Shiny Shiny Black band members Amber and Nate Butler sat down with Eric Dyck Hilty from Bethany Alumni Relations at the Electric Brew in Goshen to talk about their upcoming album, writing songs, and their connection with Bethany. Here is what he learned.
Amber has her own connection with Bethany as she is from the class of 2000. During her years at Bethany, she learned to play the guitar on her own, sang in the choir, and performed in all the musicals and Spring Arts Days. “It was fun and allowed me to develop a creative edge.” During her senior year, she requested permission to have some friends come to campus and play a few songs for chapel. One of those friends, a bit older than her, was her boyfriend Nate.
Amber remembers being encouraged to take an independent poetry class by her creative writing teacher, Suzanne Ehst. “She mentored me in my writing and helped me create a poetry chapbook. Later after encouragement from my friends, I published a little book of poetry. It was really affirming– like oh, I can do this!”
Shiny Shiny Black is releasing a new full-length album. Reverberations will be available June 2, 2023. In celebration of the album, a special kick-off concert will be held at Goshen Brewing Company on Sunday, June 4, 2023.
Writing and producing an album isn’t always the easiest thing to do. “It takes a lot of time, especially with all of life's activities,” said Amber. “But with the pandemic it allowed room to finish some work. I think this was true of many artists.”
Nate jumped in, “Several of the tracks of the album were recorded in March and April of 2020 but the hard drive was accidentally deleted in May of that year. So we had to start recording again.” It was out of re-recording the album that Shiny Shiny Black decided to release four singles which were slated to be on the album, and in the process, Nate and Amber were able to create a number of new songs.
Two songs on the current album that are available online are 
In “New Eyes,” Amber sings the lead. “This song is about wrestling with your sense of calling and not being able to live up to it. There is a heaviness it brings.” She said, “Moving forward, you realize it is not all on you but there is a bigger picture of the world. It is really about having a new perspective.”
Inquiring about the album name, Amber said, “A reverberation is the way sound travels and is essentially music. In our album, we think of it as an ‘in and out’ process of receiving and hearing sound, but also the process of generating sound.” Regarding the theme of the album, Amber said, “It is about spiritual journey. Nate and I were surprised by the spiritual nature of the songs. There are stories of faith, room for doubt, hope, and never quitting.”
Nate said, “It wasn’t a conscious intention to write songs with this theme. It was just something about coming out of this [pandemic] season. It is revealing sometimes, that what your heart is dealing with, comes out in the music.”
Amber and Nate have different methods of writing songs. Amber said, “For me, I often start with journaling and creating a few lyrics. Next, I might have a melody or set of chords. I then share it with Nate and he will add ideas for the lyrics and music and refine it. Then I go back and refine it as well.”
For Nate, “I always seem to have a melody in my mind. For me, melodies and rhythms are like breathing. That is the easy part.” He continues, “What is hard, is getting an idea that is meaningful and touches a person’s life.” Nate has been producing music for most of his life and enjoys the process of putting music together.
He and two friends founded Shiny Shiny Black in 2012, and released the debut album, Travelers, in April 2014. Amber joined the band in 2015, just before their second child was born. Along with performing in the band, a major part of her role was managing it by organizing the business side, along with the marketing and scheduling. She is now in a joint leadership role with Nate through writing and collaborating in the writing of the songs and singing.
Production of the album was completed in their studio, a rented space under the Electric Brew, and their home studio. Nate said, “We are pretty excited to renovate our home on South Main and have a studio in it. This allows us to work more efficiently and not be tied down to a particular schedule.”
Amber and Nate send their daughters to Bethany. Nate said, “They really enjoy the social interaction with other kids and like their teachers. It is pretty neat that the principals greet the kids each day. That never happened when I went to school.”
Shiny Shiny Black music, schedules, and memorabilia can be found at shinyshinyblack.com/home or on social media at facebook.com/ShinyShinyBlack.
Links to their singles,