Meet Shane Bischoff

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Shane Bischoff. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Shane , appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

I guess I (Shane – The Guitarist/Shouter) personally had to develop it. I have quite a dramatically eventful life. My parents gave me a lot of security, but they also had some heavy arguments that I remember. I got bullied and sexually harassed as a teenager as well. Misophonia got bad when I worked at Walmart (and still is tough for me).

I lost my father when I was 21 and not quite mentally developed enough for the world. Then in the following years there were multiple car accidents, tough and demanding jobs, heartbreaks, and abuse from those I once trusted

I mean, you can probably hear all the resilience that took in our music. Even my guitar tone!

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

A Lack of Champions formed in late 2021 by Guillermo Aponte and myself. I have had a desire to play rock n’ roll musice as far back as childhood.

With my difficulty in concentration and handling peer interactions, learning music didn’t come easy. I went from attempting snare drum and school band at 12 to guitar lessons the next year. And I had a pretty poor start ans gradually began teaching myself. I’ve been inspired by Roger McGuinn, Vinnie Vincent (during the KISS years), David Gilmour, Syd Barrett, Tony Iommi, Steve Jones, Pat Smear, Steve Turner, Kurt Cobain, East Bay Ray, Nick Blinko, Randy Stodola, etc.

Though I don’t play like any of them!

But after years of trying, I gave trying to find a band a rest. I was in Portsmouth, Ohio, so not many opportunities existed and my skills were hardly the best. I figured I would try again when the time was right.

As it has been documented, in 2021, three years after moving to Denver in hopes for a better life away from Appalachia and the Opioid Epidemic and Confederate Flags, I saw a beautiful Peavey guitar in a window display at Wedgles Music (though I bought a Mahar strat copy) and decided to use what resources I could to find musicians and get a band together.

It was definitely a slow start with members coming and going, while I navigated a second and brutal infection of Covid and lost two cars. But with Morgan Carter becoming the drummer, A Lack of Champions stabilized into a reliable and musically stable trio. But we released our LP “Loser Breaks All” and I am incredibly proud of where we have gotten as a Denver Punk Rock band. We just released an EP called “Oh, The Times We Live In…”

And though we went through another bassist switch recently, things are regenerated for the better. Dave DeJong has joined us and brought a kindess and reliability.

Morgan is a chemist from Providence. Dave is a Carpenter from New Jersey. I am a Behavioral Technician from the hills of Southeast Ohio. And together we are a hardworking and passionate trio.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Resourcefulness is key. I may be 42, but I am just as scatterbrained as I was in 2007. It was a lot of lessons learned for sure. But passion and a desire or hunger for what you do probably mean the most. At least if you are going to create art, have opinions, and put them out, not just locally, but in view of the digital landscape. You have to believe in what you do and stand by it.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

Morgan. Tasha. Cody. Dave. Kevin. Kailai. Nathan. Sarah. Becky. Christopher. Brian. I could go on forever.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Genevieve Grant, Fox And Robyn Recording, Punk Duck Photography, Goldyn Gambit, Brian Botsko

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