Opaque Shades: Strength Through Tenure and Tenacity

On Thursday, July 18, the International will host the So Below Tour, featuring California-based band AL1CE with support from local acts Opaque Shades and Lilly E. Gray. In anticipation of the show, SLUG Mag chatted with Opaque Shades about their roots in Salt Lake City and what to expect from their new project. 

Opaque Shades is a relatively new project formed from the internationally famous band All Gone Dead. The members include local goth and alternative music legends Miah Smith and Ben Stich Houtz. Time was of the essence, so instead of having to rely on other peoples’ schedules and time constraints, they kept the lineup to the two of them. Smith says, “We had  difficult conversations with ourselves about what we were going to do for shows and decided we wanted something quick and dirty that we could just cowboy up.” They had show offers on the table before they even picked a name, so simplifying the project was a necessity for them to be able to hit the road and start playing gigs. Promoters knew their experience and talent as well as their capability of bringing in a crowd to see them play. This is a trending theme for Opaque Shades leading to success for the project. 

“I remember I walked into a more gothic-themed room called ‘Streamers.’ There was this guy on stage playing his guitar and there were candles everywhere.” 

Tenure speaks volumes when it comes to professionalism, reliability and quality, and both Houtz and Smith have been active fixtures in the local goth community for decades. They first crossed paths at Confetti, the Sugar House dance club that closed in 2002. Houtz says, “I remember I walked into a more gothic-themed room called ‘Streamers.’ There was this guy on stage playing his guitar and there were candles everywhere.” He adds, “Behind the scenes, Miah [Smith] was there, pushing and making things happen.” Houtz was intrigued by Smith’s performance and talent from the beginning. The duo had their first professional conversation together during a “Fetish Night” at the old Club Manhattan, where Quarters Arcade Bar now stands, when Tragic Black played a show. Smith was there doing sound, so Houtz began to learn from Smith’s experience. Smith is inspired by elevating people’s talents, so it is no surprise that he saw Houtz’s creativity and potential during their first encounter. Smith has always been a big brother figure to the younger goth bands. 

The two spend most of their time together writing and gathering ideas. Both were in another band when the project started and grew tired of not playing shows—this was their foray back into live music after the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to do that, they needed to have more original music, which they have been working hard to create as well as taking all other opportunities they can from their previous project. Opaque Shades have done—and plan to keep doing—short, domestic tours throughout the remainder of the year. At their live shows, you can expect strong visuals and a new bass player. They have a large light rig and a very energetic physical performance, so expect a lot of trading-off on the main vocals, as well as fantastic goth, deathrock and darkwave music.

The band decided that they were going to run things rough-and-tumble, releasing one song at a time whenever they were finished writing it. Smith and Houtz are not 100% certain that releasing entire albums in 2024 is a profitable move. They feel that aside from having them around the merch table, physical media is expensive to produce and to ship. Releasing music on different streaming platforms is incredibly different in terms of the profitability scale. Many artists know how to produce their own music and do everything in-house—they are not paying producers or others to polish their creative assets. They have already spent the money to get the gear they need to put out music. Smith says, “Anything that we make back from [releasing physical media] is not really profitable. It’s just icing on the cake.” For Opaque Shades, it doesn’t really make sense to put out something hurriedly or feel pressured into putting out ten songs at a time. Smith says,“I think that we’re probably going to have albums at some point, but they’ll be more like a collection of singles that we’ve already released [as] special editions.” He adds, “The beauty about releasing the singles is you don’t have this pressure to release an album every two years and then go on tour.”

“Anything that we make back from [releasing physical media] is not really profitable. It’s just icing on the cake.”

Opaque Shades grew out of the camaraderie that Houtz and Smith have established from writing in other projects and workshopping their ideas together. With this project, they decided to release their music without running it by anybody else. Smith says, “The writing process is more important than playing shows, and there is an aspect where doing things just the two of us keeps a bunch more integrity.” He adds, “We’re writing things for ourselves and and we’re writing music that is pushing our boundaries.”. Fortunately, it is a pretty fertile ground for them, with a high output of ideas that they come up with together. 

As for Smith and Houtz’s personal interests, animal rights and the current political divide in the United States are on their minds, as well as how much media is directed in this direction. Smith says, “We’re living in an awful time of the world and I try to keep my songs a little introspective.” “The song ‘Believe’  is about misdirection and media biases that everyone is subjected to every day.” Both Houtz and Smith are strongly anti-war and their lyrics point in that direction. Opaque Shades exists in the shadows politically, and both members are activists, as much as they can be in this stage of their lives. 

If you are into dark electronic music or melodic rock, you do not want to miss seeing AL1CE live on Thursday, July 18. The band strives to make their live experience completely immersive with plenty of musicians on stage and a myriad of instruments. They have a large fan base and the International is an intimate venue that presents a rare way to experience the band.  Doors open at 7:00 for the event and Lilly E. Gray will be the opening act, followed by Opaque Shades. It is going to be a fantastic evening of dark music that is not to be missed—get your tickets here now!

Read more interviews with local goth and darkwave artists:
The Reincarnation of Lilly E. Gray: Evolving into Yourself
Imperium Lunae: Brandon Callahan’s Myriad of Muses