Miscellaneous - Interview

  by Anthony Strutt

published: 15 / 4 / 2006

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Article

Silver Springs consists of Amos (drums) and Katie (bass), both of whom also play in Tompaulin, and John (vocals and guitar), Rob (guitar and vocals) and Chris (keyboards) Their music recalls the Velvet Underground and very early Creation records bands such as the Loft. They also have an ambient quality which blends in well giving them something of a shoegazing glow. Pennyblackmusic spoke to Amos and John at a gig in which they were playing a support slot for ex-Hefner frontman Darren Hayman, for whom Amos now also plays drums. PB : Why did you choose the name Silver Springs for the group ? Amos : That came from a highway in Maryland, Virginia. I made a trip to America in 1998 and I saw the name on a road sign. I thought that it looked really good on that and that it would look good on a record sleeve. I was in another band at the time when Silver Springs started up. Silver Springs was initially John and me in a rehearsal studio making some good tunes, but now it has grown into a 5 piece. PB : So was this pre Tompaulin or was it the same time? Amos : This was before Tompaulin. Silver Springs started before Tompaulin, but I knew Simon Trought and Jamie Holman from Tompaulin by then so that lead me being in Tompaulin. PB : Tompaulin started out in Blackburn before moving to London. Were Silver Springs originally from Blackburn as well ? Amos : No, Silver Springs are all based in West London and there was a point where we all lived within 10 minutes from one another. PB : How would you all describe the band's sound? John. : Amped up country soundscapes. Rob : Space shanties. Amos : I have never liked my sum up of the band. Let’s just say we are noisy pop. PB : You remind me of early Creation records bands like the Loft. John : We played with them in Brighton at their first reunion gig last year. PB : And of course the Velvet Underground… John. : They are definitely a big influence on us, They are the one band that we all like. PB : The music is a mixture of being very quiet and very noisy. Is that done for a reason ? John : There used to be more of a quiet /noisy thing with the music but now it is more subtle in its changes. Quiet/noisy can make singing more exciting. It also sometimes makes fans listen more to what is being sung. PB : How long have the band been going then.? Amos : The band have been going since 2000 as a live band, but the concept of the band started in the studio with John and I in '97. It just took time to settle down with the instruments, We always knew we going to be a band. Rob : In that time,we have really learnt our instruments. We also were at university, so we have put stuff on hold, John : We have all improved so much over the years. PB : So what have you released then? John : There was a track called ‘The Ballad of Toledo’ on a Dreamy compilation called 'Wishing on a Star' but that was a few years ago now. Amos : We also did the soundtrack for a short indie film by our friend Paul Kemble called ‘Without the Chainsaw’ and did two songs for that, ‘Evil’ and ‘Holidays Midwest’. PB : Any label interest at all? John : We haven’t pushed it. We are getting to the point where we wan to release something that is worthy of our name, but we haven’t played any gigs where the labels have come up to us. PB : I assume you have an album's worth of material. Rob : We are recording stuff now. We have about 10 songs done now. PB : Katie's in the band now? Amos : Yeah, she's been in the band for 3 years now. I have been in bands with Katie since 2000 but she plays bass in a different way to Tompaulin to how she does in Silver Springs. We practice and jam a lot more with Silver Springs than Tompaulin and welcomed her in. PB : . Future plans? Amos. We are all moving houses at the moment. We have got a few things that may happen in the summer. We want to play to more new people and do more recording. More information about Silver Springs can be found at www.silverspringsmusic.co.uk

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