When you think of the latest sounds to appear out of Detroit, Eminem and The White Stripes are probably the first to come to mind. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find that Detroit houses a thriving scene of indie music and art rock. At the forefront of this new music scene, you’ll find The Silent Years, one of the most diverse and unique indie groups to come around in a long time.
Artists often get caught up in lyric writing, attempting to focus on their words as the driving force of the song. The Silent Years take a more music-centric approach. They start with driving hooks and powerful instrumentation changes. In other words, they seek to create a sonic representation of the theme of the song, before a word even hits your ear. Lead singer Josh Epstein describes his poetic approaches to adding words to music as being “drafted and redrafted”. He feels that the pure expression of musical emotion should take the focus, and he struggles to find the perfect words to compliment it. Even with the layered, experimental sounds of their recordings, you can’t miss their live set as the band brings these sounds to the stage in a unique and organic way.
With such an authentic approach to songwriting and performance, it’s no surprise that the band is being afforded some impressive career opportunities. Recently signed to SideCho Records, the band is starting to make waves in the online scene while also building a nice list of supportive press. Bob Boilen of NPR is the newest critic to join the droves of fans lining up behind the new album, The Globe. “After one listen, I may have found my summer pop record,” he said when the band was featured on NPR’s “Song of the Day.” Recently, The Silent Years has also been featured as the “Band of the Week” in Paste Magazine and an ABC News interview. We caught up with Epstein to get his reaction to his budding celebrity status and to get more insight on his unique and ear catching approach to his music. Click through to see what he had to say:
