written by Marko Jakob | 13.05.2022 |
Pix666: Hello and thanks for your time. How are you doing these days? How are the other guys of Silver Dust?
Neiros: it’s going very well, thank you! Everything is back on track for the band after this difficult period and we are really enjoying it. And this is also the case for Magma and Kurghan.
Lord Campbell: everything is going very well thank you. It’s a really great time for Silver Dust right now. I think everyone in the band is enjoying all the great things that are happening for us and all the amazing dates that are coming up.
Pix666: Please introduce your band to the readers in a few short sentences. What kind of music do you make?
Lord Campbell: the international press has often used the term “Burtonian rock” to describe Silver Dust, in reference to our universe and to Tim Burton, which is rather flattering. Finally, Silver Dust is a mix of several influences, first of all rock-metal obviously but also classical or electronic music. The visual is also a very important part of the band, both in our costumes and in the whole elaborate live show.
Pix666: Neiros, you joined Silver Dust in 2020. How did you get to know the guys and did you play in other bands before joining Silver Dust?
Neiros: before joining Silver Dust, I played in two thrash metal bands: Thrashers and Trauma. Before that, I met Lord Campbell about 15 years ago, through my parents, when I wanted to start playing electric guitar. He was my guitar teacher for many years but also very good friend during all this time. We always had this idea to make music together too, until the opportunity came by chance in early 2020.
I then got to know Magma in 2015 when he was looking for a guitarist for his project “Trauma”. We played 2 years together in this band before stopping, but we always stayed in touch afterwards. Finally, I knew Kurghan a little bit through Lord Campbell and had the opportunity to see him a few times with Silver Dust in the past. So I already knew the whole team before joining the band.
Pix666: Recently the new Silver Dust single ‚There’s A Place Where I Can Go‘ was released. How have the reactions been so far?
Neiros: I think a lot of people liked this song and its music video! In any case, the feedbacks are excellent and we are extremely happy.
Lord Campbell: The feedbacks were really amazing. It could have been a little “risky” to launch a ballad as a single but it’s something we really wanted to do because this track is sublime and sometimes you have to take risks. We see today that it was the right choice because the critics are very good and and a lot of people have been reached by this track.
Pix666: Now the release of your new album is approaching. What can fans expect on “Lullabies”? Do you have a release show or something similar planned?
Neiros: Fans will of course have the “craziness” of Silver Dust on this album. However, the songs are even more punchy, melodious and impactful. The album is very varied and the influences are wide, with even a song in French! To celebrate this release, we had the chance to play it for the first time on April 30th 2022 at the Case à Chocs in Neuchâtel.
Lord Campbell: This album is pure Silver Dust but with a maturity never reached before. I wanted to make choruses and melodies that are memorable at the first listening. Obviously, the Silver Dust “touch” is present and can be found in each track, but I think we have reached a new level with this album. The international press qualifies it as the best album of the band. But Silver Dust is also live and the whole band has been working on a new exclusive show for this album, which has been played for the first time on April 30th 2022 at the Case à Chocs in Neuchâtel.
Pix666: Your live shows are more than just music. Tell people what they would miss if they didn’t go to your concerts.
Neiros: for me Silver Dust has two sides: the music and the visual. One can’t go without the other. You can of course appreciate the album from a simple listening, but it will really take another dimension live. We now have new costumes, a new show and lots of energy. On top of all that, a magic mirror shows many characters and interacts with the musicians. It’s a unique experience.
Lord Campbell: the show is really a part of the whole Silver Dust universe. After having toured through Europe several times with Lordi, Moonspell or Rotting Christ, each time the audience is intrigued by our show. There are of course our costumes and our staging, but also a magic mirror, which also crossed Europe, in which I created scenarios, characters, places, etc. It comes to sublimate the music at each moment of the show. Then there is the energy of the four musicians who give their best all throughout the concert. I think it makes it a truly unique show.
Pix666: Apart from the release show, do you have any other concerts or a whole tour planned for 2022?
Lord Campbell: 2022 will be one of the most incredible year for Silver Dust. We will first have a few shows in Switzerland between April and May 2022 to present the new album before leaving for big festivals like the Rock Imperium Festival in Cartagena with Scorpions, Whitesnake, Avatar, Jinjer, etc., the Paleo Festival in Switzerland with Kiss or Dropkick Murphys, the Rock the Lakes Festival with Eisbrecher, Clawfinger, Coroner, etc. or the Riverside Festival with Helloween, Phil Campbell, Status Quo, etc. So it’s going to be an absolutely amazing summer for us. And of course, we are constantly in discussion to go on tour the following months, in Europe but also on other continents.
