

Four local boys and a man from suburban sprawl Pennsylvania have been comedy-rocking Plattsburgh for the past 5 years. Living up to their name, The Shameless Strangers are a sight to behold. Will Scheifley, the band’s point man and co-founder, states to have played shows at the Monopole at least one hundred times.  “I really haven’t had to do much work. People helped us out with getting all these gigs!”

Early on in the bands history, Scheifley, along with Mike Dashnaw, the band's lead guitar player, used to open for larger acts all around the North Country. Jamse Ward, a powerhouse of the Plattsburgh music scene in his own right (El Duce, Slow Natives and, most recently, Eat Sleep Funk), remembers countless gigs and house parties where Shameless opened for his bands.

“I first met Will at an open mic. He sang a song called ‘Aliens’ and after that he became my favorite songwriter. That man can deliver a joke in a song like nobody else! I wanted them to open for us as often as they could,” Ward said.

“It was like Build-A-Bear, but with monkeys."

At the time, Scheifley worked at a place called Worldwide Monkeys, a “get rich quick scheme” where he had to answer phones late into the evening.

“It was like Build-A-Bear but with monkeys. So if some guy on the West Coast saw an ad at midnight I had to be there to take his order.”

He was the only person who worked the graveyard shift and so had the whole building.  Dashnaw and Scheifley cultivated their sound in the emptiness of a call center and the hopes of a get-rich-quick scheme.  After a while, Shameless began to grow, picking up Bill Bougill, Cody Reid, Kevin Duprey and Dan Gallagher on drums, bass, guitar and keys, respectively. Over the next 4 years, they became one of the most visible groups in Plattsburgh.

They’ve played festivals throughout New York State, including Plattsburgh’s Backwoods Pondfest, which has been held off Bear Swamp Road in Peru for the past three years under that name and about 15 years under a slew of others. In 2005, they won the Grassroots Festival’s band competition. Grassroots Festival, which attracts 20,000 people each summer, is in the heart of the Finger Lakes region and showcases local and global musical acts.

The band competition is open to anyone who thinks they have the chops, and who happens to be awake at 9 a.m. on the second to last day of the four day festival. Needless to say, hundreds of entrants are disqualified for the later reason. “Ha-ha, actually Mike’s sister woke us up and pretty much said you’re on next!" Scheifley said. They ended up playing in the last spot and made the judges bust a side stitch as well as tap they’re feet.

“Before any big gig, we/ they would take a full-on snooze. Not together, but it’s definitely nap time before hand.”

Since that point, Shameless has pretty much kept it up, Will worries about the lyrics and the guys figure out the groove.  Dan Gallagher recalls that the funniest thing about playing with these guys. “Before any big gig, we/ they would take a full-on snooze. Not together, but it’s definitely nap time before hand.” Good luck charm?

Perhaps though the reason they nap before hand is that Shameless loves to make you laugh and dance literally all night long. Manager of the Coffee Camp Bevin Brady reminisces about the old days, actually only a year ago, when his shop would stay open 24 hours in hope of an after party with Shameless. “I mean they would play a show at the Monopole and just walk over with all the equipment and play from 2:30 till 4 am. It was sporadic but the absolute most fun I’ve had at work perhaps ever. I would be slinging coffees as fast as I could and dancing!” How dangerous.

The Shameless Strangers are currently working on their first full length album, and a music video for their song Founder Dead.  Cody Reid the band’s bassist says that “all the pieces have finally come together for this to happen.”

Are you a Shameless Stranger?