Grand plans on horizon for Silver Coast

IT turns out that nine months is more than enough time to give birth to a band, pack in a few adventures, concoct some grand plans and still make music that sounds just the way Silver Coast wanted in their dreams.

Disillusion, regret and inner tensions aren’t even on the horizon when you meet three of the four.

In fact, they are so upbeat that Silver Skies might be just as appropriate a name for a group of guys so teeming with ideas.

But their gameplan seems within their grasp and what you notice first is that they seem to be having a ball.

Not that it’s all plain sailing.

Frontman Aaron Murray – who has been in bands before, including late Inverness band Thousand Stars – confessed: "It’s all good until I get writer’s block.

"I can pin it down to a date, it usually comes along every six months. But then after two or three weeks have passed, I go ‘Right boys! I’ve got an idea’. Like I did last night.

"Then I get a few songs at once and it’s about deciding which one to record."

They are hoping to record their first single soon, although the band recorded three tracks at Dave Sidley’s Shed when they first got together at the end of last year.

Aaron said: "Right back at the start, we did a little three-track recording – just something to put on Facebook – with Dave.

"But for the single we are looking to go into Central Studios down in Glasgow, probably in the next month. The song on the single is… we’ll keep it a secret just now."

Guitarist Andy Thomas said: "We want to do a video to go with it."

Though Aaron added: "We’ve been speaking to a few people about it ... and money!"

Turns out it might take quite a lot of money to get the perfect video Aaron’s got in mind. But there again, there’s a sense that the band has very clear ideas of what they want.

At the start of our interview, we joke that we might need two hours to talk about evrything.

So when you ask Aaron what sort of music he had had in mind for this band right back at the start, he laughed.

"This is where I’ll need the two hours!

"I suppose initially I wanted it to sound quite Feeder-esque, so it’s got elements of Feeder."

Maybe that shouldn’t be a surprise from a man who revealed the band’s name is inspired by a venue Feeder visited.

Then there’s the Feeder lyrics tattooed up both arms.

But Silver Coast’s music isn’t quite that easy to define.

Andy said: "When I came in I brought a love of Metallica and heavy metal, Guns n Roses, bands like that.

Aaron laughed: "Listen to his solos and you’ll have an idea.

"But there was one very cool review we had that said we sounded very much like Smashing Pumpkins.

"That’s really cool because their sound is right up our street. At times it’s heavy and grungey, but it has a softer side as well."

He grinned, thinking of their upcoming support slot with Fatherson: "And we’re really sounding like Fatherson!"

For every gig which provides a high – they sold 93 tickets for their Ironworks showcase, which they believe is a record – there are also downers, like the booze-first, music-second Glasgow venue they played followed by a nightmare in the city’s one-way system.

Andy laughed: "Poor Mike was in the back saying ‘Guys I can’t do this, I’m feeling claustrophobic!’."

Then there was the Inverness gig in the early days when the other band dropped out and Silver Coast just had half the material needed to fill the time and the crowd just wanted covers.

Aaron laughed: "Our drummer couldn’t play as he’d hurt his wrist, but we just played everything we knew – and made two songs up on the spot – the night ended up so good!"

For Silver Coast, even the negatives become a positive.

And though Aaron is talking about how the music evolves, it could also be the Silver Coast code.

Aaron said: "It all just flows naturally."

Silver Coast’s next gig is supporting Fatherson at the Ironworks on October 27 and other dates coming up include the Greenhouse, Dingwall, on December 14 (2-4pm). Find Silver Coast on Facebook.com/ silvercoastmusic and on Twitter @silvercoastuk and see them live on YouTube (silvercoastmusic)