KBPS Interview: The SLVR Tongues

The Slvr Tongues

Hannah Huntley, James Lynch and Peter Erik make up Los Angeles country band The SLVR Tongues who have recently released their debut single ‘Johnny Cash’. Speaking to the three members of the band via a call that spanned the globe, we got to find out more about the song, the band and their future plans.

“Things are going really well with our first single and first video release,” Hannah told us. “We’re excited about that. We’re getting new fans and a lot of people are being really supportive and sharing our song in ways we never expected.”

“I think it’s doing better than we expected,” Peter told us. “But we’re really excited about how it will continue to grow over the next few months and we’re grateful to everybody who has viewed and commented on it.”

Having looked around their social media we were intrigued by a picture they shared recently of a cake with a Pikachu on it. Naturally we had to find out more and James told us. “I was having a party that friends had thrown for me and that cake just came out of nowhere to surprise me!”

Describing their single, Peter told us how the single was designed to be country and rocky but not following the stereotypical lyrics. “Not singing about cornfields and all of that. We tried to make it contemporary and more legitimate, and having lyrics that would matter more and have a bit of swing to them.

“We’re both influenced by Nashville and LA,” he added, as Hannah confirmed that ‘Johnny Cash’ was only the second song they wrote together. “We got together and started writing a couple [of songs] and that track just poured out of us. It’s pretty catchy so we went with it!”

When it came to the band forming, Hannah and James, who are both from Los Angeles, met at a bar on the Sunset strip called ‘Saddle Ranch’. “We were both drunk actually. Hannah was singing karaoke and I heard she had a good voice, and we wanted to jam beforehand, but I wasn’t sold on working with people, but after that we started writing.

“Peter is the international man of travel and excess and sexual mystery! He was visiting Los Angeles as he was studying at the musician’s institute at the time in Hollywood. He came into the bar too and that’s how we met.

“We realised we needed a lead guitar and that’s where Peter came in, and that’s how the SLVR Tongues formed.”

Alongside the song there is also a video out for ‘Johnny Cash’, set in an American Diner initially and moving on from there. But what was it like to make? “It was pretty hot to say the least. I think we all agree now never to record a music video in the desert in July. That was a very bad decision from our side! It’s a pretty nice experience wearing tight leather pants and all that at 46-degree-Celsius!

“Aside from shooting those hot scenes it was so fun! It was great fun to work with the professional team and then seeing the vision coming together; that was pretty cool to see as it worked out. It was a lot of fun!”

Though the band confessed they couldn’t tell me much about future plans due to secrecy (“We can’t tell you too much as I’d have to kill you” promised Hannah) but they revealed they’d been in the studio. “We’ve recorded a couple new songs and we are so excited about them. We’ve recorded them in the studio here and we’re still working on the release plan, but we’ll definitely be releasing something in the new year.”

Time in the studio has been great for the band. “Our producer Jordan is from Los Angeles, and he flew out to Nashville. Even though we’re all over the world at the moment we’re all Nashville based and he’s been out for the last month or so.

“We have turned the entire second floor of our house into a recording studio and we’ve been knocking out these tracks and working on them every day.”

Having access to the studio has been helpful to the band. “It’s been more efficient as we just have to walk upstairs to do the next thing!”

The recording has been quite transatlantic, with Hannah based in Nashville and James in LA but Peter in Stockholm. “We managed to record our parts while we were there; now it’s just time for Hannah to record her own parts. Having a studio in our home means we can work as effectively as we want.”

I was keen to know if the different backgrounds of the band members helped influence their sound. “I think that’s actually the coolest part of our music,” Hannah answered. “We all have personally different tastes in what we listen to and with having different backgrounds and entirely different personalities, when we find that sweet-spot and combine them all you come out with something really cool, and that’s what I feel we were lucky enough to stumble upon.

“Being in Nashville hasn’t changed our sound at all; it’s just a really cool place and we have a great band house. It doesn’t matter where we are for the sound; the sound is the three of us.”

The SLVR Tongues have some local gigs coming up in the Nashville area and then hopefully more. “There will be tours, I promise you. But everything’s still very preliminary as far as putting on a really great show and great production, and it’s still in the works to make sure that happens, but it’s next on the agenda for us.”

Returning to their single I asked them about whether they were fans of Johnny Cash and if they got to see him perform before his death over a decade ago. Though seeing him was a negative response there was a love for the artist. “Johnny Cash will always be an image for a lot of people. He’ll always be that bad boy. He’ll always be an influence for anything to do with attitude and fashion, and a lot of people can relate to it,” Peter told us.

We ended the interview with asking them about big ambitions for the future.

“First of all it’s establishing ourselves and making the music that we think is the best in the world, and make the world understand that! And then going out on tour, and releasing our album,” Peter told us.

“I think it’ll be good to establish our presence more so we don’t have to wait in line at bars anymore!” quipped Hannah. “And have to tell people what we like and what we drink. That would really smooth out a lot of transitions in my life!

“But seriously we’re super excited to share our music with people and hopefully they like it as much as we do!”

James wanted to get the band on the road. “I really love performing and I really think we could put on a dynamite show with the songs we’re currently writing. I think ‘Johnny Cash’ is a really great live song that they can get invested in and sing-a-long to. Hopefully we can be touring with some really great acts in the very near future. That’s my biggest hope!”

Find out more about the SLVR Tongues on Facebook.