Castlestone Radio - Playing the Best of Everything 24/7

Mr. Castlestone, Your Favorite Wampire

INTERVIEW
with

How long have you been in the music industry?

Just to get started, i'm Silver Steff, singer/manager of SILVER DIRT,so, i'm in it for about 20 something years, a bit like the other guys.

What inspired you to create your type of music?

Mostly all those records we listened to when we were younger, but actual bands too.

Who are your musical influences?

Aerosmith, KISS,Led Zeppelin,The Rolling Stones, Mötley Crüe, Ramones, AC/DC, The Who, plus bands we discover everyday.

What type of practice schedule do you have?

3 times a week, 2 hours each, we think it's the minimum, if you want to work seriously.

What is your favorite gift ever given to you by a fan?

A funny Rock'n'Roll Rose Piggy with our logo on it, very nice!!

What are your plans tours and festivals wise this year?

For the last 4 month of this year, we'll play mostly in Switzerland, but we have a Tour in Italy next November.

Are you planning on expanding your tours to the US this year?

Not this year, but we have been asked to play in a Festival in Michigan in Summer 2009, so the idea is to build a tour in the area. Then, we'll see, we're opened to any serious touring propositions in the US, we're working with Dead By Dawn Promo in L.A, and little by little we get noticed here and there, they do a pretty good job, and Erin is a cool person to work with.

How valuable do you feel internet radio will be to the future of new artists?

Very valuable, you know, it's not about hit singles on commercial radios anymore , if it ever was with our music style, but about exposure, giving the music to potential fans, and i know that people on internet Rock radios, are music fans, like those creating a Webzine, ok, there's some crooks that does it for the free albums and items, but they dont last very long.

It's like with all this free dowloading thing, of course it hurts small and upcoming bands, and it's unfair to steal, but, at the end of the day,it's about exposure, so if it takes to give a bit of free music to people to get noticed, than, so be it, not giving a whole album, but half of it, like we do on our MySpace page, but in our case, we own the record, then if they like it, they'll come to see you live, and might buy a record and a T-shirt while there, it's like back to the 70's, you gotta hit the road to reach you fans, nobody is impressed anymore by records advertising in magazines, even on the internet, we're overflown by publicity, so no one pays attention anymore.

What is the craziest thing someone has done to meet you?

Nothing really crazy at the moment, you know we play mainly in Switzerland, and craziness is not very Swiss, ha ha ha!!!

Do you feel a Street Team is vital to the expansion of new artist fan base?

Yeah, absolutely, having direct contact with people, having people you can count on.

We also have a brand new fan page on MySpace opened by two fans/friends, our first, and it's great to see people that are caring so much about you, that are giving their time for you, those are important persons in a band's carrer.

What would you consider your fan base to be?

Rock'n'Roll fans, from, i don't know, 12 to 60 year's old people, we have enough variety in our songs to please a large display of people in this area, it's not like after the first 3 songs you know how the rest is gonna sound like album, like too many bands, and it's a pity, and it's boring to the listeners.

We like to do an album that we would enjoy to listen.

How is your album doing so far?

Our first album ''Sonic Boom'' released in 2006 is going well for a band without a label and promo that goes with it, we sell it in Switzerland, USA and France, but with the internet, we've reached other countries too, we also released live DVD in november 2007, all the details to where to purchase them are on our official website www.silverdirt.com

Do you notice a difference in the audiences based on the countries?

I can hardly tell yet, but after our Italian tour, i'll have more cue on that!!

What's your favorite country to tour in?

The ones we haven't been to yet!

Have you listened to Castlestone Radio? What do you think about its variety?

The fact is that i'm listening to it right now while filling up this interview, no bullshit, HIM is on, then a band i don't know, but the guy sings very off key ha ha ha!!! I see you like the Scandinavian bands, i'm into The Hellacopters and Backyard Babies, great bands. So to answer your question, yes, Journey, Neil Diamonds, 69Eyes, that's what i call variety!

Could you imagine yourself doing anything other than what your doing now career wise?
If so, what would that be?

Not really, i love what i do, but i also love car racing, i did a little, and writing, so i might be a writer, but i'll need music anyway....

What inspired themes of your music?

As a lyricist, the music, most precisely the notes played inspires me a subject, as for Lyo, he's constantly playing his guitar, so he always have new ideas.

What process do you use to create a new song?

Mostly Lyo comes in with some riffs and ideas , and everybody puts their two cents here and there, i do my own vocal lines, but any ideas are always welcomed.But anybody can come with ideas, Gregg has brought in some cool riffs as Seb did too.

Who would you like to tour with?

I'll be not very original, but as a lifelong KISS and Mötley Crüe fan, i'll say those two, also The Rolling Stones and AC/DC among others, you see, we're very realistic, ha ha ha!!

But, any band that we get along well with and share the same Rock'n'Roll attitude is alright.

What would be your dream tour?
A Monster of Rock travelling festival billing Silver Dirt, Mötley Crüe, KISS, AC/DC and Led Zeppelin, with Bonzo, of course! The big fight would be about who's headlining!

Like the saying goes'' be careful what you wish for''!

Thanks a lot for this interview, check our websites and pages www.silverdirt.com and

www.myspace.com/silverdirt, you can also sign up to our newsletter to be posted about what's going on for Silver Dirt!

See ya!!