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With 7 full-lengths and a handful of EPs to their name, Canadian post-hardcore band Silverstein<\/strong> have become one their biggest alternative musical exports since forming in 2000. However, after a lack of UK shows in recent years, the five-piece made a brief stop over for the recent Sonisphere<\/strong> Festival.<\/p>\n Having spent the past few weeks touring mainland Europe, guitarists Josh Bradford and Paul Marc Rousseau were in high spirits when we spoke to the pair ahead of their appearance on the Satellite stage.<\/p>\n The apologetic duo discussed the comparison between UK\/EU and North American festivals, picking a festival setlist, being part of Hopeless Records<\/strong> and then apologised again for not coming to the UK more often. Thankfully they will be appearing at the Hevy Festival<\/strong> in August. Until then take a read of our interview.<\/p>\n AH: Just for the record, can I get your names and role in the band?<\/strong> Paul Marc: I\u2019m Paul Marc and I also play guitar in the band Silverstein.<\/em><\/p>\n Josh: Boom! Silverstein!<\/em><\/p>\n Paul Marc: Which is the same band he\u2019s in.<\/em><\/p>\n Josh: I\u2019m also in the band Silverstein with my friend Paul Marc who plays guitar, while I play guitar. Together we play guitar. <\/em><\/p>\n AH: You\u2019ve been round Europe, so I guess you\u2019ve not seen much of Sonisphere so far?<\/strong> AH: How was the trip over?<\/strong> Josh: My favourite part is always the ferry. I think I do some of my best sleeping whilst rocking and rolling on those gentle seas.<\/em><\/p>\n AH: You get rocked to sleep?!<\/strong> AH: Where have you come from?<\/strong> Josh: But originally we live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (laughs).<\/em><\/p>\n AH: So you\u2019re back in the UK for the first time in quite awhile. How does it feel to be back here?<\/strong> Paul Marc: It\u2019s not raining yet.<\/em><\/p>\n Josh: There\u2019s a bit of sunshine. There are some great bands playing today.<\/em><\/p>\n Paul Marc: It has been a little easier to understand the general chatter around us. <\/em><\/p>\n Josh: Same language.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n AH: That\u2019s always a good start.<\/strong> Paul Marc: Our tour manager is from England.<\/em><\/p>\n Josh: So we hear him around. What can I say, it is a sunshiny day and I have a beer in my hand.<\/em><\/p>\n AH: What more could you ask for?<\/strong> AH: Have you played Sonisphere at all before?<\/strong> AH: What are your expectations for it?<\/strong> Josh: I expect to drink a bunch of beers, and I\u2019m on the right track. <\/em><\/p>\n AH: How does playing festivals in the UK and Europe compare to those in Canada and the States?<\/strong> Paul Marc: 60,000 today isn\u2019t it?<\/em><\/p>\n AH: Yeah it probably is.<\/strong> AH: Yeah, Glastonbury is huge and Download is bigger than this.<\/strong> AH: Has the European tour been a mixture of festivals and headline dates?<\/strong> Josh: It is a nice balance between a massive stage in front of a shit ton of people, and then going down into a little club with a bunch of sweaty kids. It’s nice running the gambit.<\/em><\/p>\n AH: You\u2019re playing on the Satellite stage later on. It\u2019s one of the smallest stages here. Are you more comfortable playing a stage of that size or would you rather be on the big stage?<\/strong> Josh: I\u2019ll take any of it. Big one is better but the small one will be nice though. Less pressure.<\/em><\/p>\n Paul Marc: We don\u2019t complain very much. We\u2019re from Canada, it\u2019s not in our nature.<\/em><\/p>\n Josh: We apologise more than we complain.<\/em><\/p>\n Paul Marc: We\u2019re sorry we\u2019re on the small stage. That must be something we did.<\/em><\/p>\n Josh: Sorry we did that wrong.<\/em><\/p>\n Paul Marc: Sorry.<\/em><\/p>\n Josh: Sorry.<\/em><\/p>\n Paul Marc: Woops!<\/em><\/p>\n Josh: We\u2019re Canadian. Always apologising.<\/em><\/p>\n AH: I noticed you\u2019re playing after a bunch of stand-up comedians. Is that something you\u2019ve done before?