E-mail interview with Steve of Silverline. The band’s new album, Start To Believe, releases on August 25th on VSR Music Group.
Being fairly new to most people, give us a quick back story of the band.
Ryan and myself started playing music together in 1997. We reformed as Silverline in 2005, with new members and a new sound. The band as it exists today has been together since 2007. We have played with pretty much every Christian band you can think of, toured the country in about 40 states so far, and put out 3 independent releases prior to our upcoming release on VSR.
Describe your overall sound.
Every band makes it tougher than it is to describe their sound. I guess I’m the same way. Basically we try to pack as much energy as we can into melodic pop punk influenced rock…I think an accurate description of the Start to Believe EP would be somewhere between The Wedding and The Classic Crime.
Who are your biggest influences?
That would be different for every guy, but here’s mine…
DC talk was the only good band growing up. Even when we started in 97 they were the best! Lately I love Underoath, The Killers, Classic Crime, Story of the Year, The Wedding.
How did you guys get hooked up with VSR?
In the Fall of ’08 we recorded a 4 song EP with Steve Wilson in Nashville. During that recording session we started to really fall into a sound we liked and for the first time really felt that we found our niche. The songs we had been working on over the last year were starting to take form into something we were very pleased with. And sonically it was becoming the best stuff we’d ever put out.
After the success of our first independent release Start to Believe, word started to spread throughout the music industry in the area, and also nationally. Several regional rock radio stations picked up the single and it soon rose up the charts. Not often does an independent band have any success on national radio. We were very honored that so many people called in and requested a band they had never even heard of. Phone calls started coming in from A&R reps, managers, and booking agents. Over the winter SL started sifting through different options. Several major record labels started the process of building a relationship with us to see if their label would be a good fit. Honestly, a lot of the larger labels really had a warped view of how to treat a band. The last thing we wanted to do was sign over the rights to our stuff to a massive corporation that doesn’t care about our goals as a band. It seemed like they have this ‘Formula for Success’ that they run on all their artists. We have always had very high goals for SL. Musically, but mostly the ministry we want to maintain as the heart of everything we do. After talking with many different people, we came across VSR.
VSR was different. They seemed more interested in what we wanted to accomplish, instead of what they could get from us. We had never heard of them before so we started talking with Ken Mary, President of the label. A connection was made right away, and after a flight down to discuss each other’s goals, we began to record what would become our first national release. VSR is fairly new, just a couple of years so far, but they have very experienced staff. They are under the umbrella of EMI, one of the largest distribution companies in the world. They were excited to sign us not only because they liked our music, but also really believed in our vision. We are thrilled with the deal, because it was the only offer we received that didn’t try to take us for fools. We respectfully agreed on a deal that will no doubt benefit both parties. It is good to know in a business full of greed there are still some honest people out there who know what it means to conduct business with integrity.
You are releasing your label debut, Start To Believe, on August 25th. Are most of the songs from your previous 4 song EP?
None of these songs are from any recording we have released previously. 4 of them have been on our Myspace of and on since we recorded them. But they were never available to buy til now.
Did you end up re-recording the songs for the VSR release? If so, who did you record with?
The 4 songs we recorded with Steve Wilson are all on here. We remixed them just a little so the album would be more cohesive. The rest of the tracks we recorded with the president of VSR Ken Mary in house at the label.
The lead single, “Get It Right” recently went to radio. How has the response been so far?
It is still fairly new, so tough to say. It got picked up by Air 1 and some other huge national radio stations. It is slowly climbing the charts, but I think over the next few months it will jump in air play as people start to learn more about our band.
Are there any plans to film a video for the single?
Ya. We leave tonight after our show in Garrison, MN to drive to Nashville. We shoot tomorrow. Should be pretty sweet. We made some videos when we were younger but they were pretty bad. We’re excited to get a professional video out there. I think music videos are so “hit and miss”. Hopefully it “hits”.
Have you been able to work on any new material that doesn’t appear on Start To Believe?
Ya. Not a ton, but songwriting never ceases for us. We each have a couple song ideas were playing around with. Nothing recorded yet.
Do you guys have any plans to do any tours for the new release? If so, do you have anything lined up yet?
We are in talks with a few managers about possibly hooking up with some bigger bands. We can’t really talk about it yet, ’cause we’re still negotiating details. Their are 2 different tours we are hoping to jump on with this fall.
What bands would you really love to tour with right now?
Hmmm…. I guess bands that have lots of people come out to there shows would be pretty sweet!! Switchfoot, Hawk Nelson, Relient K, TFK, are a few that come to mind right now.
What are some goals you’d like to achieve with the band?
Honestly… If I told you, you would laugh at me. Our goals are HUGE! I think that God has us here for a reason. There have been so many times we should have quit over the last 12 years. So many mountains climbed if you know what I mean. I really believe we have a higher calling than just music. I personally want to write songs that change peoples lives, influence there decisions for Christ, and be the most influential band of all time! Seriously. I don’t want to limit what God has for us, I know it’s big.
Anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Ya. I guess thanks for reading this. Silverline loves it’s fans and friends. Please come out to a show and meet us. We would love the chance to talk with you or pray with you. If you listen to Christian Radio feel free to call in everyday and request “Get it Right”. See ya out there!!! God Bless!