London band Silverkord released their debut album ‘Liquid Air’ in early 2020 to much acclaim. The band have returned with a new single that carries on their hard-hitting melodic sound. Backseat Mafia caught up with the band to find out a little bit about them.
Give us a potted history of the band
It’s quite hard to put an exact date on when the band officially started as I was trying to get ‘the’ project going for years while living in London, doing sessions with various players, but for one reason or another they never got off the ground. I guess things finally gained some momentum in 2016 and by 2017 I’d named the band and made an EP and started doing some live shows. I’d also met Ravi in that year, though he was still very busy with My Vitriol so didn’t have enough time to commit. I started figuring out where it was headed sonically and wrote the first album in the 1st half of 2018, while at the time juggling a job with the most grueling travel schedule I’ve ever experienced. We recorded the album in December 2018 (me, a bassist, and session drummer), which was a bit of a rush job and when Ravi became fully involved we spent much of 2019 fixing half the album. We did a handful of shows that year with what seemed like a constantly changing line up too. We released ‘Liquid Air’ in 2020, also that year I was writing the second album ( the new single ‘Million Eyes’ being one of the new songs) which will hopefully all be released very soon. It wasn’t until 2021 that we found Russ Martin (guitarist) via a mutual friend, and then Kumar Kay (Bassist), whom I’d seen years ago playing bass with another band, with both guys forming now what is our full and very solid line-up.
Who inspired you to start making music
I’ve always wanted to make music since I was a young boy. As early as 8/9 years old I was listening to Black Sabbath, Hendrix, and all the Seattle bands exploding in the early 90’s. It’s just been a livelong obsession and really my main calling
And the one or maybe two records that inspired you artistically
There are so many but if I had to name a few, that I still listen to regularly, firstly Mark Lanegan’s “Whiskey for the Holy Ghost”. Just a fuckin masterpiece and such a hugely underrated/underappreciated album. Vocally there are very few that have come close to his rawness, realness and depth. Secondly, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds “Tender Prey”, it may have been the first Cave record I heard, and I’d never heard such catastrophic genius and energy coming from a record, coupled with sophisticated and beautifully colourful songwriting and music that creates an entire world to delve into and get lost in.
If you’re trying to explain whom you sound like to someone that’s never heard you, what do you say
We’re a bit of a mish-mash, but mainly we’re just heavy rock music with recognizable songs. I wouldn’t want to say we sound like any particular band, especially bands I respect, and we’re certainly not trying to sound like anyone either. I think people should make up their own minds without needing a genre or anything to associate with, and I know this is contrary to the usual band marketing!
Tell us about your new single
The single “Million Eyes”, I wrote in June 2020, I think it was the 3rd or 4th song to be demoed off the new album, I came up with the main verse riff and at first checked with the guys if they recognized it, as it seemed super catchy, the rest just went from there really. It was a real quick song to finish, even when we tracked it for the final recording it came together quicker than the other album songs, saying that, it is also the shortest!
Where can we get hold of it
You can hear it as part of the awesome video we made, available NOW on YouTube, which I urge everyone to check out, comment, share, subscribe etc… It’s also now available on all those digital streaming artist shafting music platforms.
Tell us how you write
So far, I’ve written and demoed all the songs myself, it’s just been a much simpler and faster process that way. However, I’m always open to ideas and input from the band during writing but they rarely want to change anything apart from adding their own touch/ skill on the parts. I tend to have a theme or a feeling which may inform the music, as the music grows, that grows and the words and melodies start coming to mind
Tell us about your live show and how much have you been missing it recently
With such little opportunity to tour or even play in the last few years it’s definitely something we miss and has been hugely frustrating not be able to develop this fully. Now with 2 albums in our roster we’re all aching to get out there and play/tour. I think the live show is always something that’s constantly evolving, and that’s certainly the case for us.
What can we expect from you in the near future
Very soon, we’ll be releasing the new (sophomore) album, although I can’t tell you an exact date, but I can tell you, you’re going to love it.
Tell us your favourite records that’s rocking your headphones/tour bus/stereo
God, I don’t know where to start, on my stereo recently? Pantera ‘Cowboys from Hell’, Leonard Cohen “I’m Your Man”
The band’s album Liquid Air can be purchased here
Check out the bands track Semblance, below:
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