Silver Sunshine

There is no denying that the music business is all about cycles. What was hot and en vogue yesterday is sure to return to tomorrow. Simply give it time and watch. The current trend seems to indicate the 60's have made a full fledged return. Many musicians have begun to incorporate that sounds and ideals of the 60's and incorporate them into their music.

One such outfit is San Diego, CA's, Silver Sunshine. Spin Magazine astutely commented, "In the spirit of peace, love and la la la-ing, this San Diego quartet mines the pop (and poppies) of the psychedelic-rock 60's and 70's, uncovering wonderfully bright, singsong John and Paul melodies."

Silver Sunshine is comprised of Richard Vaughan (guitar, vocals), Conor Riley (guitar, vocals), and Stuart Sclater (bass). Former Dwarves' drummer Chris Fields had all but signed on the dotted line to join the band, but decided against the idea several days after accepting the gig. Still, Silver Sunshine continues to roll on; scheduling several west coast dates in support of Winter Flowers.

Silver Sunshine is currently working on new material for areleasee that should see the light of day in early 2006. In the meantime, the band has released a CD EP entitled A Small Pocket of Pure Spirit. The logic behind this EP, according to Richard Vaughan, "...was to use it as a transition into our next album. A sort of bridge. Also, we wanted to give our fans some new material that had evolved since the first album."

TGBrecentlyy exchanged emails with Richard Vaughan.

Three main songwriters is quite a luxury, but I would also guess that it can be difficult weaving three distinct personalities. Therefore, how does your band mold three songwriters, three personalities, and come out with Silver Sunshine's sound?

Musically, there is a broad spectrum of inspiration that we all share. We're all on the same page and each of us know in which direction we want our sound to go. I think we're fortunate in that way. When someone writes something new, we can all feel the songwriter's vision and we end up adding little pieces of our own ideas. The end result always comes out sounding like Silver Sunshine because we all contribute in some way.

What (or Who) fuels your love of the 60's?

Analog, progressive & creative songwriting, good hooks, cryptic lyrics, live/studio effect wizardry, organic sounds. This is what fuels our love for music in general, not just the 60's. It just so happens that many late 60's and early 70's groups captured all of these elements so perfectly.

I'm going to guess that one or all of the band members are avid readers. What are you currently sinking your teeth into? What was it that attracted you to this (these) book(s)?

To be honest, between commuting to and from my day job and writing and rehearsing, I haven't had much time for reading as of late. I did just pick up a couple of books from the swap meet - mostly for the illustrations: Aubrey Beardsly - Selected Drawings and Faust by Goethe, illustrated by Harry Clarke. Beardsley and Clarke produced some of the most beautiful, disturbing, surreal and psychedelic drawings I've ever seen.

Describe these darker and heavier territories that you find yourselves being pulled into?

Since our last album was released, we've been digging on heavier freak rock, progressive and wyrd folk sounds and it's definitely coming out in our current songwriting, both instrumentally and lyrically. That and with the approaching winter months, it was inevitable.

Your bio quoted a magazine that proclaimed SS as something akin to the voice of a new generation. What sort of pressures does a statement like that place on you as a band and as musicians? Consequently, what pressures do you place on yourselves?

We don't feel any pressure at all by that statement. That was just something positive and complimentary that a music reviewer said about our album. It was flattering but we don'tnecessarilyy feel that we're the voice of a new generation. We're just writing music that we love.

Congratulations on your SDMA nomination. What does that type of recognition mean to you personally, and as a band?

Thanks. Of course it was nice to be nominated and it did help us to get our name more recognized locally, which turned on some new people to our music - that's all that mattered to me. I'm not surprised that we didn't win though. I think we're a bit too underground compared to our competition.

What can you divulge about your new material and/or forthcoming album?

Our new material is getting more progressive. Our next album will reflect that along with more organic, woodsy sounds. We feel it's the best stuff we've ever written and we're all really excited about it. New inspiration. Change is good.

www.silversunshine.com
Empyrean Records: www.empyreanrecords.com