Never Shout Never: The Xmas Tour + Special Guest The Downtown Fiction (acoustic) + Brian Marquis

For Christofer Drew, songwriting is like breathing. The vocalist/guitarist is constantly writing, recording and releasing music for one of his many creative outlets?whether it's the ferocious metal band EATMEWHILEIMHOT!, the electronic-steeped GONZO, a stripped-down solo project or the feel-good pop band Never Shout Never. There's a very good reason the Joplin, Missouri, resident has so many side projects, however: From Never Shout Never?the solo project he started in 2007 that's now a full-fledged trio. Drew learned that music is fluid and always changing. Limiting yourself to one band or one genre of music is creatively stifling anddetrimental to the creative process.

This restless mindset explains why Never Shout Never's sound has evolved so dramatically and so quickly from the acoustic emo-pop of 2008's "The Yippee EP" and 2009's "What Is Love?" to the psychedelic-pop on "Time Travel." And it also explains why "Indigo," Never Shout Never's fourth studio album, is such a creative leap forward.

It's also a source of pride for Drew that Never Shout Never writes, records and produces everything themselves. The only outside help they had with "Indigo" was using engineer Jeff Smith and his studio2100; Drew even handled post-production himself along with his Gonzo bandmate Ben Wayne. This DIY mentality is a holdover from Drew's roots: He was just 16 when he formed Never Shout Never and quickly found a following for his music thanks to sites such as MySpace. Within the next two years, Drew had toured with the Ready Set, The Cab and Hellogoodbye, played Warped Tour and performed at Bamboozle, and signed with a major label.

Despite his prolific output and multiple bands, Drew is still very much invested in Never Shout Never. "We plan on doing this until we're really sick of it, and by then, we'll be doing it for so long that we couldn't live without it," he says. "It's going to be something we're doing our whole lives." Still, he makes it clear old habits die hard: "We're always changing and evolving, and we're not one specific genre. We're trying to hit everything we can in our lifetime. I guess another way of saying it is: Don't get used to this sound either."

Tickets/More info:
https://jamminjava.com/events/never-shout-never