Silo the Huskie holds a special place in our hearts here at Cringe.com. Their tune "DCG" was the very first track on the very first Cringe.com/pilation CD. When I got a pre-release copy of the new CD, Sons of Columbus, and found that "DCG" was no fluke, I decided to interview the reformed band.
First just a tiny bit of background information. With the original drummer Stuart Van Vyven off in Cincinnati, Neal Schmitt of Pretty Mighty Mighty and Workbook Studio (where much of Sons of Columbus was recorded and mastered) has jumped on board as the new drummer. The remaining members are Brian Barlup (vocals/guitar), Chris Bair (guitar/vocals), and Pete Cline (bass). Each member was individually asked the same questions via email with just a couple follow-ups and clarifications.
Cringe: When was the last time Silo the Huskie played together in public?
Brian: February? 2002? At The Nyabingi Club in Youngstown.
Stu: Like March of 2002 or somewhere around there.
Chris: Youngstown - the night after Miranda Sound's CD release for Baby Inertia!.
Pete: The Miranda Sound CD release show at Oldfield's on High, which I think was in March, 2002. We had a show in Youngstown that same weekend, or the following. It was then that "the bottom fell out," so to speak.
Cringe: When did you first form and what got back you together?
Brian: We formed in '93. We got back together when I finished rehabbing my house, and Pete and I decided we could be friends again. I wasn't going to do it without Pete and Chris was still interested, so why not?
Stu: I joined in Fall of 1996 after old Silo's "break" of about a year. After the Spring '02 breakup, I was told that was pretty much it. So I took a job in Cincy at a company a good friend of mine runs. Then, in spring of 2003, the decision was made that they would probably get back together to support Sons.
Chris: Habit.
Pete: Set the "way-back" machine. Brain and I knew each other at Ohio State. We lived on South Campus and later we were in a band together. After college, Brian asked me if I wanted to play in this thing he was doing. So I said yea, and it kinda went from there.
Getting back together, for me, was more of taking a look at what was in front of and behind me. We had laid out a fair sum of money to record the CD and it was just sitting at Workbook Studio. The Vincents, whom I really wanted to make work, had stalled. Personally, I had made some changes with my relationships inside the band and at home. I really thought about my wants and decided that if I was to play in this band that admittedly had some success after 10+ years, that I needed to put things into perspective. To make this work, I just needed to step back and just not place my expectations on this band because what I want, or wanted, conflicted with what Brian's needs were.
Cringe: Do you have any new perspectives and insights to share about the band and your material now that you've had some time and distance away from it?
Brian: Recording any record is hard, this one was a bitch - at least for me. I was having a hard time singing; and with all of the endless repetitions you just kind of get numb and lose all objectivity. When the record was finally mastered, I was over it - didn't know if it was good or if it sucked. After the band split, maybe a year after the record was finished, I sat down and listened to the mastered tracks and it blew me away. It's a real good record and I think it says what we wanted it to say.
Stu: It's the best band I've ever played in or with. Both Fight and Sons are great albums to me, but Sons is more complete.
Chris: It's given me time to get more of a mental picture of what and who the songs are about. They're all about someone and each is a story of its own.
Pete: Well ... it was our first CD with Chris Bair. Original guitarist Kevin Spain had been out of the band since 1999, so most all the songs were written with Chris. And this was a sonic change from what Kevin had brought to the band. It was still rockin', but Chris brought a different angle to the music. Most of the songs were written before the Cargo release so we were really able to go through a lot of songs and keep the ones we wanted. Playing out all the time also enabled us to be fairly tight in the studio. Lyric-wise, I think Brian looked at what we were doing, the industry, the travel and just life experiences and put it into words.
Cringe: Is Neal a one weekend stand, a full-fledged member or something in-between?
Brian: Whatever he wants to be.
Stu: I wish I could say I'd be playing a lot of shows and helping write new stuff. But that's obviously hard to do from Cincinnati. Neal is an awesome drummer and a great guy - he'll do fine. Hopefully I can play some shows though!!
Chris: At this point I would say thats up to him.
