In true Midwestern fashion, the Silkies haven’t a clue what sort of band they are—and that just may be the point. Jacob Merritt, Pierce Geary and John Rice have been making music together in various configurations since they were teenagers, long enough to trust the process (whatever that may be). Most notable is their time spent in Cincinnati indie outfit Pomegranates. The younger Joe Pruitt arrived later, bringing a different generational perspective that somehow reinforces the common ground they share.
Produced by Merritt and mastered by Dave Blackman (Echo & The Bunnymen, Killing Joke), There You Have It. Lasting Peace. (Like You Mean It) ricochets from twitchy post-punk to woozy psych/pop to suave new wave to Brit-flavored guitar rock. Fittingly, it’s a debut LP that doesn’t seem especially interested in a prescribed sound. After two years of steadily venturing beyond Cincinnati, the band is already looking back on There You Have It. Lasting Peace. as compelling evidence of where it was at the time.
With ideas for the Silkies’ next chapter already taking shape, Merritt fired off a quintet of answers to MAGNET’s Hobart Rowland.
How has adding a younger member with different musical reference points changed your creative formula?
It’s interesting see Joe discovering bands like Spoon, the Strokes, the Walkmen and the Horrors. I love to see artists like that still being discovered by folks in their teens and 20s. Age is nothin’ … right?
But Joe will also show us old bands from the ’70s and ’80s that we aren’t familiar with. If anything, it reinforces the idea that all of us have a similar overall taste when stuff resonates collectively.
How is deliberately failing to imitate an influence like the Strokes actually helpful for the Silkies?
Hmm … Shoot for the moon, and you’ll land among the stars? I think it’s helpful to occasionally have an exercise to stretch yourself as an artist to emulate the folks you admire—and know that it’s going to probably yield something different because there’s so much more personal expression, ideas and other influences added to the recipe.
You stand by the belief that touring and word of mouth trump a major social-media presence. Is resisting that pressure to post an artistic decision or a practical one?
Some of both. None of us are especially fond of putting ourselves in front of people in the social-media context. It’s not a natural thing for our personalities. If there was more time and we weren’t all still working jobs, we’d probably be more active posting content—but probably not much about our daily lives. Shows are just so satisfying for us. We see real people in real life. Spotify tells us we have 12,000 listeners at the moment. That’s encouraging, but it doesn’t replace meeting someone at a show telling us in person how much they enjoy a song or the album artwork or whatnot.
Do you see this debut as proof that the Silkies have found their identity? Or is it more of a living document of a sound that’s still evolving?
Definitely the latter. We seem to have an idea of what’s next for the band. But we want to try recording more and find ways to get more concepts out there.
When asked which track from There You Have It. Lasting Peace. best represents the band, each of you is likely to choose a different song. What does that say about the Silkies?
I think it indicates we’re a band that doesn’t feel obligated to—or at least tries not to be obligated to—chase a specific sound or formula. We have lots of ideas and love creating.
See the Silkies live.
