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!