Progressive melodic go getters THE SLYDE have their debut full-length album titled "Awakening", due out this summer, but in the mean time, have got plans to play some shows, release more videos, and even do a web series of live videos, among other things! Frontman vocalist/guitarist Nathan Da Silva, discusses the album, the band's past releases, and their future plans.
1. Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in The Slyde?
Nathan: My name is Nathan, and I play guitar and sing lead vocals in The Slyde. I am also the main songwriter/composer for the group. Nice to (virtually) meet you.
2. How long has the band been together and how did you come together?
Nathan: The band has been together since 2009; we formed from the death of my previous band Atma - a melodic death metal act. The rhythm section of Atma and I formed The Slyde, and we wanted to incorporate keyboards, so we recruited Sarah Westbrook. We wanted to write music that was a little more accessible than what Atma was doing, so we experimented with different musical directions for the first couple years and demos. Eventually the drummer quit due to musical and creative differences, and I asked my longtime friend Brendan (Dino) Soares to join. With Dino, we released our first EP "Feed The Machine", which was this fictional story about "The Machine" and "The Consciousness" and it was when we really started to focus on a theme in our lyric writing. That EP kind of brought it all together for us and established a sound for us. We've also released 2 other EPs: "New World Sympathy" (2012) and "Back Again" (2017). We've played over 170 shows, taking a strong DIY-approach, and have shared the stage with an interesting mix of bands, from Protest the Hero, Pain Of Salvation, Fuck The Facts; to Down With Webster, Dana Fuchs, and Timber Timbre.
3. Where did the idea for the name The Slyde get into the band process?
Nathan: We were actually just called "Slyde" until earlier this year. We chose Slyde simply because, it was easy to remember. But over the years there have been more and more artists popping up using the same name, and our fans were having difficulties finding us online and on streaming platforms, so we recently made the slight name change, and I believe that fixed the problem. In a way, "The Slyde" seems more fitting for the sociopolitical subject matter we often write about, and "The Slyde" sounds like a euphemism for where we're heading as a society and species.
4. "Awakening" will be the band's first full-length album debut, what is going through your thought process for it?
Nathan: "Awakening" is a long time coming for us. Being a band for almost a decade in this ever-changing music industry, we never needed to release a full length album. But this time we said, fuck it, let's do it. That's pretty much it. So I reworked a bunch of songs I had written years ago, along with some freshly newly written tunes, and took the 9 best songs, and now we have "Awakening". We also wanted to NOT do a concept album like we've done in the past, and wanted all the songs to stand on their own, but having a recurring theme.
5. Do you feel any stress or pressure coming off it, or are you just going with it, and nothing like that stuff affects a band like The Slyde?
Nathan: You always want your musical creations to be well received. There's so much music out there these days that is easily and readily available, so it really means something to us when people dig it.
6. What is the difference between this album and the last EP release?
Nathan: Funny you ask that - our last EP release is actually the last 4 tracks of "Awakening". We essentially added 6 new tracks to our 2017 EP "Back Again" to make 10 tracks, so it's kind of a follow up EP/pseudo full length record. Compared to the EP before "Back Again", which was 2012's "New World Sympathy", I would say that we're pretty much following suit with what we did with NWS, so I think our fans are going to enjoy it.
7. Three tracks have been made into singles and videos, can you disclose the matters behind those and why were they chosen as such?
Nathan: Our first single "Fading" was made into a lyric video (because that's what all the kiddies want these days). It's about aliens secretly watching us but not wanting to make contact with us because of our destructive nature. Then we released a video for 'Divide', which talks about the politics of fear and division being used in the West as of late. It's a pretty straight up, heavy rockin' tune. We just released a video for "Back Again", which is the only ballad on our new album. It was inspired by Carl Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot" concept, and has an astral theme to it.
8. Why should this album or its material of content be checked out by someone who may have never heard of your band beforehand?
Nathan: When we plays shows to those who've never seen us before, we often have people say that, even though they're not into [enter genre of music here], they really liked our band's music and the live show. We've always been a bit of a chameleon band, because we incorporate a lot of different influences and elements into this quirky prog rock/metal that we do. So, if you're into Dream Theater, Rush, Haken, Coheed and Cambria, and/or Megadeth, you should definitely check out the new album. If you're into prog rock or metal, or just open minded to new music, I think you will still find something to enjoy.
9. What are the plans for this year that will come forth from you guys?
Nathan: We are doing a string of shows in support of the new album in Ontario/Quebec, Canada. We are trying to beef up our online presence, so we will be releasing more music videos. We're working on doing a web series of live performance videos with an A/V crew and sound engineer. We're keeping our eyes out for festival slots and other higher profile gigs.
10. Do you have anything more you want to add or say?
Nathan: We love you all!
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