MM -
Hello! Please do introduce the band and give us a brief history of where
you're from and how you came to hook up with each other etc ...
Paul - Hello, I’m Paul Oates from Sheffield, bass/backing
vocals.
Jon - Hi, Jon Hardcastle, from the epicentre of rock ‘n’ roll,
Barnsley (others laugh), play Drums and (says proudly) occasional
percussion.
Dave - [pwaarpp, pwwarrrp, pwwwaaahhh] - (Dave playing harmonica)
Hello, Dave Kerr, from Sheffield, Guitar and Vocals [pwaarpp, pwwarrrp,
pwwwaaahh - Dave playing more harmonica].
Andy - [laughs] Andy Mewse from Doncaster/Sheffield, guitar and
backing vocals.
Dave - A brief history, ok, I’ll try. Myself and Andy (and
Paul, but we’ll come back to him in a bit), were in a band back in
2000 called Sweet Cyanide. That sort of came to a natural end at which
point me and Andy decided to start something new, something we could
call our own, us finding the bass player, drummer and a vocalist to
complete the band.
At that time Paul helped out a bit with bass and writing but made it
clear he didn’t want the full time commitment of a band. So, we
recruited a good friend Paul Gilliver on bass and eventually, following,
a chance discussion between our girlfriends in a nightclub toilet, we
were introduced to Jon who subsequently joined us back end of 2000 I
guess?
Jon - Yeah, November 2000.
Dave - We stuck with that line up until early 2004 continually
trying to recruit a vocalist with little success. We then recruited
another bass player who was short lived......
Jon - Well basically Paul (Gilliver) had always said that he would
stick around as long as we wanted, but that what we were doing was not
exactly his cup of tea. When we thought we’d stumbled upon the right
bass player who would commit to us, we let Paul down gently and he was
great, told us to do what was best for the band, but in the end it just
didn’t work out.
Dave - So at that point we had to persuade Paul (Oates) that
it would be the best thing he done in years to join us.
Paul - I must have been mad (laughs).
Jon - So for four years we had the musicians but no
vocalist which in itself began to become a big strain on the band. By
June last year we were really on the point of breaking up if a vocalist
didn’t appear soon. For years I had said that Dave ought to give the
vocals a go but he was always reluctant. But I think the thought of us
splitting forced him to rethink and he offered to give it a go, took a
few lessons and here we are today, a band with singer, and it works.
Andy - Personally, I never thought it would visually work with
Dave being at the front with vocals and playing guitar. There was just
something about having a frontman, leading the band and me and Dave
getting on with the job of playing guitars. And I really think it took
the first gig to convince me it was right him being there, there’s no
doubt now though it was the right thing to do.
Jon - Definitely.
Paul - There ya go, nice and brief (laughs).
MM - Where does the band's name Silverjet' originally come from and can
you remember what other names were considered before agreeing on this
one?
Dave - Wey hey. It comes from Jon’s Guitar, a Gretsch
Silverjet (re-issue), very cool sparkly silver guitar.
Jon - Yeah, we figured early last year that if we got
a name, we could get a website and start advertising more on the
internet for a vocalist. But it was hard work, we had forced brain
storming sessions to get a name and we came up with loads, a book full.
Andy - I can’t remember any of the other names...
Dave - That’s because we all come up with names and
no-one liked em (laughs).
Jon - We had Lotus.
Andy - I can’t remember that one.
Dave - Yeah, that because you didn’t like it.
Jon - Brother Jake.
Andy - Yeah, that was one that stuck in my mind
and I’m sure there was another.
Jon - I liked Hey Hey Mama’s (laughs).
Dave - We suggested Kashmir but decided against
it.
Andy - I think Brother Jake was the strongest one
behind Silverjet, don’t know if it had been done before though.
MM - For anyone who isn't familiar with the
band, how would you describe your music and who do you see it most
appealing to?
Paul - ROCK 'N' ROLL (laughs)
Dave - Yeah, what else can you say?
Paul - It appeals to Rock 'n' Roll fans ....... And GIRLS (more
laughs).
Dave - It's good time Rock 'n' Roll, that's got catchy and
infectious songs, it's live ... it's raw.
MM - The band recently released their debut EP
'Amalgams Sessions'. Can you tell us a little bit about each of
the songs included on it.