Pete: Well, Neal said he was committed as he can be. He's got Pretty Mighty Mighty, Workbook Studio, a house, a wife and new baby ... so he's giving us his time as he can make it. We've worked on a few new songs with him, so I think he's long term in the sense that he's committing his time, energy and enthusiasm to us. Plus, we ask and value his opinion; we've recorded with him in the past, so full-fledged is a good label if you wanted to label that.
Cringe: I assume much of the Sons of Columbus CD was at least written and recorded over a year ago. How did the writing process tend to work on the CD? Are there any newer songs on the CD?
Brian: All of the songs on the record are at least two years old. "When to Run" and "Four and Twenty" were written right before we went into the studio. As far as the writing goes, I wrote a few of them myself at home and we hashed them out at practice. The rest just kind of happened spontaneously in practice. Pete would bring in a bass line, or Chris a guitar part, and we would build it from there.
Stu: Usually, we would all come up with music collectively off of a riff/melody from Brian or Chris. Then Brian would write all the lyrics. Tweaking just came naturally with playing the shit out of it.
Pete: Usually Brian would bring in an idea, a chord progression or whatnot, and we'd go from there. Brian would have an idea, or if one of us had an idea, we'd try and work it out. All the lyrics/themes are by Brian.
We worked on the new songs at rehearsal because it got to a point where we were playing all the Cargo-release songs every weekend and burning out. It was funny; we showed up at SXSW and for the most part played all new songs that became Sons of Columbus because that's what we thought Cargo wanted. And they actually wanted the older stuff being played.
We had just been playing that stuff since 1998 and it was like, #@&@#!... we gotta do new songs. By the time we hit the studio Brian was about to flip out because here we are playing songs written in 2001 or sooner and we had to get ready and play them AGAIN for another "tour" - a term that I use very, very, very, loosely.
So all the songs are new, not like the Cargo CD. That was a re-release of the Fight CD which we did in 1999. All new to the public, but not new to us ...
Cringe: Did you go back into the studio to re-record, remix or rearrange anything?
Stu: I didn't.
Brian: No, not really. We took the mixed songs from Workbook and added a couple of songs that we had recorded at Chris' house to it. We sent the song order to Jon Chinn, and he tweaked it a bit, and mastered it.
Pete: Well, I wish I could have re-done a few things. But, no ... Jon Chinn re-mixed two songs - or something like that - and that was about it. It was fairly cut and dry.
Cringe: How do you feel Sons of Columbus differs from or expands on your previous work?
Brian: It just sounds like a complete "album." Our first records weren't so cohesive songwise, so I think it just clarifies things a bit. Plus it sounds better than any record we've ever done.
Stu: More structured, instead of a collection of singles. There were a bunch of awesome songs we never recorded too.
Pete: I think we spent some time making sure there was a hi-fi sound to the CD. We could have done another Fight, lo-fi thing. But we wanted to have a more bigger production. And I think it worked. We're broke, but it really helped the songs. The songs are more sonicly diverse than our last CD; and I think the lyrics are more developed. It's just a better CD ... trust me, you should buy it!
Cringe: What's the significance of the cover art? Is that Brian in shades holding a Coors, a cigarette and a gun pointed toward a child?
Stu: His Dad, pointing it at Brian. Pretty cool.
Pete: I'll leave that for Brain to explain.
Brian: No, I'm the little kid in the picture. The dude with the shades, the Colt and the Coors is my Dad. It was taken in 1970 or so - in Colorado (you couldn't get Coors in Ohio those days). My mom took the picture and when I found it I said, "What the Fuck?" The picture just seemed so insane. I felt is was my right to put it on a record. Plus it kind of fits what we are and what we do as a band.
Cringe: There is a strong blue collar working man and working band theme to the CD. How much of this is biographical or even autobiographical?
Brian: It's extremely autobiographical for me as far as the working class thing goes. My parents were blue collar, as am I. I'm pro-union too - fuck the man.
Stu: Brian wrote all the lyrics. I never know what half (ok, most) of the songs are totally about until after they're recorded. It's always cool to find out though, compared to what I'd thought for eight months.
