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Interview with The Silver Bars: ‘The Sunshine Lounge is about hikikomori, the Japanese expression for the lost generation’

Barrow, Cumbria-based indie band The Silver Bars brought out their latest single, The Sunshine Lounge, last week, an upbeat summery tune that belies its darker lyrics, with a new single, ‘Man in the Sky’, out in January.

The band comprises Dylan Grafton (vocals and rhythm guitar), Phil McArthur (keys/synth), Elliott Jones (bass), Kieran Hackett (lead guitar) and Matthew Grosvenor (drums). Their name, which comes from the name of a pill going around at the time Grafton was at uni, was suggested by a friend of his. They all went to the same secondary school in Barrow before going their own separate ways before reuniting in Barrow last year.

‘It’s about seizing the day’

‘The Sunshine Lounge’ is about hikikomori, the Japanese expression for the lost generation,’ Grafton said. (The term refers to the acute social withdrawal experienced by around 900,000 people who graduated from high school or college during and after the mid-90’s, when Japan’s economic bubble burst.) ‘I came up with the chords. I wrote it two-or-three years ago when I was stuck in my flat at uni, a bit depressed. The lyrics are about normal, angsty stuff. It’s about seizing the day, carpe diem and all that, and saying it’s better to just get out there. The vocal melody was completely different until a week before we recorded it!’

As the chorus goes: ‘Who’s it gonna be this time, who’s it gonna be this time, you’re tired of the freedom and you’re tired of the chaos, take another taxi ride, take another taxi ride. You pray for a job and you pray for a boring routine.’

Initially, The Silver Bars started out as a two-piece, releasing their debut single, ‘Whiskey Nose’, in late 2019. ‘It’s about a guy I knew,’ Grafton said. ‘He used to go to the pool hall and talk to old drunks after his girlfriend dumped him!’ They were due to play at Kendal Calling this year, before the pandemic hit.

Having realised the potential for the band, more members were added to complete the group. The newly-formed five-piece released their second single ‘Joni, I’m Mad, Too’ earlier this year, which was picked up by BBC Introducing. ‘When I was at university in Newcastle, the bar I liked closed. The title’s about me being angry at the bar closing in the same way that Joni Mitchell was angry about deforestation in her song ‘Big Yellow Taxi’,’ he laughed.

‘That song’s about panic attacks and trying to calm yourself when you’re stressing about everything’

Next month, they will release their single, ‘Man in the Sky’, which will also feature on next year’s EP, No Luxuries. ‘That song’s about panic attacks and trying to calm yourself when you’re stressing about everything,’ Grafton said.’ The upcoming EP will include ‘The Sunshine Lounge’ and two additional new tracks: ‘Damsel’ and “My World’.

Lockdown has take its toll, though: ‘The last time we got together to practice was in July,’ Grafton said. ‘It affects the writing as well. I can record on my laptop, though, and loop over the top.’

The band naturally evolved with time as members bonded over common influences such as The Strokes, Radiohead and Everything Everything. Grafton is also a fan of singer Baxtor Dury, the son of Ian Dury (of Blockheads fame). ‘I love Bob Dylan,’ he said. ‘He’s my favourite artist ever. And Arctic Monkeys, it’s good to hear a guy with a good regional accent coming through.’

If he could tour with anyone, he picks The Pogues: ‘I was reading about them the other day, he was mad in the 80’s, so it could be fun to tour with him but just for a couple of nights or I might not survive!’

(Photo from left to right: Kieran, Elliott, Dylan, Phil and Matt)



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