Won't See Me Bleedin'
Andy - Well that one was a new song at the time we recorded
it. I think we did it in two takes.
Dave - It was the first song we started playing with Paul when he
joined us.
Jon - It took ages before we added the guitar solo to it though
because Dave hadn't got anything in mind. In fact that solo didn't
get recorded onto the track until a week before we released it.
Dave - But yeah it was the first song that we rehearsed with
Paul, and he titled it.
South
Of Soul
Dave
- That's an ancient song to us, it's been written years.
Jon - Yeah it's got a bit of country honk about it, and it was a
real labour of love when it came to recording it, adding the acoustic
guitar, harmonica and handclaps.
Andy
- A lame excuse to do handclaps.
Paul
- Yeh, Dave and Jon got ridiculed by Andy for stopping hours to get em
right. Andy - Was I here when you recorded the hand claps?
Dave - No
we sent you home because YOU CAN'T CLAP IN TIME (Clap-Clap Clap).
Jon - And
we sent Paul home because he had just bust his fingers playing American
Football.
Keep
'em Knockin'
Dave - That's just fast and furious song to get people dancing to
that one, no hidden meaning, it's Rock 'n' Roll. It's the one that
we now make everyone clap to in the middle (as well as the end).
MM - And where our readers can purchase a copy?
Dave - Off our website www.silver-jet.co.uk
by sending money via paypal or at any of our gigs.
MM - Are you currently signed or unsigned at
the moment?
Dave - Unsigned ... for now.
Paul -
Booooo
MM - The last few months has seen the band busy touring with a variety
of bands around the country. How did they go and are you in a
position to consider a tour in your own right yet?
Jon - The support slots that we have done have all been well
received. We've played with Crash Kelly in Nottingham on only our
second gig and that was great, supported Mike Tramp on three dates
(London, Sheffield and Newcastle), Budgie in Sheffield and most recently
we did two support slots with the Dogs D'Amour in Doncaster and
Sheffield, so we have been getting about a bit, it's been a real
rollercoaster ride the last 3 months.
Dave - Yeah the Dogs gigs were great and a good end to the year
really. But, I don't think we're ready for our own tour yet.
We need to continue building a fanbase by playing live to as many people
as far and wide as possible, to keep trying to get the same calibre of
support slots so that we are playing to the right audience.
Jon - No, I agree, we are not in a position to do our own tour,
sure we can play a headline gig locally but not a tour. but we'll
continue to gain a reputation for being a good live band. Our goal
for this year is to try and get a full support tour (or tours) with
appropriate headlining bands.
It's early days for us yet but we will keep taking whatever support
slots we think are right for us, we've got a couple coming soon, one
with Statetrooper and then our biggest gig to date supporting The
Quireboys on their February tour.
MM
- How do you like to differentiate yourselves from other bands in the
same genre?
Paul - We're good! (laughs)
Jon - Name another band in the genre!
Andy - I don't think there are many bands out there that do what
we do. There are bands that are clearly influenced by the same
bands as us, but they don't sound like us.
Dave - We obviously have our influences, but not like we have
cloned the sound, we've kinda taken bits from all of them and made our
own sound, I think.
Paul - Yeah, that's the feedback we get, in fact that's what the
Dogs guitarist said to us.
Dave - You can't make original music any more because everything has
been done before, really. But as original as original gets is what
we do. We pull from our influences and shove 'em all in one pie
and it's all good.
MM - What would you say is the trademark of
Silverjet?
Dave - A 70's style incorporated with our own brand of rock and
roll.
Paul - Bluesy rock, ... oh, and cowboy hats.
MM - Where can our readers find out more
about the band? Do you have an official website they could check out?
Also is there anywhere on the net people can listen to some of your
songs?
Dave - They can check out www.silver-jet.co.uk,
there's a biography, photo's and snippets of all the songs on our EP
plus other tracks and a message board for our fans to discuss any
Silverjet topics.
MM - If you could nominate just one song that
you've recorded to sum up the bands playing style and feel which one
would it be?
Dave - I think it would be difficult to pick just one song but if
we were forced to choose, I think it would probably be South of Soul.
I don't think that there really is one song that sums us up.
Jon - Yeah, I probably agree with that. South of Soul has
got elements of all genres of music that we are influenced by, it's
country, it's rock 'n' roll, it's southern, it's blues, it's honky tonk,
it's everything. You can hear at least one of those elements in
each of our songs.