Pete: We all have "real" jobs. We are all older and we have a decent work ethic and all that kinda permeates into everything we do. Since Brian has the "rough-hands" job, I think what he observes in the band and at work make up the lyrics. As far as I'm concerned it's all autobiographical because Brian uses conflict, real or self-generated, as a creative muse.
Cringe: I wouldn't normally ask about your jobs, but the lyrics seem to make it relevant. What are some of your past and present jobs and bands?
Brian: I am a carpenter/construction jack of all trades.
Stu: Nothing special for me - moved a lot of freight. I played in the fabulous and underrated Hotsink from 94-96 - along with Mr. Chris Bair I might say!
Chris: Sales, traveling, basement recording and theatre sound design (Madlab). The first one pays.
Pete: I did a lot of stunt porn when I was younger and that takes it out of you! So I decided to bartend through college, past college and then I worked as a parts guy at a motorcycle shop for 7 years. Now I have one of those cushy state jobs helping run Ohio's learn-to-ride-a-motorcycle program. It's a cool white collar gig that I've had for over 3 years.
Bands? Well, I was in a project in-around '96 with former players for Ronald Koal/Epicurians/King of Iowa which was called "Grainbelt." Like I mentioned before I play(ed) in The Vincents. I've done an AC/DC cover band for Marcy Mays (Mar-C/DC), a few benefit shows with a mish-mash of players and jammed with some pretty good folks.
Cringe: What are the plans for Silo now? Will you be playing out and about? Touring? Shopping your music to labels?
Brian: We'll pick up local shows here or there, but mostly concentrate on playing regionally (Midwest). The guys at Tiberius deserve our efforts to play out as much as possible.
Stu: I'll leave that one to the boys. I'll probably be looking for a band in Cincy though.
Chris: I think at this point we won't be heartbroken if something big does not happen. We've already done more than a lot of bands could hope to do and we've found a nice home with Tiberius Records.
Pete: Well, we'll see. I think things are different now. Much different. New CD, new drummer with a new baby. Brian got married and bought a house. Chris lives with is girlfriend. I own a home. So I think we have moved on to a place that is kinda weird to explain. We want to succeed, but in a way we already have. We've traveled and want to travel, but within reason. We have had success, maybe not in the way that someone reading might relate to or agree with, but we've done well given the hand that we have been dealt.
We will play out as much as we can or want to. One thing had always hindered us was touring, or a lack of. Booking agents, lining dates up, all that cr@p - it's always been beyond our reach.
We have a great relationship with Tiberius. We'd love to see the label make some money and grow, because they are our friends. I do not think any label wants us as the perception might be "damaged goods" after Cargo. That's not the case, but maybe the perception. And when it comes down to it, I'd rather make great music and be a 'cult' band instead of compromising "the vision" for big radio ... whatever that "vision" might be. We hope the CD does well on college radio and hope that Tiberius can sell some CD's.
Cringe: I think sometimes what you might consider embarrassing, "uncool" or just guilty pleasures can be more revealing and fun than the standard top favorites. Share your shame and name some such recordings, songs and/or bands you really like in spite of it all. Honest, it'll be fun and you'll be glad you got it off your chests!
Brian: There are a couple of Journey songs I don't hate, I also like the easy listening sounds of Seals and Crofts.
Stu: Hmm, I still love me some 2112. I saw Skinny Puppy three times - they had the best show ever.
Chris: The Smiths, Ludacris. Me and Pete both like 3rd Eye Blind!! Haha ...
Pete: Cool? Well. Hmmm ... I'd say Third Eye Blind. They ARE my guilty
pleasure. And I'll roll on with Stu and say that 2112 is my fave as
well ... 'Attention all planets of the solar federation ... we have assumed
control!' Yea, I love that LP.
Silo the Huskie and Thistle celebrate the release of their newest CDs with Miranda Sound and Marcy Mays on Saturday, October 25, 2003 at Skully's Music Diner. Cringe.com will also be giving away copies of the Silo the Huskie and Thistle CDs. in fact, the first person to email me the name of the new Silo CD, gets a copy of both Silo's and Thistle's new CDs.
- Joel
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