Interview with SilverbySkyline!

I've had the pleasure of interviewing Scott, the lead guitar from SilverbySkyline.

Here is the links to the bands Facebook, website and youtube, feel free to check them out if you are on the hunt for a new band to fall head over heels with them. 
Facebook Website Youtube

Firstly, tell everyone a bit about yourselves?We're SilverbySkyline - an alt rock (ish!?) 5 piece from Aberdeen, Scotland.  We technically formed 5 years ago under a different band name, with a different singer, drummer and bassist, but over time our sound changed, and so did some of the members.  Around 2 years ago we settled on our final line-up, changed the band name and started writing new songs from scratch (to reflect our new sound) and here we are!

Whats the story behind your band name?
I wish we had a more exciting story behind our band name, haha.  We used to have a pretty emo band name (I blame Wayne!) which really didn't reflect how our music sounded, so one day at practice we decided we weren't leaving until we came up with a new name.  After loads of potential names getting shot down we saw a horse in the grand national called "Silver by Nature" and we thought it sounded pretty cool!  So we stole the name, replaced the word nature with skyline (as Aberdeen is known as the granite city and all the buildings are grey).

How would you describe your sound in five words or less?
I'd say our sound is "Sort of alt-rock kinda".  When people say "what sort of music do you play?!" I always struggle...

How does it feel seeing your song on Scuzz?
It feels amazing seeing our songs on Scuzz!  The coolest thing is when I'm just doing my own thing and my phone says we have a new tweet, and it's someone messaging us out the blue saying they just saw us on tv and loved our stuff - it's so crazy to think people are out their listening to our songs in different places at different times.  Our video for "Somewhere in time" managed to stay in the Scuzz top 10 for 6 weeks, and even reached number 2 - that's probably our biggest achievement to date!

What's the hardest thing about being in a band? I think the hardest thing about being in a band is being unsigned.  To fund band stuff we all have full time jobs, and Fraser is still a student too, so trying to arrange practice/gigs/recording around 5 guys schedules when they all work at different times, have different holidays, etc, isn't easy!

If you could record one song with any musician dead or a live who would it be and why?
Speaking for myself, I'd have to say I'd love to record something with Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy.  FOB's music started to get big around the time I first decided to learn guitar, so without some of their catchy riffs I would have probably got sick of it and given up, haha.  Also, I think Patricks voice is unbelievable!  He has such a massive vocal range, and his song writing ability is so amazing.  Definitely Patrick Stump.

Would you class yourselves as celebrities?
I'd definitely not class ourselves as celebrities.  We're just 5 normal guys, playing music for the love of it, and trying to get it heard by as many people as possible.  It only ever seems to be Wayne who gets "recognised" for being in the band...  I think he's bribing people, or paying them to come up to him!

Furthest away from home you've played? Did you get home sick?
To be honest we've never played too far from home, just all over Scotland!  In the time we've been together we spend most of our time writing, then recording, and shooting videos - as we feel the best way to build a fan base is online.  Having done that for 2 years, and now we have 5 unreleased songs in our hands, we're about to focus for the first time on gigging further afield - aiming for England and Wales.  The furthest we've ventured as a band was Cardiff to record in Longwave studios with Romesh Dodangoda.  We have so much fun together, and recording music, I definitely wasn't home sick!

Do you remember you first gig? How did it feel?

I remember our first gig pretty well!  It went great (I think) - but it's always hard to tell if what you're hearing on stage is the same as what people in the crowd are hearing!  I think I was pretty nervous for our first gig, as you never know how people will take to you, but a few songs in we hit our stride and massively enjoyed ourselves.  I'd say I'm more nervous about gigs nowadays as some of the band are hugely clumsy and we've had pedals being unplugged mid-song, people falling into drum-kits and pints being spilled!  We always recover though, and the unpredictability of a live setting adds to the fun!

Any upcoming gigs?
No upcoming gigs planned yet, but as of today we're starting looking for anything and everything we can get!

Foo Fighters turn to documentary!

Foo Fighters have been in the studio to record their 8th album, due to release in the fall, to which they are recording a documentary which will be released on HBO. 

However instead of having it as one massive documentary this will be an eight part series, in which they show the journey across 8 US cities to record the album.
Front-man Dave Grohl, shows us that he is once again multi-talented, as he is the one directing the whole thing.

Chicago, Austin, Nashville, Los Angeles, Seattle, New Orleans, Washington, DC and New York. Within these eight cities, FF delve in to the music roots and culture heritage, whilst they record songs in the most legendary studio of that state.

If that doesn't make things any more unique, they're recording one song per city and too add to the excitement and sheer fact that they have legends of the local music scene sitting in and listening to them as they record the new album.

Grohl, left the lyrics to the last possible moment, adding to the uniqueness of the album as he wanted to ensure that he drew on the cities inspiration as much as he could, his inspiration came in the form the experiences and those that he talked to throughout the album.

