WHERE PUNK MEETS POETRY: A CONVERSATION WITH ECCE SHNAK Interview with David Roush from Ecce Shnak by Benjamín York. Photographs by Thomas Krause.
PART 1 ECCE SHNAK: BUILDING A LANGUAGE OF THEIR OWN Music, Experimentation, and the Creative Process.
Ecce Shnak, a quintet consisting of David Roush (vocals, electric guitar/bass), Isabella Komodromos (vocals), Chris Krasnow (electric guitar), Gannon Ferrell (electric guitar/bass), and Henry Vaughn (drums), blends pop, classical music, and punk, creating songs about love, sex, death, change, courage, and food.
Since Roush formed the band in the mid-2000s, Ecce Shnak has walked a tightrope, constantly leaping from one style to another. Throughout these musical explorations, Roush's boundless imagination always takes center stage. Equal parts provocative and entertaining, Ecce Shnak's performances are as vividly theatrical as they are intellectually captivating, defying every expectation.
We had the opportunity to speak with David, and we've divided the interview into two parts. In this first installment, we'll get to know the band a little better.
Before their ‘Dandy Variances’ album arrives later this year, New York art-rock collective Ecce Shnak is turning heads with their delightfully off-kilter new single "Eddie, Legalistic Homeslice," a garage-rock celebration of friendship wrapped in operatic vocals, angular guitars, and fearless experimentation. With an sound that is unmistakably all their own, they’ve earned praise for crafting music that is as technically ambitious as it is wildly entertaining. We spoke with composer, bassist, and baritone vocalist David Roush, who tells the stories behind their journey, their creative process, and how Ecce Shnak manages to balance humor, heart and musical chaos to become one of New York City's most distinctive rock acts.
Please tell us about your two new singles “Vincent” and “Eddie” – are these reflective of your forthcoming Dandy Variances album?
Yes, they are reflective of the music on Dandy Variances. Ecce Shnak’s sound is a synthesis of pop music, classical music, and punk/hardcore music. “Vincent” draws on the first and third musical traditions, while “Eddie, Legalistic Homeslice” draws on the first and second musical traditions. “Vincent’s” jumpy, mid-tempo rhythm section and fuzzy guitars hopefully recall Fugazi and Candiria, while its vocal sound is a nod to classical art song à la Benjamin Britten. “Eddie, Legalistic Homeslice” is an indie/garage-rock song with pop harmony and songwriting, but I use modal folk melody and harmony, along with references to dramatic classical sounds in the chord choices. Fun fact: it is also the sequel to “Larry, Sleepover Friend,” another indie-rock song from our 2019 EP, Joke Oso.
“Shadows Grow Fangs” and “Backroom Sessions” are your latest two EPs, but not your first ones. What came before those, and were those releases coming from a different headspace than the music you issued in 2025?
We have three releases that precede those you mentioned. Our first EP, Letters to German Vasquez Rubio, actually came out way back in 2011. In 2019, we released both a second EP, Joke Oso, and our first full-length album, Metamorphejawns.
I would say that, in general, I tend to write in the same headspace as the composer of the music. In addition to the three musical styles that I draw from as a composer, my lyrics on all of the releases have several general themes. Some are lighthearted, whimsical musings on funny experiences or the people I care about and love. Others are reflections on more existentially sobering subjects such as death, trauma, and chaos. Finally, after all that, I try to make some party songs here and there. Those can draw on all kinds of themes, including all of those I mentioned above, but they are also occasionally fun nonsense in the style of Talking Heads’ “Burning Down the House.”
How has Ecce Shnak developed and transformed since first starting this project, and what has remained constant?
There have been three primary changes more recently that I feel have elevated the sound of the music and our enjoyment of playing it as a band.
First, we have added the superbly talented soprano Bella Kommodromos. She first appears on the recordings you mentioned, Shadows Grow Fangs and Backroom Sessions, and I anticipate that she will dazzle our listeners through her contributions on Dandy Variances. While I am proud of all of the music Ecce Shnak has put out, these three albums have the richest and loveliest vocal texture because of Bella’s extraordinary sound and talent. Your listeners should also listen to her solo project, Bella Litsa. She calls it “Baroque pop” and names Lana Del Rey, PJ Harvey, Fiona Apple, and Rachmaninov as some of her main influences as a composer, pianist, and singer.
In addition to Bella joining the band, we are now a mere quintet. Our live ensemble has featured many more members previously. While a great number of performers allowed us to have an expansive, almost orchestral impressiveness, I feel that it might have come off as a little “goopy” and overwrought.
I have been playing bass in the band for the past three years, which is a new and wonderful thing for me. Meanwhile, our two guitarists, Chris Krasnow and Gannon Ferrell, are masterful instrumentalists and sound designers with their pedalboards. We no longer need keyboards, as they can enact such a wide range of sounds through their hands, creativity, and equipment.
"Eddie, Legalistic Homeslice"
Are you originally from New York City? How, if at all, has such a megapolis influenced your sound or lifestyle as an artist?
This is a really interesting question! I have lived in cities for more than half my life and have lived in New York City since 2015. The spirit of urban places is a wildly inspiring emotional mix. New York City obviously fosters a wide range of cultural diversity and artistic verve, which can help its inhabitants grow empathically, socially, and intellectually. It also has a cantankerous sonic landscape. Car horns, people jeering or cursing at each other, catcalls, police sirens, construction equipment, car radios, and the sometimes meaningless but occasionally transcendently fascinating rantings of homeless people all find their way into musicians’ lyrical and musical language. For me, I feel that city life can make all of it more extreme: that which is funny in life, that which is frightful, that which is comforting, and that which is fascinating. That said, I could use a little while in the woods with my dog and cat sometime soon.
With so many releases—remixes, live sessions, collaborative singles—how do you balance Ecce Shnak’s genre-defying studio precision with the raw unpredictability of your live performances? First, we practice our asses off. Well, not like Frank Zappa levels, but enough to translate the subtleties of multitrack recording into a live performance that does the original justice. I hope so, anyway, and I believe many audience members feel that way, too. Also, that balance has to do with arranging the music for a live setting. If you have more than three instrumental textures on a recording but you have excellent guitarists like Chris and Gannon, it is surprising how much the three of us can muster. I am still more of a beginner bassist, and most of the basslines are not wildly complicated, but I am regularly stunned by how much Gannon and Chris can pull off.
Finally, I occasionally ask Bella to sing a keyboard melody on an “ooo” or an “ahhh” if she is not singing something else. If we have to cut anything, we just do. The crux of the notes and the spirit remain, and ultimately, that is all that really matters.
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