This year is a busy one for Silversun Pickups. Their third studio album is coming out in May, they’re playing the sold-out Sasquatch! Festival, and a possible tour of the US is in the works.
They’ve remained remarkably stable throughout the years. While there has been one lineup change, this incarnation has been around 2003. One of the original members of the band, Nikki Monninger, chatted with ToneDeaf about Bob Dylan, the Twitterverse and of course, upcoming album Neck of the Woods.
Nikki says their first show was in September 2000. That means Silversun Pickups have been together for over a decade. She’s pleasantly surprised: “I remember reading about Sonic Youth when they’d been together about sixteen years and I thought: ‘Wow, what kind of band stays together for sixteen years? That’s so awesome.’ But now we’re not too far behind.”
Does she think that Silversun Pickups will make the sixteen year mark?
“I hope so! I’m optimistic at this point that we will. It’s a hard thing for a band to stay together, but we are definitely friends and that makes it easier.”
While the lineup has remained more or less stable, things have definitely changed. Their first live show was in CMJ, Brooklyn. This year, they’re playing the main stage at Sasquatch! Festival in Washington. The lineup includes Bon Iver, The Shins, Metric and Explosions in the Sky. Incidentally, these bands will all have played in Australia by the end of the year.
Nikki is excited to see The Shins play again. “I think their new lineup is working out really well. It’s really nice to see another girl out there. I never realised until we got out of Silverlake how few girls there are in bands. And it’s just nice to see other girls out there playing in successful bands. It’s definitely not a female friendly environment, but it’s a great thing to be a part of.”
Incidentally, does Nikki have any theories as to why so many girls in bands are bassists? (To name a few: Lyn-Z from Mindless Self Indulgence, Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth, and Nicole Fiorentino from The Smashing Pumpkins.) “Yeah, I don’t know why that happens! I just feel like I’ve always been drawn to basslines in songs. Growing up, whenever I would listen to a song, I’d be listening for the bassline, so I feel like it just became natural to want to learn how to play the bass. But I don’t know why it ends up being a more popular instrument for girls in bands. I’m not sure if that’s why other girls do it.
That’s why I thought it was interesting. The Shins, the guitar player that’s with them now, she plays lead guitar, and I think that’s so awesome, because that is rare to see a woman lead guitarist, and I think she does a great job at it.”
The new album, Neck of the Woods has been described by Brian (Aubert, lead singer) as ‘like a horror movie’. Nikki thinks the album name was definitely inspired by Brian. “We recorded the album in Topanga, at Jacknife’s (producer ‘Jacknife’ Lee) home studio. Brian grew up there, and I think it was just interesting for him to come back to that area. Then we started looking at album artwork and that photo in particular struck us.”
The music definitely sounds like a progression in sound. “That’s why we wanted to work with Jacknife, because he comes from a more electronic world. I think that while we still kept the base of our sound, he was able to help us add to that, so we definitely feel like it’s a good progression of where our music started from. That’s why we chose Jacknife, because we felt like he opened us up to new realms of possibility.”
Silversun Pickups have also recently contributed a cover of a Bob Dylan song to Chimes of Freedom: Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International. “He’s definitely an inspiring figure in music. The song we chose, “Not Dark Yet”, is from a later time of his, but I felt like he recaptured his youth in that song. And he just reinspired me and all of us. That he’s been able to maintain his career and keep it so strong and come up with these new great songs…that’s why we chose to pick something that was inspiring from his later works.”
Speaking of fans, Silversun Pickups run their own Twitter account. “Well, when I’m looking at somebody’s Twitter and it’s just written by whoever’s doing promotion or whatever, it makes me not want to engage. Because they’re just going to give facts, like the band’s on tour. I understand that information needs to get out there, but I can look on a website for that. I like it when bands let us a little bit into their lives. Especially when we’re on tour; it’s great to take photos and it’s also a snapshot of our lives.”
On that note, can Australia expect Silversun Pickups to come down to Australia anytime soon? While Nikki says they love touring in Australia (previously they’ve toured with Birds of Tokyo and Snow Patrol), it just depends on the logistics of getting here. “If it were up to us, we’d be there tomorrow. I know that in the near future, we’re planning on doing some US shows and then a full US tour in September.
“But we’re definitely open to coming out over to Australia. I mean sometimes, it’s something that we don’t even know, what the tour schedule is going to bring, but I definitely know that we wanna get out there.”
Neck of the Woods is released May 8.
