Silas Fermoy is comprised of Joshua Mash (vocals, keyboards, producer), Jordan Brower (bass), Sam Ellnera (guitar). The Brooklyn trio was the conception of solo singer/songwriter Joshua Mash. Mash was a hip-hop acoustic artist playing throughout New York City under the name of Shilo Andrews. It was the summer of 2010 and Mash set out to revamp his sound. Joshua by chance found a new band member in bassist Jordan Brower at the tequila bar where they both worked. The duo set to work in Mash’s home studio and six months later the guys had a 4-song demo. Realizing they wanted to round out their group, they set out for a third member.
Enter guitarist Sam Ellner and the band was complete.
This past April Silas Fermoy released their debut EP entitled Chapters which is available now on iTunes and their Bandcamp page. Drawing on influences such as Radiohead, Bob Marley, Arcade Fire, and Little Dragon their sound was full in effect. These Brooklynites fuse feel good indie rock, with swinging electro vibes. The inclusion of live instrumentation and narrative lyricism makes for an enticing story weaving one song into the next. They are a band that cannot be missed.
ESBM caught up with Joshua Mash to talk about the project they are currently working on, how they all came together, and what inspires them musically:
ESBM: How did you all come together?
Joshua Mash: Jordan and I (Josh) met at the bar we work at in the East Village. After a few weeks working together we eventually got to talking about music and the previous bands we were in. After we’d recorded our first demo and put it out on iTunes we got to searching for the rest of the band to play live shows with and eventually met Sam on Craigslist.
ESBM: What can fans expect of your new album coming out this fall?
Joshua Mash: I don’t necessarily know if we can say that there’s a new album on the way yet… right now we’re focusing on recording a song with a producer from The Cutting Room (Jason Cummings) and then a music video for that! The song is called “Annabelle’s Stairwell” about a young girl put in an insane asylum by her parents because she daydreams too much. The song follows her through her nocturnal life in the asylum and her discovery of a stairwell that leads to an abandoned floor in the building that no one else knows about. All of her visions seem to come to life in the rooms of this floor and she eventually loses herself completely in it. Although it sounds quite fictional it’s actually a metaphor for some of my most recent experiences with someone close to me. We’re really excited to be recording with a producer this time around. The Chapters EP was the first full band record for us so we opted for less production just so we weren’t pushed in a direction that we later regretted, but now we’ve had a little more time to grow as a band and the sound has evolved in a really natural way.
ESBM: What inspires you musically?
Joshua Mash: I’m mainly inspired by struggle i think. Not struggle as in pain but more like the roads we take to get anywhere in life. Those roads usually come in touch with Love, Pain, Laughter and I think there’s always some kind of ambitious struggle to get there. Sam (the guitarist) usually adds something that brings a whole new light to the songs and where I started the beginning of a story without being able to see the rest, suddenly there’s a clear beginning, middle and end.
ESBM: What is your writing process?
Joshua Mash: Our writing process is something else that’s evolved naturally. It used to be me writing most of the stuff out at home and bringing it to the band with a clear picture of what I wanted for everything but recently it’s been a mix of Sam sending me guitar riffs and me writing keyboard parts and lyrics to them, or me writing something on the piano at home, bringing it to the studio and we all throw out ideas about the direction we think it could go, Jam it out and sometimes it’s a completely different song from what it started out as.
ESBM: Earlier this year you played Maxwells, what are your thoughts on the place closing down?
Joshua Mash: Maxwells was a beautiful experience for us, especially being able to open for Hunter Hunted and catch their set! We were pretty upset to hear they were closing down. It had a great vibe to it and they treated us really nicely.
ESBM: Any last words?
Joshua Mash: Stay tuned for the new song “Anabelle’s Stairwell” and the video.
For more information check out their official website and Facebook page. Get Chapters now on iTunes.