Ahead of their gig supporting Cassia at The Bodega last month, the band spoke to us about their music influences as a band, their new single and give us a sneak peek into their personal music tastes…

How was Silver Wilson formed?

We’ve known each other for years. We came together in a band set up when Brandon asked me to play a gig for his old band. We were all in a band together called the Gorgeous Chans and then we realised we wanted to do something more our style and decided to break away and start this band.

How did you come up with name Silver Wilson? What were some of the other names that got thrown around?

Once we were formed, we were booked for a gig fairly early on – we didn’t have a name at this point. When we were booked, the woman that booked us said she needed a name for the posters and social media. We came out after a meeting with her at Lee Rosy’s [a café in Hockley] having to decide a name quickly. The pressure for the name came from here.

One of the other names that got thrown around was Coach; it was the worst thing and it always made me think of the old coach driver from the show Coach Trip. Nineteen was another name. We finally settled on Silver Wilson because it describes our music – indie, a little quirky and cool. It’s also a name that we could say on stage and everyone would know what you just said. That was an issue we had with Gorgeous Chans because people would always go “What did you just say?”, when we said the name.

How would you describe your sound? Would you say it has evolved over time?

Indie pop, with an electronic sound. It’s definitely changed a lot since we first started. We were initially a conventional indie band.  It used to be more guitar heavy, it’s much more flowy and electronic now. 

Who are your major music influences?

Our band influence we would say is The 1975. They are the sort of people we are basing ourselves off. We don’t necessarily want to achieve their sound, but when you see people doing things right in the industry and turning heads with their music, you also want to achieve the same in our own way. We also draw influences from our contemporaries we support as well – like Cassia for example. We are all mates and we all learn from each other.

On a personal level, all our music influences are different to each other.

What is your favourite Nottingham venue to play at?

The Bodega would definitely be one. We were shooting a music video in there yesterday. Our first ever gig was at the Bodega and now we’ve built up a relationship with the people there. We feel like we are part of the venue. The Rescue Rooms and The Chameleon are also pretty great. Most of the independent venues are great in Nottingham.

What's been your highlight as a band so far, and what are your future ambitions?

The obvious highlight would be when we played Y Not festival with BBC Introducing. We got really lucky with it. It started raining five minutes before set and our tent was by the entrance and one of the only ones undercover and since it was raining everyone just took cover and flooded into our set. That was only our 6^th or 7^th gig ever and to have such a big crowd was amazing.

Another one is when we played at Belgrave in Leeds as part of the Leeds College Student Union party. We wound up headlining it and it was sick that they trusted us with that. Having music students and art students who you’d expect to scrutinise your work sing along to your songs was great.

What’s next is we’ve got a single coming out and we’ve been filming the music video for that. Then we’ve got some gigs and festivals coming up.  We’ve also got plans for another single to come out in the summertime. And to improve, release better songs and put on better performances.

Finally, what’s one song on each of your personal playlists that you’ve recently had on repeat?

Tom: Mine is a song called King and Cross by Asgeir. It’s so good. It’s an incredible song and I love it.

Elliot: Definitely Bruno Mars! When I get in the car it’s always Bruno Mars playing.

Brandon: Mine would be Diplo’s Get It Right.

 

Silver Wilson’s latest single ‘Let You Go’ will be released on the 9^th of March.