Neiros: I think we couldn’t have asked for a better summer than this one after these two difficult years. Sharing big festivals like Rock Imperium, Paleo, Rock the Lakes or Riverside with bands like Kiss, Scorpions, Coroner, etc. is like a dream. And the next goal is clearly to go on tour again soon and reach a maximum of people, in Europe and elsewhere.
Pix666: Let’s get back to the new songs. Was it actually problematic to finish this album during the pandemic? Were there any unexpected difficulties?
Lord Campbell: The songs were written after the 2nd tour with Lordi in 2018. So there were no composition difficulties. However, the recording of the album had to be shifted of a few months and its release was postponed of more than two years, so that all is done in the best possible conditions. Everything was obviously upset but if we keep a little positive, it left us the time to work details on the mix, on the visual or on the show.
Neiros: Of course, all the planning was upset compared to the release of the album. As a new member, if I take the positive side, I had time to work on the songs and play a lot of guitar.
Pix666: … and how do you create your songs and what are your lyrics about?
Lord Campbell: I don’t really have a particular method for composing. I would be more in a state of mind to compose during a period, with the constant fear of losing an idea. Fortunately, the dictaphone exists! But the idea can come anywhere, at any time. Once the ideas are found, I make a demo for each song that I then propose to the musicians and we discuss it. Everyone can bring their proposals to the band and everything will be discussed together. For the new songs, the lyrics are very varied. “Lullabies” is not a concept album like “House 21”, which had a continuous story.
Here, each track has its own story. We have for example the song “I’ll risk it”, which talk about the defense of the animal cause, an important theme for the band, “Animal Swing” in which I invented a life of gangster to my dog “Benji” who wants to save all the animals on earth, without ever killing anybody, “There’s a place where I can go” which is about a person who loses a loved one and who hesitates to kill himself/herself in order to join him/her but who choices to give up, “Eternity” which tells the story of a vampire lost in time or “The pact”, which seals a blood pact between a man and a tree.
Pix666: Your new video already has over 50,000 views – a quite impressive number. Do you, or anyone else in the band, look at these statistical numbers and do you know, for example, where most of the fans and listeners come from?
Neiros: I think we’re all concerned about these numbers today because they’re such an integral part of the music business. When you see such numbers, you can only be proud to be supported like this.
Lord Campbell: today the music world has changed a lot and you can’t get a band of any size going without looking at these numbers. So it’s very important to understand how it works and to be interested in it. Fortunately, there are people who help us, like our manager or our producer, because everything moves very fast nowadays. Regarding to the music video, it’s a really huge honor to know that so many people took the time to watch it. The great luck of Silver Dust is to be supported today all over Europe. We know that we have a lot of fans in Germany and Eastern Europe and in Switzerland of course.
Pix666: Do you have dreams and wishes for your future with your band?
Neiros: I think that my only wish is to keep going, with beautiful dates and this incredible atmosphere within the group.
Lord Campbell: To keep growing and to share these beautiful scenes, these successes and these beautiful moments with the group, with my close relations and each person involved in this project. We realize that we are already very lucky to have arrived where we are today and obviously we only dream of keep going on our way.
Pix666: What do you do when you’re not into music – do you have an interesting job or extraordinary hobbies? 😊
Neiros: Besides music, I work in the legal field as a lawyer, which has already surprised many people!
Lord Campbell: I personally live from music. It’s a choice I made many years ago after having been a professional ice hockey goalie since the age of 16! So I was rocked by field hockey for more than ten years before changing my path.
Pix666: Do you have any other news about Silver Dust, that you would like to share with the fans?
Neiros: Without going into details, I think we can guarantee that the best is yet to come and that many great dates will be announced in the coming months.
Lord Campbell: We see now that the group is only going up. After having crossed Switzerland then Europe, the goal will be also to leave Europe and to go on other continents. At last, we would obviously like to thank all the fans and all the people who support us every day, without whom nothing would be possible today.
Pix666: Thank you very much for the interesting answers – Good luck with the new album and stay healthy!
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photos © by Alexia Tantardini-Sutterlet, Stéphane Harnisch Photography and Silver Dust
