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Anna Interviews The Silver Spoons

1) Hallo Augustin, could you please introduce your band, tell us about what type of music you play, where you're from and give us a brief history of the formation of 'The Silver Spoons'?
Hi Anna, we consist of 3 siblings and a brother from another mother. We play a rather alternative rock, which started with Hal writing songs which I felt as a 15 year old were too good not be taken seriously. So I whipped my choir voice into shape, Hal began conducting on his guitar, we threw Sarah behind the drums, had our brother slapping that bass and then played our first gig within 3 months!

2) Hi Hal; could you tell our readers why you called yourselves 'The Silver Spoons,' does it have to do with the expression 'to be born with a silver spoon by any chance?
Bit of a difficult story to tell as no one quite remembers it the same way. From what I recall, Augustine came up the Silver Buckles (as in shoe buckle) and someone said the Silver Spoons, this being such a sardonic name (we were all born with a tin spoon), so we kept it. Originally we were called "Melton Constable" but no once could pronounce it or understand it (even we, when on stage, would forget it), so that was no good.

3) Sarah, in an immensely male dominated drumming world, have you met any prejudice as a female artist so far and who are your influences?
I don't know how many times I've heard "you're okay..for a girl". Though it annoyed me immensely at first I got used to the fact that men can't accept women being good at something they usually are good at themselves.

4) John, you're the only one who isn't a sibling of the other band members, what's your experience being part of the band and could you tell us about the shoot of your mental video 'tainted colours'?
My experience is nothing but awesome so far. I dont really mind being the "one who isn't a sibling". At least I don't fight with them that much hahah. And sadly I wasn't part of the band at the time of shooting the music clip for "Tainted Colours" so I can't tell much about it. Only that it really got me interested in joining the band.

5) Augustin, what inspires the lyrics to your songs and who writes them?
The majority of songs we play are written by Hal the rest by me. To write a song one must be walking the fine line between the conscious and subconscious mind, you get the same feeling when you take control in a dream. For me its like self therapy, if done correctly the outcome is from the heart, truthful and pure. That been said we get inspired by whatever happens to be on our minds at the time, which is mostly girls, ha.

6) Hal, you guys play a lot of live concerts, could you give is your favourite memory of a performance?
One of my favourite was Kuře v hodinkách (Prague) which was packed and the atmosphere was wicked. Although, we recently played Karlovy Vary and Brno and I have to say those were really good fun!

7) Sarah, what about a great memory from the tour?
One evening Augustine had mysteriously disappeared and Hal had gone to bed I was left with John and instead of being left to talk to John alone I was spoken to by all...that was my favorite moment.. Well partying with bands such as The Fellas is an insane experience, otherwise after getting off stage once we were confronted with a bunch of fans who wanted to take photos with us, autographs, and interviews. It was all quite overwhelming!

8) John, how much of what you play live is improvised?
Usually it is the few bass solos here and there and very rarely when a string goes off hahah.

9) Augustin, if you could collaborate with any musician (or band) dead or alive who would it be and why?
That's not an easy question to answer, but I guess Id have to say the Beatles in the late 60s. I love their approach to song writing and whacky lyrics.

10) Sarah, what do you think, in its essence is what ties your band together?
Of course most of the band is my family so I have a connection automatically in this way, but apart from that we all want to be a success musically and have some laughs as we try getting there. Whenever I have nothing, I always feel "oh well..I've still got the band".

11) Hal, do you guys have any rituals, before getting up on the stage?
My ritual is to worry, haha. Seriously though, we all eat a yogurt with our personally engraved silver spoon.

12) John, where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Still playing enjoying music and generally.. I just hope nothing brings me down till I reach that point of life. That's pretty much all I can see from here. I'll just wait for what the future has in store for me...

13) To all of you: What's your present state of mind?
Augustine: I'm generally very excited where the band is going. Sarah: Feel like we've moved a step further and it feels great John: I pretty much agree with Sarah. We have improved a lot in general and it can be felt with each gig we perform in. Hal: Psyched about what will come next!

Labels: alternative, Annaconda1984, Beatles, interview, Jefferson Airplane, psychedelic, Rock, The Beatles, The Doors, The Monkees, The Sliver Spoons

posted by KennyCrane at 10/05/2015 12:19:00 AM 0 Comments

Joe decides that the girls, plus their friend, should start a singing group to rival The Beatles. Kate thinks this is all an April Fools joke, come early. The show aired on March 24th 1964 and The Ladybugs had actually been on the real Ed Sullivan show the Sunday before this Tuesday night episode! Jeannine Riley, Pat Woodell and Linda Kaye Henning, daughter of creator Paul Henning, were joined by the sheriff's daughter, played by Sheila James who had played Zelda Gilroy on Dobie Gillis and was recently a California State Senator. The girls, who were playing teenagers but were all in their early 20s, were dressed in sweatshirt mini-dresses with Ladybug emblems on them. They wore tight semi-sheer black leggings or tights and black high heel shoes. They performed two songs. The first was an original called, I'll be your Ladybug if you'll be my Beatle. The second song is the one in the video below. The Ladybugs actually did a cover of the early Beatles hit song, I Saw Her Standing There! CBS must have had some pull and budget to be able to license a huge international hit to be covered on their show. Check out the fun, as the girls try to impress agent Col. Partridge and import a group of screaming boys for added excitement during their audition.

