{"id":197542,"date":"2026-06-03T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/?p=197542"},"modified":"2026-06-03T15:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T21:50:14","slug":"localized-die-shiny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/music\/interviews\/localized\/localized-die-shiny\/","title":{"rendered":"Localized: Die Shiny"},"content":{"rendered":"

Be the most prideful this pride month and come see June\u2019s installment of SLUG Localized<\/em><\/a>! We\u2019re breaking out all the stops with some of the best LGBTQ+ bands that Utah has to offer. Start off the night right with the contemporay sounds of Liam Lars<\/strong><\/a>, power down some alt-pop with Leetham<\/strong><\/a> and crank up the volume with heavy hooks from Die Shiny<\/strong><\/a>. Head over to Kilby Court<\/em><\/a> Thursday, June 18 for a night you won\u2019t want to miss! Where do you have to be? Grilling egg salad sandwiches at midnight? That\u2019s what we thought…<\/p>\n

\n

On the front steps of The Boiler Room<\/em><\/a> in downtown Salt Lake City, I first heard of the music genre \u201cconscious pop.\u201d I heard about it while being told an anecdote about a Die Shiny fan who had approached the band\u2019s lead vocalist and bassist, Callie Crofts<\/strong><\/a>, saying, \u201cI feel like I want to call your genre conscious pop.\u201d While they do identify with and have adopted the genre \u201cconscious pop,\u201d Crofts, who uses they\/she\/he pronouns, describes the band\u2019s sound as electro pop with a \u201cpunk ethos.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPunk is this gateway thing into whatever our brand is,\u201d they say. \u201cI\u2019m kind of fiery and political and \u2026 [I have] stopped being afraid of being that, regardless of the genre that we\u2019re in.\u201d Crofts told me this while wearing a shirt that read \u201cYour taxes fund terror.\u201d It was clear to me why fans perceive the band as \u201cconscious pop,\u201d and why Die Shiny claims the genre with pride.<\/p>\n

\"Five
Die Shiny doesn\u2019t aim to create music within any specific genre. Photo: Chris Berry<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI feel like I want to call your genre conscious pop.\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The band doesn\u2019t aim to create music within any specific genre. Rather, Crofts describes Die Shiny\u2019s sound as \u201cjust a bit of everything.\u201d \u201cWe\u2019re a bunch of weirdos,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019re just neurodivergent, ADHD, angry, cute people who sing about what matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to Crofts, the band consists of four others: Zac Bryant<\/strong><\/a> (Crofts\u2019 partner and the band\u2019s audio engineer) on drums and vocals, Matt Wiley<\/strong> on guitar, Caleb Wall<\/strong> on keys and vocals and Carolyn Schmitz<\/strong> on vocals. Crofts and Bryant also serve as the band\u2019s producers.<\/p>\n

Crofts cites several artists as inspiration for Die Shiny\u2019s music, including Hayley Williams<\/strong><\/a>, DAMAG3<\/strong><\/a>, Nine Inch Nails<\/strong><\/a>, The Neighborhood Kids<\/strong><\/a>, Kneecap<\/strong><\/a> and Gorillaz<\/strong><\/a>. \u201cI\u2019ve had a lot of favorite [artists] in the 90s pop and rock world,\u201d Crofts says. \u201cIn the last few years, I\u2019m finding myself struggling to enjoy artists who are not anti-fascist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Politics and music go hand in hand for Die Shiny. The band first overtly explored political themes in their 2024 single, \u201cThe Fountain.\u201d<\/a> \u201cThe Fountain was the first 12:41:15 PM I am openly, admittedly talking politics,\u201d Crofts says. \u201cI was a little scared, and some of my fans were a little uncomfortable \u2026 Some friends were like, \u2018Oh, you\u2019re shooting yourself in the foot.\u2019 And I was like, \u2018I don\u2019t give a fuck.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Five
Politics and music go hand in hand for Die Shiny. Photo: Chris Berry<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a bunch of weirdos. We\u2019re just neurodivergent, ADHD, angry, cute people who sing about what matters.\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Political themes have remained prevalent in Die Shiny\u2019s newest EP, Glory<\/em><\/a>, which includes \u201cThe Fountain.\u201d The EP touches on themes of wealth inequality, corporate greed and freedom.<\/p>\n

Glory<\/em> was self-produced by Crofts and Bryant, something the band is very passionate about, as it has, according to the Die Shiny website, \u201cno interest in record labels.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the music industry is so full of bullshit on every level,\u201d Crofts says. \u201cRecord labels, yes, they have made some people mega famous, but for every mega famous person, the label has another 1,000 artists that \u2026 they don\u2019t care because they didn\u2019t show the potential to make money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crofts wants to keep record label \u201chands\u201d out of her art, saying she is \u201csmart\u201d and \u201ctenacious\u201d enough to run the business side of the band. \u201cI\u2019m learning digital marketing,\u201d they say. \u201cIt\u2019s not fun, but it\u2019s worth it \u2026 I believe in the music enough, and this dream is just intense enough that I need to figure out how to make it work.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Some friends were like, \u2018Oh, you\u2019re shooting yourself in the foot.\u2019 And I was like, \u2018I don\u2019t give a fuck.\u2019\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Die Shiny\u2019s music is also heavily influenced by queerness, as several band members are a part of the LGBTQ+ community. \u201cI actually have been making music longer than I have understood my own queer identity,\u201d Crofts says. \u201cI feel like the music has absolutely evolved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crofts credits a huge part of that evolution to Salt Lake City\u2019s queer community. \u201cI\u2019m so in love with our community [of] cute little queers and introverts and neurodivergent people,\u201d they say. \u201cI\u2019m trying so hard from this point forward to make everything I do a safe space for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more from past Localized<\/em> features:
\n<\/strong>Localized: Modern Speed<\/a>
\nLocalized: Gracemaker<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To help SLUG continue supporting the local music scene, consider becoming one of our donors!<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Die Shiny\u2019s music is heavily influenced by queerness, as several band members are a part of the LGBTQ+ community. \u201cI feel like the music has absolutely evolved.\u201d … read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":197633,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","_expiration-date-status":"","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[],"_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[13054,323,355],"tags":[33121,30031,33122,33123,21594,33126,24507,1831,24291,17329,33119,27319,1864,2757,33120,33125,33124,30491],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197542"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}