RECIPE: Take four strangers - three Israeli and one Brit - and place them in a room together. Add in liberal quantities of bass, a guitar and a drum kit, a pint of Guinness for the singer (to loosen the vocal chords you understand) and tell them to practise. Close the door behind you and come back in six months.
Silverland are Dassi, Ami, Dorit and Sam. Silverland are not your average band. Replying to a small ad - 'Singer required for cool band' - in Loot, lead vocalist Sam was eventually plucked from a life more ordinary. Moving from making ends meet, to passing the crucial and nerve racking 'can he sing?' audition experience, he became the distinctive vocal talent at the front of Silverland.
Silverland's story is one of self belief, drive, determination and of practise making perfect. Silverland took on the music industry, booked all of their own gigs and even invented a production company with its own headed paper and official stamp to convince venues to book them. Silverland realised early on that the only way to be the best would be to play live as much as possible. Guitarist Dassi and lead singer Sam set about turning up and performing at as many open mic sessions at J3 in North London, even busking on London underground stations. Along the way they sold albums to happy commuters who would stop and listen rather than pass by unknowing. Sam learnt half of the songs when he first joined the band live on stage, a true baptism of fire, "You're never ready to do it, you just have to go for it". The Silverland vibe was taking off, the infectious laughter of the band spreading. Their first gig as a band was in May 2002 and the band play as much as possible, sometimes three or four times a week, giving up part-time jobs to concentrate on mastering their art.
Aside from lead singer Sam Jones who hails from Pershore a small town in deepest Worcestershire, the remaining three Silverland members all originate from Israel; a land of constant change, a cultural mixing pot of music, art and style which infuses every bar of music they write and every song they sing.
All of the Israeli contingent of Silverland did their national service in the holy land and were lured back to Israel last year to play a one off gig for a friend in Tel Aviv. They ended up being signed on the spot on the strength of their blistering performance. The next day, Silverland were the talk of the town and their record was being played across the Israel. Silverland don't sit back and wait for things to happen. Things happen to them and for all the right reasons.
Silverland's first album "Swimming Upstream" is full of great music inspired by long nights in their Hertfordshire farmhouse recording studio where they rehearsed for 6 months in the living room which they say added 'a real family feeling' to the songs. At this time the band lived and breathed together 24/7, fine tuning and perfecting each song. Silverland feed off the energy and inspiration they give to each other which echoes in the very substance of their music. Influences musically are far and wide from R&B to jazz, soul and funk, yet their sound is blessed with no nonsense rock sensibilities with references to Coldplay, Nirvana, Talking Heads and even Dylan.
"April Mourning", the double A-side on the single released 25 April - with new track "With Each Word" - is taken from "Swimming Upstream". The album is full and taut, an acoustic soundscape of superb musicianship and heartfelt emotion. Having started out in farmhouse studio, the album was eventually partly re-recorded and remixed from the original sessions at London's Whitfield Street studios, the birth place of some of the all time classic recordings.
