Introducing: Silver Liz

Brooklyn is a real hive of musical creativity these days, as you can tell from this blog and others. For us, Silver Liz’ brand of blissed-out electro/indie really stood out, so we asked Matt from the New York duo to tell us about gigging, writing songs, and recent single Until Lately.

First up, could you tell us a bit about Silver Liz?

We started making music together as Silver Liz during our first year living in Chicago back in 2016. We write and record mostly everything except drums, which we enlist our friends to play in the studio and in live settings. When we started, we were really into shoegaze at the time and the sound of our first album reflects that. Our musical output tends to reflect whatever kinds of music we’re into at the moment.

What inspires you to write?

To put it simply, we just want to make music that we ourselves want to hear and enjoy. We enjoy learning throughout the creative process, and we like to continually challenge ourselves. Even though more music is being released now than at any point in history, we feel like there are endless musical ideas we want to explore and express on our own. The fact that we have a small but growing fan base engaging with what we share also makes the whole experience fulfilling and worthwhile.

Who has had the most influence on your music?

I think it’s different for every release, but there are some artists who have distinct musical fingerprints that we’ve internalized deeply. Those influences come out more frequently. I’d guess those artists are Elliott Smith, My Bloody Valentine, Alvvays, Sonic Youth, and Beach House just to name a few.

How does the creative process within the duo setup?

For the most recent album we just finished, Carrie wrote some songs, I wrote some songs, and some songs are combinations of bits and pieces of songs we brought to each other to finish. We then decided which songs fit together as an album and worked on the recordings for those. Sometimes we are both in full agreement about how a song should sound before we even record it. Other times, I will surprise Carrie with an arrangement or mix idea I have. If she likes it, that’s great. If not, we have to try again. The only rule is we both have to fully be on board with how it turns out.

What has been the most memorable gig you’ve ever played or attended?

Probably still our first show ever as a band. We opened for Kero Kero Bonito at Subterranean in Chicago in 2016. It was like a month after we put out our first song Float, and we had to form a live band and write enough songs for a set in 3 weeks. There was so much energy, and it was so positive. It was an epic experience to have as a first show.

As far as memorable shows we’ve attended in recent memory go: The first show we saw after shows started happening again since COVID was Japanese Breakfast with Mannequin Pussy as the opener at Union Transfer in Philly. We were basically in tears because we were just so overjoyed to be experiencing live music again after such a strange year.

What was the last album or song you listened to?

The last album I listened to earlier today was Harmony in Ultraviolet by Tim Hecker. I am really into ambient stuff these days and have an experimental album with some ambient-adjacent stuff coming out soon hopefully.

If you could support anyone, who would it be and why?

Honestly, any larger indie acts who would want us to support them.

What other Brooklyn acts should we be checking out right now?

Big shoutout to y3s Recordings. Check out all their artists. They are a brand new experimental electronic label and every release they have put out so far has been genuinely interesting and of very high quality. Their visuals are fantastic, too!

What’s the inspiration behind the lyrics to Until Lately?

Carrie wrote the lyrics for Until Lately and she recently said in an interview that they’re about overcoming the insecurities you develop when you’re young and then carry into adulthood. I think that’s a persistent theme throughout the upcoming record.

What’s up next for Silver Liz?

Putting out more songs leading up to an album release sometime this year! And playing shows hopefully once omicron dies down!

You can stream more music from Silver Liz on Bandcamp, Soundcloud, Apple Music, and Spotify. Show the band some social media love on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to keep up with news about upcoming gigs and releases.