Paul - We're chosen the three songs on the CD to show the
different styles we have.
Andy - All three of the songs are different, and had we picked
another three songs, they would be different as well.
Dave - Yeah, but they would still all sound like Silverjet songs,
we have got our own sound and style, but all the songs have a different
feel that's why it's so hard to pick just one song.
MM - Who writes the songs that you perform, is it a solo effort or do
you all have an input with ideas?
Jon - I did three words once (big laughs)
Dave - Well that really depends where people want go go with that
topic because as far as songwriting goes, there is a lot I've done on my
own and there is a lot me and Andy have done together. Paul was
responsible for a couple of the earlier songs. There's 'She
Sings', one of my favourite songs, Andy wrote the music and I wrote the
words, but do you go about telling people that, we all work on arranging
the songs and writing our own parts.
Andy - Yeah it can get a bit complicated can't it. You
might tell me the chords but I might play the chords differently to how
you would have, I might play different chords around your chord pattern
so you know, is that writing or not writing?
Dave - As far as I'm concerned, at the end of the day, everyone
contributes and all our compositions are written by Silverjet.
Even if I come with an idea and say, yeh Jon, the drums go like this,
you play it in your own style, it might be different but better and
that's your idea and contribution.
Andy - It's how you class writing. Is adding a drum part to
an acoustic guitar demo writing a song? Paul's bass parts might
not be writing the song but it's writing the bass line to fit around the
song.
Dave - Exactly, I think everybody's bits do contribute and make
that song feel different.
MM - Persuade our readers to come along
and check you out live. What could they expect from a Silverjet
live performance?
Dave - Your feet will be tapping, and
your heads will be nodding within seconds (laughs).
Paul - Expect to lose your voice screaming (big laughs), just
talk to someone who's seen us.
Jon - Linda, you should know, you answer it for us.
(OK, I'd say all of the above and a whole lot more. Two songs into
the gig and these guys had me hooked. If you get the chance to go
along and check them out, I'm sure their music will have you hooked
too).
MM - With all the changes that music has gone through over the years,
what do you personally think of the current music scene?
Jon - Well, it's definitely better than it was five years ago.
It has become more guitar orientated than it was.
Dave - Yeah, it's better than it was, and it's getting better.
Paul - There is still some crap out there but the live music
scene is good at the minute. People want to see live bands.
There are lots of opportunities for a band like us to get out and play
live in good music venues.
Jon - It's definitely the right time to be in a band playing
live.
Andy - Yeah, would we have been able to have done what we have in
the last three months five years ago, I doubt it.
MM - What's the best bit of advice you've ever been given by someone?
Dave - Not anyone in particular, but we've always had a lot of
support from friends and family around us who, through the four years we
were practising without a vocalist, always told us to 'never give up'.
Andy - The other thing is a lot of people over them four years
have said 'why don't you get Dave to sing' or 'what are you looking for
a sing for'. We've even had singers come down who heard Dave sing
and they've said 'Dave, you should sing'.
Dave - Especially Jon, who's been saying it for years.
Jon - I did say it a lot, you should have listened to me and
everybody else sooner (laughs).
Andy - Yeah, but at that particular time it wasn't the right
thing for us, Dave didn't sing then like he does now.
Dave - That's right. Ah well, it all worked out in the end.
MM - Do you think it's weird that without bands, music channels,
magazines, labels and venues would not even exist but now they exert so
much influence over bands that they almost control them?
Dave - Yes, it is weird. They do try to dominate bands, it is
difficult to be successful without satisfying these people.
Jon - At the moment it's easy to say that you wouldn't be
influenced by anything that the industry wanted you to do but you just
don't know how far you would go until the time came.
Andy - Without music channels, I'm sure Aerosmith wouldn't have
done that sloppy ballad video stuff. They didn't need to do that,
obviously it made them a lot more successful though.
MM - What are you listening to these days yourselves? Old
classics or modern bands?
Dave - I never listen much to many
modern bands, maybe the Stereophonics last two albums or Jet, but not
really that much.
Andy - Then there's stuff like Velvet Revolver that's people who
you associate with old classics doing something new.
Paul - Like The Quireboys new album.
Dave - There seems to be a lot of bands that are coming back,
that have been away and quiet for a while.
