Small town dreams became big time achievements for local band Silver Age.
Four Temperance, Michigan teens turned their wildest dreams into reality when they became the Ernie Ball PLAY Warped Tour winners this year. Silver Age beat out 17,000 bands for the grand prize of playing on the main stage and getting to work with renowned producer John Feldmann.
Bassist Caleb Pilaske gave some insight to the ins and outs of the band and all of their accomplishments.
How did you guys get started as a band?
Actually I [bassist Caleb Pilaske] joined the band a little bit later, the original start of the band was Evan (Villarreal) and Drew (Yates), they started the band in middle school under a different name. Then it kind of moved into high school and they had a name change and a lineup change and we kinda tagged along, me and Jared (Spindler) our drummer.
Where do you guys find your inspiration for writing music?
A lot of times it just comes from other bands that we listen to. Sometimes rather than just being inspired by those bands to create music like them, it inspires us to try to experiment and do different things that people haven’t tried before and that kind of inspires us to do the same. By doing the same I mean doing different things.
So how was playing Warped Tour?
It was awesome, honestly. It was probably one of the coolest shows we’ve ever played. It was really cool because we’ve all been going to Warped Tour for years now, and these guys are our idols you know, these guys are making it, playing up on that stage— so to be up there was kind of surreal.
So how does it feel working with someone who works with those big name bands like All Time Low and Blink 182?
It’s really, really cool. We’re super stoked to have him pick apart our songwriting process and kind of reinvent the wheel when it comes to our songwriting. Not to mention, his studio is insane, so it’ll be cool to work with someone who has the resources.
I was going to ask what was your most nerve-wracking performance?
Warped Tour’s one’s definitely up there for sure. I felt almost sick to my stomach the whole time, I was drinking a bunch of water and everything, it was pretty nerve wracking. Once you get up there though it all just kinda melts away and you don’t think about it.
Do you guys have a favorite place to perform in Toledo?
In Toledo our favorite place is probably Frankie’s Inner City on Main Street just because that’s kind of our hometown venue. When we have a Toledo show that’s usually where it is.
There’s a lot of up and coming bands in Toledo. Do you guys have any
favorite local Toledo bands?
Yeah, just to give some shoutouts to Toledo bands, we’re really good friends with a band called Into the Wild, they’re super talented we love those guys. Tranquility is another one, Woodpecker’s Pass, Equipment, CryFace is incredible too. There’s too many, there’s a lot of bands in Toledo that are just killing it.
So if you guys could collaborate with any band ever, who do you think it would be?
I know Evan would probably say The Beatles, or just Paul McCartney. So I would say them or Pink Floyd. Kind of old school, like the pioneers of alternative rock and what rock music is today.
Keep up with Silver Age on their Facebook,
facebook.com/silveragemi.
