Over A Beer With Ryan Phillips and Dylan Wagner of The Silkstones
-Jazz Matthews-
Today we are doing this beer thing by phone. Yes, this is the Edmonton Muse, but my friends are in Calgary and Lethbridge AND Edmonton. Lead singer, Ryan Phillips and guitar player, Dylan Wagner are sitting in Inglewood, an establishment that goes by Cold Garden. Both are beer drinkers, so it bodes well for the article already. Phillips is drinking a Big Rock, Wagner also sips on a Big Rock, Strawberry-Rhubarb Cider. Me, I am at home and as usual the fridge has a cold Corona, so I popped it open. Now before you say, “man, those guys are craft beer snobs” or “what’s with the girly drinks?” The Silkstones are performing at the Big Rock Barnburner on September 16. So, snobs, girly drinks or very clever marketing? You can decide for yourself. Before carrying on, just a note to the Barnburner. It is a big deal. The Silkstones will be fronting mutli Edmonton Music Award winners, Scenic Route to Alaska and multi Juno Award winners
The Sheepdogs. Not bad for a bunch of young people.
They are a bunch. There are six in the band, though they can adapt to show requirements. The band consists of my two friends here, as well as; Megan Brown (violin/harmonies), Christina Prakash (bass/harmonies), Joel Gray (guitar/harmonies) and Skyler Bjorn Benoit-Jones (drums). Their latest CD also lists Blake Lowry as a member.
If the guys had to classify themselves, fit into a genre, they say that they have been called art rock and dream pop but they prefer just rock, no sub culture required. As songs come together, the Phillips/Wagner partnership is much like Lennon/McCartney. And that wouldn’t be a stretch as they list the Beatles and the Beach Boys as one of their biggest influences. All music goes through the duo, especially as the new disc, The World Began With A Yes, is released and truly
is the first time that it has been one hundred percent like that. They are also already in the writing process for what will be their fourth full length CD to go with their first release, the single, Webs On A Tree. Recording is expensive and I asked the guys how they, at such a young age, have been able to be so prolific. Phillips replied, “everything goes back into the band account. We don’t pay ourselves individually. It’s all about the brand. We feel it is all about what we can be.” Wagner adds, “there is no out of pocket for the band.”
When I go from seeing The Silkstones in a small one hundred seat venue and think about them playing with The Sheepdogs, the question comes how do you transition from small to large venue? Regardless of show size, even if its one person, Phillips says that they want you leaving, feeling something, they want to lay it on the line every time. You never know who is in the crowd. Wagner points to a show in Lethbridge, Street Wheelers, a table of radio people that
loved what they did and what they played were in the crowd. They have since been on the air with those folks many times and had their music played over and over. Are they still chasing shows? Sometimes yes. Alberta shows seem to come to them. Big Rock called for the Barn Burner. They would love to have some representation to get to the rest of the world. If you are an agent, you know.
As we speak, Cottonwood Records is releasing a video that The Silkstones did as a special project with them, with various other artists. They will see it for the first time as it is released. They only know that Phillips and Wagner are in a desert and Meegan Brown is in a blimp. Going forward the guys are looking to get some casino dates but will be focusing on writing.
I did pick up a copy of the Band’s disc and after seeing the live show, I am sure that my favorite is Track Four, It Tells Me More (Than You Tell Me).
As we get ready to end the call, Wagner wants to let those who have supported that Band know that they appreciate it very much. Without them, he says, “we couldn’t do what we do.”
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