Andy - Yes, it's good to hear old bands doing new material.
MM - Do you ever listen to music that is very different from what you
do, if so what?
Paul - Although he is associated very much as a rock 'n' roller,
some of Lenny Kravtiz's stuff is much more synth based, hardly any
guitars, but it's still something I like listening to. I like
listening to some old stuff as well. I love the Goo Goo Dolls as
well although they've been around a while, I prefer their newer stuff.
Jon - I'm sure we've all got a bit of stuff that's different to
what we do, you know the stuff you normally put on the hi-fi on a Sunday
morning. I like listening to a lot of blues stuff and southern
rock.
Andy - I have got Maroon 5's last two cd's and can listen to
Jamie Callum.
Dave - I would say the only really different thing that I listen
to would be perhaps Bob Marley, although I'm not a big reggae fan, I do
like him a lot. And, Duran Duran and disco.
Paul - Oh now we're talkin'. I like Gloria Gaynor, 'I will
Survive' (HUGE laughs), one of the greatest songs ever written, I'm
sorry but it just is (more laughs).
Dave - I'm always putting some 70's disco on, ya know, Sly and
the Family Stone. I mean, come on, the Black Crowes are a rock 'n'
roll version of them.
Jon - The only thing we need to do now Paul is properly educate
Dave with Southern Rock given that we get a lot of comparisons but he's
heard very little of that style of stuff.
Dave - Well, seeing as The Black Crowes are one of my favourite
bands and they are Southern Rock, I don't think you can educate me much
more than that. I know Skynard staff that's cool.
Paul - Apart for those, it's a steady diet of Quireboys, Crowes,
AC/DC, Dogs and Aerosmith. And Lynyrd Skynard when me and Jon got
control of the stereo in the van!
MM - Describe each member of the band's
personality with three words per person.
Jon - Big, badass, drummer (by Andy) (generates lots of laughs).
Andy - Cool, laid back, whatever (absolutely the most laidback
person ever - by Jon).
Dave - Work shy frontman (by Paul, referring to Dave's new
attained frontman status and the all too frequent disappearing acts that
he seems to do as soon as there's band equipment to be shifted).
Paul - Pissed Karaoke King (by Jon, referring to Paul's singing
antics on recent return trips from gigs, generally on minibuses playing
cheesey sing-a-long songs on naff radio stations at three o' clock in
the morning).
Paul - I resent the allegation that I need a naff radio station
to get me singing on the way home! I'll sing whether there's a
cheesy song on the radio or not! And it's not cheesy, it's
classics like Neil Diamond and Barry Manilow, I'll have ya know!
Maybe a little 'I will Survive' as well! Oh my God! - how Rock 'n' Roll
do I sound??? I believe there may have been some Dogs songs in there as
well - try a couple of albums worth, Twice. I'm glad I didn't have
to sit through it all.
MM - What is your motto in life?
Paul - Rock 'n' Roll (laughs).
Jon - Where's the nearest McDonalds (laughs).
Paul - Turn the Sat Nav on (laughs).
MM - A fun question now, if you could have anyone locked in a room so
that you could torture them for a day, who would you choose, and how
would you torture them?
Dave - Justin from The Darkness. Make him sing low, none of
that high shit.
MM - Now we turn the tables. Who would you most like to be locked
in a room with for a day and how would you like them to torture you?
Dave - We can't answer that, we've all got girlfriends (laughs).
Jon - We'd all get locked up if we answered those questions, use
your own imagination here.
Paul - 'I've not!' Guess that means it's alright for me to say, I
don't know ... Angelina Jolie. She's into all that sort of stuff
isn't she? I could live with that. I don't care what she does to
me as long as ...' (edited for legal reasons!).
MM - Complete this sentence ... 'Everybody needs a little bit of
Silverjet in their lives because ...'
Jon - '... great rock 'n' roll bands are few and far between'.
MM - Lastly, is there anything you would like to say to all our readers
out there?
All - Come and see us live soon, and buy our CD, you'll love it
and you'll not regret it!
Paul - (whispers) is that it, do ya think we said 'Rock 'n' Roll'
enough mate?
Jon - (whispers) Not sure mate.
Jon & Paul - ... ROCK 'N' ROLL!
Thanks lads we really appreciate you taking the time out of your hectic
schedule to do this interview with us.
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