Picking up a humble buzz from Chicago’s press beehive, local musicians Silhavey have been featured on WXRT’s Local Anesthetic and spoken well of in The Deli Chicago. The positive press has helped the band fulfill their intentions of playing as many shows as they can and garner the attention of the ever-shifting Chicago fan base. Reviewsic readers may recognize guitarist Mike Regan and Stephen Dranger on keys/guitar from fellow Chicago band Essex Chanel, whose newly free music catalog was a Reviewsic feature a few weeks back.
Silhavey came into fruition after Dranger decided to take the songs he’d been working on independently and add a full band to the mix, pulling Regan and a few other friends into the mix. “We have a keyboard, one or two guitars, a bass, drums, and a sample pad, and the question is, “what can we do with this combination?” We’ve covered a lot of ground this year in just figuring out how we were going to work, and I’m really lucky to have these specific musicians with me, because we work really well together, and we’re all on the same page.” (Stephen Dranger)
The page they’ve dog-eared is one chock full of jaunty melodies, ethereal guitar lines, and the occasional horn section. Their playfully poppy EP Moru contains all of the aforementioned and delivers their spin on indie rock swaddled in a crisp sheet of 60’s era beach rock. Songs like “Jungle” and “Last Words” have the elasticity of a superball and are guaranteed to bounce around in your head for days after your first encounter with Maru.
With plans to be constantly at work on new music and hopes to extend their reach through touring, Silhavey is a new band that is bright eyed and bushy tailed, looking forward to what could lie ahead. Earlier this week the four piece featuring Stephen Dranger, Mike Regan, Lucas Sgouros, and Matt Sigler, answered some questions for us during their band practice to share what they’ve been listening to, their first concert experiences, and who they’d bring along on their ‘dream tour’.
Catch Silhavey tomorrow, August 22nd at the Elbo Room along
with High Five Revival, Papyrus, Like You, and Maddog Madden.
Reviewsic: What are your top three musical influences?
SD: These days, I’m more influenced by recent music. I love Okkervil River, and I’m a big fan of Deerhoof, too. And one of my all time favorite bands is The Pillows, a Japanese Rock band you might not have heard of. They got famous in the US for doing an anime soundtrack (for FLCL), but they’re really an amazing rock band. There’s more, like The Hold Steady, or the Flaming Lips, or Neutral Milk Hotel, but those three bands were more of the influence I had in writing this material.
MR: Probably Nine Inch Nails, who I loved as a kid. Sparklehorse. And probably Radiohead.
LS: It’s hard not just to throw the Beatles out there, but the Beatles are obvious. ELO. And personally, I like happy rock and roll…it sounds cheesy to say, but Saves The Day. The old school emo stuff. I guess that’s probably not “happy,” but, yeah.
MS: Paul McCartney is number one for sure. I think also Death Cab and Spoon.
Reviewsic: Is there any instrument you don’t play but wish you did?
SD: I wish I could play the drums. Like, really good. I can fake it for recording demos, but it would make writing songs so much easier if I could play well. Other than that, violin. If I learned how to play non-fretted, bowed instruments, I’d have a complete ensemble of instruments that I could record with. Just being able to play melodies on the violin is so valuable for me.
MR: Keys. Actually being able to play keys well.
LS: In hindsight, I would loved to have had piano lessons as a kid. As a kid, I probably would’ve wanted to blow my brains out, but now, if I could play keyboards, that would be spectacular. It completely throws me off from playing guitar, because your left hand is reversed, and it feels so unnatural.
MS: Guitar. I haven’t really tried much, though. I have tried before- my dad has a guitar, but I was never able to touch it. There was one time where he was gone and I thought, “I should get that out and try and write songs with it.” Sure, the playing was terrible, but I was just so afraid when I was playing it. I made sure there was nothing around me so I didn’t nick it.
MR: Getting better at every instrument is what makes me want to play.
MS: If I could play drums, piano, and guitar, I’d be set.
LS: I would love to play the cello, too.
Reviewsic: What are the last three albums or bands you listened to?
LS: Stephen’s Best of 2010 Mix CD?
