Written by Danielle
LA-based Indie rock quartet Silversun Pickups are starting to make some major waves with the release of their album Carnavas on Dangerbird Records. Their sound teeters somewhere between stripped down and melodic to beating-down-your-doors loud and aggressive, and singer Brian Aubert is able to pull off that transition better than most.
It’s definitely been a busy year for them having done everything from a stint on South by Southwest, to releasing their debut full-length album in July, shooting videos for their first and second singles (“Lazy Eye” and “Well Thought Out Twinkles”), playing radio festivals all throughout the summer, and now getting ready for a speedy 27-date U.S. tour from the end of September through late October.
Drummer Christopher Guanlao took a break from his no doubt hectic schedule to talk (and laugh) with us about everything from recording the new album and staying true to their loud sound, to playing a shocking show in northern California.
How many bands did you play in before settling on the lineup for Silversun Pickups?
I was in a couple. A bunch of LA bands. I was in Earlimart and I bounced around a lot. I was good friends with Brian (Aubert, guitar/vocals) and Nikki (Monninger, bass) and was waiting until they needed a drummer.
So, Silversun Pickups was already established before you joined up with them?
Yeah, they’d been playing around for two years. I waited ‘til they had an opening. Same thing with Joe (Lester, keyboard), he was friends with all of us too. A guitar player left and we figured it’s way better to have Joe on keyboard than to get a new guitar player.
Do you think the fact that you and your band mates have been friends for a while makes it easier to criticize something they’re doing musically that you’re not really feeling?
Totally. I can see where in some ways that could be hard, because people can get really defensive. We’re really in tune with one another (laughs) no pun intended. Any criticisms we have for one another are very constructive. Actually, (laughs) we’re just very passive aggressive.
Oh, so you guys just hold it all in then…
(laughs) Yeah, we just hold onto all our complaints,
And then it all comes tumbling out after a couple of beers…
Exactly!
Where’d the band’s name come from?
It came from when Brian and Nikki lived a block away from Silversun Liquor on the corner of West Sunset Boulevard and Silver Lake Boulevard in LA. We’d always go there to get everything from beer and alcohol to cat food and toilet paper. When we lived there we came up with it.
We thought it sounded good. People never know where the name came from. We like to say it’s a state of mind (laughs).
You guys played South by South West this year. How’d that go?
It was really cool. We played a lot of shows, actually we played five shows in three days. And we were amazed by the response, and the fact that people came out to see us multiple times was pretty amazing. There’s so much going on there, a lot of really good music and bands to see.
Who were some of the bands on the line up that you were excited to check out?
Irving from LA, we played with them, they were really cool and fun.
The Grates…we saw them randomly when they played after us. They’re from Australia I think, really fun pop/punk stuff.
+/- {Plus Minus} from New York, we were really excited to play with them.
Oh, and Dengue Fever. It’s like Cambodian pop music. The band’s a bunch of guys and their singer is a Cambodian girl (Ch’hom Nimol), she sings in Cambodian (Khmer). They were great.
You just did the Oakland Art and Soul Festival, how’d that go and what was your impression of Oakland?
Oh, it was great. We didn’t know what to expect, we were pretty amazed by the number of people that were there. It was a really cool show…
Well, Oakland has somewhat of a bad rep, so I think the Art & Soul Fest is their way of brining people together for a good time and at the same time showing people a softer side of Oakland.
Well, I was really sad when Mile High closed down. That was one of our favorite places to play, but I guess now they have the Art and Soul Festival.
How would you describe your sound?
I don’t know…to be really vague, rock music (laughs). Brian refers to it as schizophrenic, we have a lot of dynamic, (laughs) or at least we try. We tend to get into certain grooves and we can play for a long time in that groove and come back and have a catchy chorus. It’s all over the place.
Well, I think you guys have somewhat of a Sonic Youth thing going on in that sense, like you have a lot of quiet buildup and out of nowhere the song just kicks your ass.
Really? Wow, thanks, that’s really cool.
Have you gotten any comparisons to other bands that make you wonder what the hell that person was thinking, or any that were just really flattering?
(laughs) We got Fleetwood Mac once.
Seriously? (Laughs) What the hell?
(laughs) Really, Fleetwood Mac, which is totally bizarre and totally cool at the same time. I don’t know where that came from, but we’ll take it. And, then the obvious ones, My Bloody Valentine and the Smashing Pumpkins, we get those a lot, a lot of bands like that, but the Fleetwood Mac thing was really the strangest, in a cool way.
Was the recording process for Canavas the first studio experience you guys had?
We recorded a little bit before at The Ship. We recorded with Rob Silvera.
How’s the transition been bringing that sound from the record onto the stage?
It’s been good so far. We practiced a lot and had to take some things out to make it work. We had to trim down a little bit. Some things stand out more in a live setting. We wanted to be loud and we’ve tried to capture that with recording. As long as we’re loud we’re happy.
What’s the worst show you’ve ever played?
Well, definitely the weirdest and the worst was this time we played in a barn outside of Turlock in Northern California. It was in a barn, it was raining and there were no bathrooms. It was supposed to be a big party, but ended up being like 10 people. Everyone was getting shocked [because of the rain]. We drove all the way there to play and it was pretty stupid.
Well on the flipside of that bad show, what’s the best show you’ve played?
The best one and the one that stands out the most is when we opened for Elliot Smith at the Henry Fonda Theatre. Number one, it was the biggest show we’d ever played. There were so many people there, it was definitely the biggest crowd we’d ever played for. Number two, obviously, it was Elliot Smith. It was pretty cool
What three bands do you think have the ability to change rock music for the better?
Off the top pf my head, Secret Machines, they’re great. They’re from New York, and Dallas, they’ve moved to Dallas I think. Viva Voche, we’re going on tour with them. They’re awesome, they’re doing something really cool right now. Oh, (laughs) and there’s this little band, Radiohead have you heard of them?
I think I may have heard a mention here or there about them, (laughs) what was their name again?
Radiohead, I think they’re gonna be huge. But, really though, they’ll change things about rock music. (laughs) Actually, maybe they already have, but there’s a lot more to come from them I think.
If you could pick one of your songs for an iPod commercial, which would it be?
“Three Seed.” It just has a really sexy sound to it. It’s a slower jam as opposed to our other stuff that’s a lot heavier. It should be an iTunes commercial! You know how they always have that one crazy dancer? Well, this would be more of a slow jam, like ‘Get your iTunes on…’
(Laughs) Okay, well I think that’s a good note to end it on, that’s’ all I have for ya.
Really? That was really painless.
Well, I do try and keep it as pain free as possible.