The series is to be released on the eve of the bands 20th anniversary

Albums that influenced my music taste

Everyone has those albums that have shaped their music taste and have molded them into the person that they are today.
So I thought that I would share mine, despite how cringe worthy and shaming they are. Some of these I wouldn't even tell my closest friends about - yet here I am posting them for the whole internet too see.


Spice Girls - Spice
What can I say? I grew up when the Spice Girls were at their biggest and like every other girl who I knew, I loved them. I literally idolised them, yet I couldn't decided which one was the best, sure Posh had the best taste in fashion back then and Baby Spice was adorable but they all captivated my heart in different ways.
This album contained Wannabe, which too this very day I know every word too. No shame.
Sure I wouldn't listen to them now due to my music taste changing and growing over the years. But if I ever feel nostalgic I take a trip down memory lane listening to all the other cheesy 90s pop bands that I used to adore.


Jonas Brothers - Jonas Brothers
Another cringe worthy one...
This was the first album that I bought with my own money when I was about 10 or so from the Woolworth online just after it went bust, it cost me about £14 with postage. When it arrived I was ecstatic, I literally could not contain my excitement. Imagine what I was like when I opened it and found that it came with a poster!
I used to believe that I would one day marry one of them, but God forbid if you asked me which one if it would be, I'd always reply with a sarcastic "Which ever one wants me the most/which ever one wins the fight for me". Fair to say I soon grew out of their music within a year or so, but if I hear any of their old music played about I will sing my heart out.


Green Day - American Idiot
When this album come out, it was massive, my mother had always been a big Green Day fan and when this came out she transmitted her love of them on to me. Plus American Idiot was such a catchy tune that it was played at all the time at school discos even with the children not knowing what the lyrics meant.
After investing in this beaut of an album I then went on to delve into their other albums and fell in love with them, I'm still dying to this day to get to see them and I will make it happen.





Evanescence - Fallen
This is where my music taste started to change, some may say for the best...
I had stumbled across Evanescence when I was trawling through Youtube, I found Bring Me to Life and I fell in love instantly, there was something about them that just clicked and made me love them. I was singing them around the house when my aunt was over and she knew what song it was straight away and offered to lend me her CDs, so I said sure and then I got them and I fell in love with the whole band and I had the BIGGEST girl crush on Amy Lee, she has the best voice I have heard to date. And no matter how long I can go without hearing any song by them and will always go back to them without a hesitation.

Nirvana - Nevermind
When this album first came out, I wasn't even born. So you may say "How can an album that was released before you were born influence your music taste?"
But this album, is just one of Nirvanas albums that have influenced my music taste and lots of other peoples music taste worldwide.
My mother again, got me into Nirvana, she had their CD constantly playing in the car, so I obviously enjoyed their music and picked up on the lyrics and the music before I even realized what Kurt was singing about and as I grew a soft spot developed in my heart for this band, and when I was old enough to know that Kurt had died, I was devastated because I had always wanted to see them live, and that is never going to happen. Smells Like Teen Spirit has to be one of my all time favourite songs, and I'm always requesting this album and others by Nirvana to be played in the car.


Skindred - Union Black

Who would I be if I didn't place a Welsh band on this list? As you know I've spoken about Skindred a few times now on the blog. But they're a big part of the music I'm into now, seeing as I've seen them three times and counting, the first time that I saw them live was back in 2011, when I was 15, it was fair to say that they blew my mind. The sheer stage present that they had was unreal, no other band to date has lived up to their stage present or managed to get the crowd as excited which is a good thing because that's what you want when you see a band live.
I can still remember for each time that I've seen them live I've been on the barrier and even in the mini-documentary that they did about the one off show they did in their home town, you can see my mother and everyone on the barrier.
When I saw them in Merthyr Rock, Mikey threw his plectrum into the crowd right were we where standing, bearing in mind that there was at least twenty of us trying to find it in the dark and in the mud, we soon lost hope that one of us would have it. That is until my mother goes shopping one day and empties her handbag to find her purse and out tumbles it. Fair to say that plec has now gone to all the other Skindred gigs and even to a Fall Out Boy gig!

Fall Out Boy - From Under The Cork Tree
I have been a Fall Out Boy fan for as long as I can remember and this album is what set me off really, it contains hits such as Dance Dance and Sugar We're Going Down.
From the moment that I fell in love with them it spiraled into an obsession with the band, don't worry though, it's a healthy obsession(if there is such a thing)
They had been there for me no matter what and I could always find my way listening to them after a hard days work.
When I was old enough to go see them I found out that they were on hiatus, fair to say my little 12 year old heart shattered into a million pieces. But when I found out that they were back and that they were releasing an album, 12 year old me went absolutely nuts, and because I was definitely old enough to go, and my luck was rolling in, because I found out that they were touring in Cardiff, so I begged my mother and she said because she knew how much they meant to me that she'd let me go as long as I found someone to go with me, so I asked my aunt and uncle and they said yes. So I got to go. On the 15th Of March 2014, my dreams came true and I got to see the band that I loved for years, and it was the best night of my life, well besides the night that I saw Mayday Parade but that is a story for another time!