Additional Petticoat Junction trivia: Bea Benaderet, mother Kate Bradley in the series, also was the voice of Betty Rubble in the first 4 seasons of The Flintstones! Later in the series, the two older sisters were played by different actresses but creator Henning's daughter Linda played Betty Jo the entire time. She was cast in a romantic relationship with Mike Minor and later married him in real life and on the show. Mike was the son of My Three Sons producer, Don Fedderson! Paul Henning scored again with his third rural series, Green Acres. Shopkeeper Sam Drucker, played by Frank Cady, appeared in all three shows! Dennis Hopper and Adam West were both guest stars in season 1 of Petticoat Junction!

Labels: 1960s, 60s, Beatles, Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, Petticoat Junction, The Beatles, The Ladybugs

posted by KennyCrane at 8/01/2014 05:23:00 AM 0 Comments

OK, so as you already know, I like all kinds of music. Most of what I have on my playlist is fairly obscure and a little strange. That's the way I like it! Remember when I told you about my love for Ladytron and The Dandy Warhols, here? Well I found something new that's pretty cool, very trippy, psychedelic and similar to the Warhols.

Earlier this week I was watching David Letterman, and saw he had a band coming up with an interesting name - Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger! OL, that's sounds cool, right? So I wait until the end of the show and out comes these hippy trippy looking people. There's this attractive girl on Bass, and two dudes with long hair and black hats on guitar. Two drummers, one guy banging on something which I don't even know what it is! They look all Goth Hippy Shoe Gazers, and the song is too; cool! Soon three dancers come out, with Large animal masks covering their faces! Turns out, the song is named Animals. Luckily, Letterman uploaded the performance to YouTube, and here it is!

I wondered if there was an "Official Video" from the band for this song. I'm totally digging the guitars and the oooo-oooo aaah-aaah vocals, and that guy in the middle looks quite a lot like.... Time to research more. WOW, no wonder why the guy in the middle looks like..... And then I found the official video for Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, singing Animals. Far Out, MAN!!! Made to look like one of those cult films from the 60s where people gather in the woods and have crazy ceremonies, this video rocks if you're into that kind of thing, or weirdness in general! Now don't be watching this if full frontal nudity of the female body, in an artistic form, bothers you. Because nudity is in here. No sex, just nudity. Each of you can make up your mind as to whether this is ok or not. Check it out and decide!

Labels: 60s movie, 60s music, Beatles, cult, John Lennon, music video, naked girls, nudity, psychedelic, Sean Lennon, sex, Yoko

posted by KennyCrane at 5/30/2014 11:53:00 PM 0 Comments

This is part 20 in our continuing series, Cinema du jour, the movie of the day. In this episode we'll see another great singer/guitarist music video, watch and listen to an interesting lipsync, see a short self-parody, and witness the start of a huge chain of videos on wonderful quotes.

First, let's have a look at this week's YouTube Top 100 Weekly Chart. The first thing you'll notice is that this week's Featured Video is from KrisShred who we wrote about in the last Cinema du jour. Kris made this video as a response to another version of the same song. We'll be seeing that video in this post! Daxflame continues to climb the chart. This week, he is at Number 52, up 9 from last week. Also, making his debut at Number 85 is EclecticAsylumArt, the fabulous artist we mentioned in our last post.

And now, on with the show...


You've Got to Hide Your Love Away

Here is a very nice cover of a Beatles tune that was in the movie "Help!" It is from Rockstar122083, also known as Justina, a 23 year old singer/songwriter/guitarist. She has 11 videos posted so far and some are from live gigs that she has done. Watch and enjoy the beautiful performance, then stick around for the blooper reel at the end!


If you can't see the video above, watch it on YouTube.

I Think I'm Singing

I'd like to introduce you to a talented and entertaining woman named UndiscoveredJulie. Julie is an 18 year old college student who likes to act and do improv's. She has 30 videos on YouTube. Most are entertaining skits and a few are blogs in which Julie gives her views on things. You should subscribe to this smart and funny woman; I did! Here is a cute singing video with a surprise ending!


If you can't see the video above, watch it on YouTube.

A Message from the Creators

One of the coolest guys on YouTube is MysteryGuitarMan. Joe's videos are clever, funny and entertaining. This film is no different. I don't want to say much about it here because I don't want to give the plot away. You'll just have to see it for yourself. Watch and enjoy!


If you can't see the video above, watch it on YouTube.

Collective Wisdom- Be A Part of It!

U2bianSynic made a video on March 10 in which she asked YouTubers to find three quotes and make a video response with them. The quotes were to be any that the person found to be inspiring - about success, pushing the limits, facing fears, etc. Today, March 26, there are 31 excellent responses! I found this video by viewing Logana13's response video. The original video is "Embedding disabled by request", but you can follow this link to watch it. Then watch some of the great responses!


Be sure to read our last Cinema du jour, Number 19 - Singers with Guitars, featuring CreativeFisher, stealurface1976, KrisShred and PeriUrban.

Labels: Beatles, Daxflame., KrisShred, MysteryGuitarMan, Rockstar122083, U2bianSynic, UndiscoveredJulie

posted by KennyCrane at 3/26/2007 02:08:00 AM 1 Comments