If you wiki Alberta, Canda—you’ll find that they’ve listed the bighorn sheep as their official provincial animal. But don’t believe everything you read on Wikipedia! Unfortunately, for the various writers of this province, they couldn’t be more incorrect. It’s apparent that they have yet to come into contact with the hybrid sea creatures from the band, SILO. Their intense hard rock sound sticks to your ears more-so than maple syrup, and will hit you stronger than the impact of ram trying to claim ownership over his ewe. But don’t be fooled, for like many good hard rockers, SILO knows how to capture the ears (and hearts!) with their softer sentimental side.
Ashley Jean: Being the nerd that I am, I always read into the meaning behind a band’s name. For you guys, I, of course, turned to a dictionary and came up with the following definitions for the word “silo”: A tall cylindrical structure, usually beside a barn, in which fodder is stored, a pit dug for the same purpose, an underground shelter for a missile, usually equipped to launch the missile or to raise it into a launching position or to store in a silo. Now, I totally feel you guys are equipped to launch a missile. But if you had to create your own definition of the word “silo” to place in the dictionary, how would you define it in relation to your music?
Clay: A structure built to stand the test of time, full of power, reaching high into the sky holding the keys to world domination!
Ashley Jean: As you hold those keys to world domination, pick an animal (or a combination of animals) that you feel best describes the kind of sound SILO strives for. (And yes, these animals can be existing or extinct—like dinosaurs.)
Clay: We pride ourselves in creating music for all people and moods, so I would have to say if you combined a great white shark with a dolphin you’d get the best of both worlds with us: intense, in your face, and nice smooth like the dolphin.
Ashley Jean: Aside from being creatures from the deep oceans, what do you feel differentiates yourselves as a rock group compared to other rock bands in the industry?
Clay: Although I believe our music is a huge part of that, I would DEFINITELY have to say our live show. We REFUSE to just stand in one place, on the X on the floor, and play music. We are there to entertain and we don’t mind sacrificing a note or two for a crazy bass guitar swing, or guitars and drum sticks being thrown in the air. We have yet to meet another band that matches the intensity and energy of SILO.
Ashley Jean: With great intensity comes even greater impact. I’m extremely interested in knowing who each of your individual influences are. Do you guys all agree on one band that you can say changed the way you went about writing music?
Clay: Any good band will take the diverse influences from each member and mold it into their own sound. Our band has influences from country to metal—but if I had to pick a couple bands that we draw on the most it would be Metallica, Motley Crue, GnR and a newer influence of Avenged Sevenfold.
Ashley Jean: Speaking of diverse influences—one of you has to like Justin Bieber…or not! But while we’re on that subject, any guilty pleasures in terms of music?
Clay: Haha! Awesome question!! Well—I grew up on country and still enjoy it VERY much, (PLEASE don’t tell the others!!), and recently I heard my drummer singing that “Friday” song by that girl, Rebecca Black, I think! So draw your own conclusions there…
Ashley Jean: Draw my own conclusions? Okay! Well—I’ve never been to Canada and can only imagine the [music] scene might be a little different than it is here in Los Angeles. Are there any substantial differences between doing a show in Alberta, as say, doing a show in Hollywood?
Clay: I would think your chance of getting HEARD by an industry person would be WAY higher there, but I think you’ll find indie music fans/lovers no matter where you go, and if you market yourself the right way you will grow fans no matter where you hang your hat.
Ashley Jean: Personally, I’d love to hang my hat in Paris. And while we’re on that topic— I read something about a European Promo Tour. Apparently you guys were the only ones selected from Canada to be included on the International Rock Compellation album. That’s sick! Has the tour happened yet?
Clay: Yes we were the only Canadian band selected for the album, and only one of three from North America, which is a HUGE honour and accomplishment in itself, and due to this we have opened doors that were not available to us before. We will be playing the Boonstock Festival this year with bands such as Three Days Grace, FFDP, Seether, A Perfect Circle, Sublime with Rome, CCR, Trooper, and many more. We are also playing the main stage of the first ever Sturgis North Bike Rally with rock legends Nazareth, Helix, Prism, Harlequin, Stepphenwolf, and many more. So you can see what this has done for us as a band. As for the European tour, they are still trying to get it put together and the hope is near the end of 2011. But even if it doesn’t happen, we will be happy with what we have got from this!
Ashley Jean: My mind is still in Europe! So prior to being selected to do the European tour, has anyone in SILO ever wanted or has traveled to Europe? Favorite countries? Places you’re excited and hope to see?
Clay: Our drummer has been to Mexico, but the rest of us haven’t done much traveling. As a band we would LOVE to TOUR the world!! I can’t think of a better way to see Europe/the world!
Ashley Jean: Seeing the world would be awesome, but you know, songs are gateways to places a plane can’t take you. With that being said, my favorite songs on the album have to be “Inside of Me” and “Devil in Disguise.” As you can probably tell, I’m a ballad girl. What is process of writing slow jams such as these?
Clay: WOW! Well, a slow jam is a different animal for sure, especially coming from a hard rock band. We always want to go hard all the time, but when you slow it down, you can really see the talent of a band; it’s your chance to show your diversity and chops. Really, you have to have a few “bum huggers” on every album. I’ve always LOVED when a hard sounding band pulled off a ballad; it always gave me goose bumps. Our newest single, which has been released across Canada to rock and satellite radio, is our first full blown ballad called, “Paper Notes.” And although we hesitated releasing a “bum hugger,” being that we are a hard rock band— the responses have been AMAZING!!
Ashley Jean: And one final question for you dudes: what message, more than anything, do you hope to convey to your current fans and future fans of SILO?
Clay: I’d like to tell our fans that as long as they keep asking for SILO and supporting us we will continue to give them 100% of SILO in our music and live show, and so far they keep asking, and the SILO NATION continues to grow daily!!
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