Bakotopia

All > Rants & Raves > Stories
Introducing Silversun Pickups
Topics: Silversun Pickups, Silverlake, CA, Bakotopia, Bakotunes, Munoz, music, Coachella, Carnavas, Rockit los angeles
Posted by matt Wed Apr 11, 2007 14:03:31 PDT
Viewed 1567 times
0 responses 1 comment

<Listen to interview with Silversun Pickups drummer, Chris Guanlao!

From the Corner of Silver Lake and Sunset, Here Are Silversun Pickups

Silversun Pickups' most endearing quality may be that they have no faith in making plans for the future.

The Silver Lake-area quartet has been thrust into the spotlight as the current voice of Los Angeles’ indie rock set, but has chosen to break the rules of the strict DIY credo without apology.

“We love indie music, but we don’t wanna be just indie,” says Silversun drummer Christopher Guanlao via telephone. “We don’t want to put any parameters on what we’re doing.”

Convincing words from a band just seen on both The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Late Night with David Letterman, network variety shows known for showcasing the latest top 40 act along with the occasional off-the-radar buzz band. If that’s not good enough, the band has also landed a coveted spot performing at the Coachella Music Festival on Friday, April 27 alongside Björk and The Jesus and Mary Chain.

“The way we look at things now is, we put the blinders on and we’re just looking forward,” says Guanlao. “And build up this experience and knowledge.”

Currently on tour in support of the latest CD, Carnavas,  both as opening band for Scotland’s Snow Patrol and as headliners, Guanlao felt the oncoming weight of road time even before the band left L.A.

“This tour is about two months long, but it feels like we’re going to be gone for the rest of the year,” he remarked prior to the tour’s launch.

Formed in 2000 by frontman Brian Aulbert and bassist Nikki Monninger, Guanlao joined the duo in 2002, but it was with the addition of keyboardist Joe Lester, who had previously played with the band onstage, that Silversun Pickups felt complete.

“Joe would come up and play on one song during every show, but it got to the point where he was playing more and more songs," says Guanlao. “We told him he’s gotta join the band, and to just figure out something for the songs he’s not playing on.”

Named after a favorite convenience store located on the corner of Silver Lake Blvd. and Sunset, the band often makes up stories when asked about the origin of its moniker.

“We tell people that our name involved being out in the desert with peyote, but it’s really from a neighborhood liquor store called Silversun,” says Guanlao. “We made a lot of pickups there.”

Going from straight ahead rock to post-grunge, keyboard-infused fuzz, the band entered the studio to record its 2005 debut EP, Pikul, on the Warner Brothers’ based Dangerbird Records, building a loyal fanbase with their single, “Kissing Families.”

In July 2006, their full-length CD Carnavas, was released to ho-hum national response, but with mass distribution and backing from its label, the band feels confident about the future.

“As the months go by, the record’s been picking up steam,” says Guanlao. “The label saw there’s been a snowball effect going on here, and that they could nurture this.”

Todd Clifford, owner of Sea Level Records in Echo Park and newly crowned Silversun Pickups tour merch manager, has seen the value of that cultivation at his store, where the band also sold its early demos. Clifford remembers the day the full-length dropped, when the band did an impromptu in-store signing session for fans.

“When the CD first came out, we sold 80 copies the first day,” Clifford reflects. “The CD came out on Nikki’s birthday, and we’ve been selling them like crazy since.”

Carnavas became the #1 seller of 2006 at the store, even beating out Cat Power’s The Greatest, released the same year. The Greatest sold well, but not enough to beat the local favorites.

“Carnavas sold double the numbers our #2 seller did all last year,” says Clifford. “It’s been exciting to see the band do as well as they are.”

The album is a striking reminder that popular music was, and still is, a viable source of soulful nourishment. The band has also been compared to legendary foursome The Pixies in many rock music journals, not just in sound, but also in appearance. (Guanlao, like Pixies’ Joey Santiago is Filipino, and Monninger, like bassist Kim Deal, is also female.)

Coincidences aside, Guanlao and his bandmates don’t seem to mind the comparisons.

“We’re definitely influenced [by] and love the Pixies and a lot of other things too,” he said. “I don’t think we necessarily go out there to sound like them, it’s definitely an unconscious thing.”

A hit on L.A.'s Indie 103.1 F.M., college radio stations nationwide and MTV, “Lazy Eye,” from Carnavas, has been a butterfly for the band.

“'Lazy Eye' is one of the first songs we ever played, and it’s been through a metamorphosis since then,” says Guanlao. “The way it transformed is the way we’re headed, so in that sense, I guess it is representative of what we’re doing.”

Originally performed much slower and longer in length, the song has quickly become the band’s signature tune. With a catchy, mid-tempo groove that builds on an emotional twist of effects, Silversun Pickups have successfully created something that reminds you of everything you loved about the best bands of the '90s, minus the annoying pretentiousness of Seattle.

Throughout the rest of the CD, songs like “Well Thought Out Twinkles,” and the opening track, “Melatonin,” consistently make Carnavas one of the more interesting reintroductions of 2007.

Preparing for a potential breakout from the confines of indie stardom, Guanlao says the band has also discussed the possible end of the thrill ride.

“If we can be as big as the The White Stripes, then let’s shoot for that, but if this is our last tour, we’ll know we’ve done the most we can.”

-Matt Munoz, Bakotopia

-Request "Lazy Eye" on KRAB radio: (661) 842-KRAB(5722)

-Catch Silversun Pickups live at Coachella 2007, Friday April 27th!

-www.silversunpickups.com

Pick up Carnavas, available now!

*Story originally printed in The Rockit News, Los Angeles, CA, April 2007. Interview conducted on 2/15/07

Send to a Friend

Report a Violation

Comment From: Thesilenceclub

Nice.