SD: I’ve been trying to keep up with music this year, and I’ve been listening to as many new releases as I can. I’ve been making mix CDs for my friends as I process all the music that I listen to. My favorite three this year so far would have to be Janelle Monae’s ArchAndroid, which is kind of like that Outcast double CD (Speakerboxx/The Love Below) in that it’s a hip hop record that covers a lot of genre ground. It features both Big Boi and Of Montreal, which should speak to the kind of record it is. Tunng’s new record was ridiculously underrated in my opinion. There’s been a lot of good rock released this year, too: Fang Island and Surfer Blood both released fantastic albums. Joanna Newsom also released some of the most amazing two hours of music released this year. She’s absolutely amazing. I guess I went over the 3 band limit.
MR: The new Broken Social Scene album. A lot of A Lull. I haven’t listened to it much, but I really like Field Music.
LS: For Emma, by Bon Iver. I love that album. I don’t know the names of the albums, but We Were Promised Jetpacks are amazing, and Cymbals Eat Guitars.
MS: Heartland by Owen Pallett is a good one. The National’s new record. Rodrigua y Gabriela is pretty
cool.
Reviewsic: If you could work with one person in the music industry, who would it be and why?
MR: Probably Nigel Goodrich, the guy who produces all the Radiohead albums, and Sea Change, and all that stuff. Just to be around that guy for a few months would be incredible.
SD: Speaking of Sea Change, I’d love to work with Beck. His Scott Pilgrim stuff was awesome.
MR: Have you watched his Record Club? It’s crazy how good it sounds and how different it is. That would be fun.
MS: There’s lots of stuff he was doing with Feist, I think.
SD: Yeah, and he worked on that Charlotte Gainsbourg album, which was awesome, and his last album was great. He’s on fire. I’d like to work with Will Sheff, he’s just a really good songwriter. Greg Saunier would be fun, too.
LS: I’m going to go 180 from you guys, and say Pharrell or Kanye West. I don’t know what I would do, but I love Kanye.
SD: Oh, man, that would be awesome to work with Kanye West. He’s kind
of a pariah right now, but he’s so excited about everything he does. I’d love working with him.
MS: It’d be cool to see how Dangermouse works.
SD: I’d like to work with Madlib. That’d be fun.
Reviewsic: Who was the first band/musician you saw live?
SD: This question is hilarious because it’s the same answer for three of us: Goldfinger. In high school, we all got in our car and went to the House of Blues to see them.
LS: It was LBC [Lucky Boys Confusion], Mest, and Goldfinger.
SD: OK, technically, for me, it was KISS, whom I saw in 9th grade while on vacation with my family in Boston. But don’t remember any of it.
MR: Yeah, and Santana for me.
LS: Technically, it would be Duke Tomatoe and the Power Trio.
SD: Have you been to any, Matt?
MS: Nope. It just doesn’t interest me. The first band I saw live was Fetla when Tokyo Tram [ed: one of Matt's old bands] opened up for them. I went to shows when my dad would perform, but I can’t remember who was playing.
Reviewsic: Who are three of your favorite local bands?
SD: I would say A Lull, Netherfriends. Maps and Atlases, if they’re not considered national yet.
LS: They’re just 4 miles down the street from here [Valparaiso, IN]“. Of course they count.
MR: I like this band Bailiff. Also this great band, Soft Speaker, too; they seem to be doing really well.
SD: Sam Vicari is another act that I really love, too. I guess we can’t really say Essex Chanel, since two of us are in that band.
Reviewsic: If you could book a tour with any three bands past or present, who would they be and why?
SD: I think Deerhoof would be great. I love their music, and touring Japan is a dream of mine, and they go there all the time.
LS: You gotta go on the road with the Stones.
SD: Yeah…I mean, I’m not such a big fan of the music. I would love to tour with Focus.
LS: There’s an allure to 80s hair metal, if you’re talking about going on tour. Just pick a name out of a pot for that one.
SD: It’s hard, because I’m thinking of my favorite bands, and I don’t necessarily want to tour with them. Like, I would not want to tour with Jeff Magnum and Neutral Milk Hotel.
MS: Kelly Clarkson.