<\/strong> Josh: Yeah it makes sense. Comedians tell jokes and are generally miserable people, and we make miserable music.<\/em><\/p>\n Paul Marc: The other way we looked at it when we saw the schedule this morning was \u201coh at least we will be the heaviest band!\u201d (all laugh)<\/em><\/p>\n AH: The setlist on the recent European shows seem to consist of a lot of older songs?<\/strong> Paul Marc: We\u2019ve been playing 4 songs from the newest record. We have so many songs, so many records.<\/em><\/p>\n AH: Yeah, isn\u2019t it 7 albums now?<\/strong> Josh: That\u2019s a good chunk.<\/em><\/p>\n AH: Because you\u2019ve been playing a few festivals, is it easier to put a setlist together?<\/strong> Josh: Harder and harder.<\/em><\/p>\n Paul Marc: The shorter the set gets, the more difficult it becomes to try and please everybody.<\/em><\/p>\n Josh: You always feel there are certain songs you have to play for the audience. Then there are certain songs you want to play, and finding a balance between those two is damn near impossible. <\/em><\/p>\n AH: For a festival like Sonisphere, is it easier to pick out the songs people are going to know more?<\/strong> AH: So Paul Marc, the recent album, ‘This Is How the Wind Shifts’<\/em>, is your first album with the band. How have you found being part of the band and contributing to the album?<\/strong> Josh: Yeah. We have a lot of experience together. Paul Marc toured with us for several years, we have known each other, respect each other a lot, so it was a natural move to bring him in, and the process of creating a record together was almost more natural than the things we done in previous years.<\/em><\/p>\n Paul Marc: I feel very comfortable and right at home. <\/em><\/p>\n AH: Do you all write as a band?<\/strong> Josh: We do it all. We dabble in every possible way.<\/em><\/p>\n Paul Marc: Whatever gets it done. <\/em><\/p>\n Josh: Even Paul, the drummer, wrote a song completely electronically like with synths and he sent it to me, and I made them all guitars (all laugh). I recorded it and sent it back to him and said to him, \u201cHow did this sound because that was impossible.\u201d It didn\u2019t get played on the record but it\u2019s a good song.<\/em><\/p>\n Paul Marc: Maybe it will come out someday.<\/em><\/p>\n AH: You\u2019ve now been part of Hopeless for a few years now?<\/strong> AH: How has it been part of that label because in recent years their roster has improved quite well.<\/strong> AH: New Found Glory, Taking Back Sunday\u2026<\/strong> AH: Bayside, of course.<\/strong> Josh: It\u2019s very diverse. <\/em><\/p>\n Paul Marc: They built up a nice roster, and you\u2019ve got to hand it to that. It\u2019s cool stuff.<\/em><\/p>\n Josh: Great label. Great Staff. <\/em><\/p>\n Paul Marc: We like them.<\/em><\/p>\n AH: After the European tour, you\u2019re heading back to Canada for a few dates and then work on a new album possibly?<\/strong> Josh: We are going to go home and work on some songs. New year, new album.<\/em><\/p>\n Paul Marc: Exciting stuff.<\/em><\/p>\n AH: Have you been playing around with any ideas?<\/strong> Josh: Mostly in the mind for now. Soon they will come out.<\/em><\/p>\n AH: Any timeframe?<\/strong> Paul Marc: We will start tracking it in a couple of months. <\/em><\/p>\n Josh: Spend the fall locked up in the studio. <\/em><\/p>\n Paul Marc: As soon as it starts to get cold, we will lock ourselves inside and work on some songs.<\/em><\/p>\n AH: Speaking of Canada, are you ice hockey fans at all?<\/strong> AH: What team do you support?<\/strong> AH: I\u2019m a (Philadelphia) Flyers so\u2026<\/strong> AH: Yeah of course like (Wayne) Simmonds.<\/strong> AH: Is there anything else you\u2019d like to say to finish off this interview?<\/strong> Josh: Yeah it\u2019s about time. We\u2019ve taken some time off. It\u2019s been long enough. We miss you guys. We want to come over.<\/em><\/p>\n AH: When was the last time you toured over here?<\/strong> AH: You also played in Dublin recently with We Came As Romans?<\/strong> Josh: We owe it to you guys to come back and make good. Do it for real. We forgive you, if you\u2019ll forgive us. Lets make it happen. Lets be friends again. <\/em><\/p>\n ‘This Is How the Wind Shifts’<\/em> by Silverstein<\/strong> is out now on Hopeless Records<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Silverstein<\/strong> links: Website<\/a>|Facebook<\/a>|Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n