LS: Those people put on such good performances, it’s hard to argue with that in a way.
SD: It’d be nice playing huge venues.
LS: Lady Gaga would be fun to play with. I wouldn’t want to listen to her, but she’d be fun to play with.
MR: It seems like it would be fun to tour with Arcade Fire, or Broken Social Scene.
SD: It’s hard thinking of past bands to tour with, because they’re all so huge.
LS: You can’t say “The Beatles” for everything.
MS: I would not want to tour with The Beatles.
SD: A lot of those bands would be fun, like Bob Dylan with The Band, or just The Band.
LS: I could listen to Ben Folds every night, with just his piano.
SD: Ben Folds is a great answer.
Reviewsic: Tell us about the EP- is there a particular concept or theme behind it? What do you hope new listeners take away from the record?
SD: As far as what I’d want them to take away, I’d like them to see our range as a band. Sort of getting an idea of everything we’re capable of, and the feel of what we’re going for. Even if our sound isn’t nailed down quite yet, I’d hope they get the feeling and emotion we’re trying to project. There’s not necessarily a particular concept, except for most of the songs are kind of about 20-something people who are struggling with, “how do I act as an adult,” or, “what’s my life going look like?” It’s really the first time in your life you really realize that you’ve got to do something with your life now or waste it. “Last Words” is inspired by what it’s like leaving groups of people, like when I left college. You had a defined social setting, and to leave that can be distressing. Really, all these things may still find their way into a longer album that’s more cohesive and more focused. Just in general, though, I tend to try and write stories when I write songs.
Reviewsic: How would you compare yourselves as musicians at the point of this release as opposed to when you first began playing?
SD: As a band, I’m not sure how much sense this makes, because it’s our first release. But, even from when we started the band, I’d say we’ve gotten 50 to 100% improvement.
LS: It’s definitely gone from being a band that came in and had sheet music in front of us that you had
written, to a band that is cohesive, where not everything is necessarily coming out of your mind, but we’re all throwing things at it, making it what it is collectively.
SD: I’m not directing the group anymore. People say that bands are dictatorships. I prefer to have bands where things happen naturally, where you can work and as long as everyone keeps at it, it just flows. Everyone’s on the same page, and that’s what I wanted to start a band for. You still need someone to be the final voice, though. But we are able to work to not only bring everything together, but to really detail it as well. I think that’s one area we’ve really improved in, is detailing, and really getting into songs and figuring out how everything works. But if you’re talking about a longer time frame, just from bands we were all in 6 years ago, it’s a world of difference. I finally am getting a feeling of, now we’re ready for the big leagues, and there’s no more questions about our talent.
LS: There used to always be a question of, “are you good enough,” and I don’t think that’s there anymore. There’s always self-improvement, but we’re going to hold our own with any band.
Reviewsic: What are your favorite cities/venues to play?
SD: I love playing Schuba’s.
MR: Schuba’s and Subterranean.
SD: Yeah, Subterranean, too. I loved playing New York City. St. Albertus Festival in Detroit was fun to play. Even if there weren’t many people watching us, we got free pierogies, free kielbasa, and a place to crash for the night. It’s just a fun place to hang out.
MR: It was raining the whole time we played there once, but it was still fun.
LS: There was that one little hole in the wall, a bar/music shop in Gainesville called Tim & Terry’s. You could go in there, buy a case of beer and a pack of guitar strings.
Reviewsic: If you were to happen upon someone with zero musical knowledge,what three artists would you want to show them?
SD: I’d go as broad as possible and start with Bach. Especially if you mean it was the first time they’d heard music. If you mean essential rock bands, I’d throw the Beatles in there.
MR: (sarcastically) Led Zepplinnn!
SD: I’d say the White Stripes is a good place to start, too. You cover
that whole garage/punk rock area.
Reviewsic: What are three words you’d use to describe your music to someone who’s never heard it?
LS: Rock. And. Roll.
MR: Perfect.
SD: I hate having to answer this question because I’m so bad at
it….loud, energetic…I want to say “epic” but I don’t know if it fits. “Melodic,” maybe??
Tags: Album Review, Free Music, Interview, Local Music, Upcoming Show