Josh: I\u2019m Josh and I play guitar. <\/em><\/p>\n
Paul Marc: No we got here a few short hours ago. <\/em><\/p>\n
Paul Marc: Not long actually.<\/em><\/p>\n
Josh: Yeah. It\u2019s quite nice.<\/em><\/p>\n
Paul Marc: We\u2019ve come from Munster, Germany.<\/em><\/p>\n
Josh: You know better than I thought, its quite nice actually.<\/em><\/p>\n
Josh: Even though the accent is far different from ours here, it is much more familair.<\/em><\/p>\n
Josh: Sonisphere for the win!<\/em><\/p>\n
Josh: Nope this is our first Sonisphere.<\/em><\/p>\n
Paul Marc: I go into everything with no expectations at all. You can\u2019t be disappointed that way.<\/em><\/p>\n
Josh: I think in the sheer volume of people that it is in. We don\u2019t have festivals like you guys do.<\/em><\/p>\n
Josh: And this is a small one really compared to Glastonbury.<\/em><\/p>\n
Paul Marc: So that is unheard of from where we come from. I mean occasionally you\u2019ll get some crazy big event, but I don\u2019t think it will be quite as big as any of these. It\u2019s marvellous. It\u2019s nice to see people supporting live music. <\/em><\/p>\n
Paul Marc: We did a few festivals and a few club shows routed around that. Its cool to be able to do both.<\/em><\/p>\n
Paul Marc: The big one is way better.<\/em><\/p>\n
Paul Marc: Yeah we are very funny ourselves, so we are pretty much right at home in that situation.<\/em><\/p>\n
Josh: We try and mix it up.<\/em><\/p>\n
Paul Marc: Yeah, so playing 4 from the band new one is actually pretty good. Especially when you\u2019re only playing 12 songs.<\/em><\/p>\n
Paul Marc: No its harder. <\/em><\/p>\n
Paul Marc: Sometimes we don\u2019t want the ones they\u2019re going to know more. Sometimes we want to play the ones we want them to know. But with a short set like today, you don\u2019t have to build in peaks and valleys. You got to have bangers, play the 6 fastest, heaviest ones and go from there. So in that way, it is a bit easier. <\/em><\/p>\n
Paul Marc: It was a pleasure. It was fairly smooth. I was able to contribute to the writing a little bit which was nice, I was hoping they would let me do that, and they did. I think everyone respected me just enough.<\/em><\/p>\n
Paul Marc: Sometimes, sometimes.<\/em><\/p>\n
Josh: We\u2019ve done a couple of records with them.<\/em><\/p>\n
Josh: Yeah. I mean they did really well with a couple of other bands when they were a smaller label, which propelled them to the position they could be a little crazy with who they bring on board. They have definitely been bringing a lot of older bands.<\/em><\/p>\n
Josh: Bayside.<\/em><\/p>\n
Paul Marc: I say they have done a really good job of curating a label with artists that aren\u2019t just all the same.<\/em><\/p>\n
Paul Marc: Oh yeah. We\u2019ll say it right here.<\/em><\/p>\n
Paul Marc: It\u2019s all up here.<\/em><\/p>\n
Josh: I would say probably early in the new year.<\/em><\/p>\n
Paul Marc: I\u2019m huge hockey fan! <\/em><\/p>\n
Paul Marc: I support the Montreal Canadiens, and Shane, our singer, supports the Toronto Maple Leafs. Huge rivalry.<\/em><\/p>\n
Paul Marc: So you don\u2019t really matter to me (all laughs.) The Flyers are pretty good on the backs of a few very good Candians players.<\/em><\/p>\n
Paul Marc: (Claude) Giroux. No they\u2019re a fine team. I don\u2019t hate the Flyers but my Dad once when to Philadelphia in the 70\u2019s to see the Canadiens play the Flyers, and he was in the bathroom, wearing a Canadiens jersey, and the man next to him, turned and just pissed all over him. So I don\u2019t know if Philadelphia is that way, but I wouldn\u2019t go to a game after hearing that.<\/em><\/p>\n
Paul Marc: We\u2019re happy to be back in the UK. I hope we can come back a lot next year.<\/em><\/p>\n
Paul Marc: We did just one London show earlier this year.<\/em><\/p>\n
Paul Marc: Yeah we have finally done Ireland for the first time on this tour, and that was lovely.<\/em><\/p>\n