Montreal will eat its young, but Montreal won’t let us down—at least not when it comes to music. The latest from Montreal is Silver Starling, an indie act whose lush, sweeping melodies sound like a “sailboat on a sunny day,” as the band itself put it. In anticipation of their debut Silver Starling and upcoming show at the Drake, we got ahold of lead singer Marcus Paquin before he went off to his “day job” of mastering the new Arcade Fire album.
The Varsity: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us! I’m sure you’re extremely busy, what with your first record about to come out.
Marcus Paquin: It’s a good kind of busy.
TV: So on September 22 your debut album officially drops, as they say. Are you excited for Silver Starling to fly from its nest?
MP: Haha, I like that. Definitely, we’re super excited for the record to come out.
TV: How’d you choose the name for the band and eponymous album?
MP: We started off with the name Mothers Fathers, but that was very similar to other bands out there. To avoid confusion, we decided to choose something else we all liked… The interesting thing about starlings, if you’ve ever seen them in flight, is that they fly in these huge formations—it’s beautiful. And they’re songbirds.
TV: Just like you guys!
MP: Haha, just like us.
TV: In what little has been written about your fledgling band thus far, much has been made of your connections with Arcade Fire. What’s it like working under such a long shadow?
MP: Shadow? I’d say it’s more like a ray of light. We’re happy to be friends with them. Obviously they’ve achieved a lot—I think I’ve read that once or twice. If we could achieve just a little of their success, we’ll be happy.
TV: In that vein, you helped master an Arcade Fire album, and you are currently working behind the scenes engineering the upcoming one. What made you want to take the leap to forming your own band?
MP: I’ve been playing in bands as long as I can remember. The recording stuff was to broaden the palette; I wanted to explore the many facets of making music. It’s like a painter who mixes his own colours—there’s so much depth you can achieve.
TV: What got you into music in the first place? What was your major influence?
MP: Bits and pieces of countless things, but it’s your earliest influences that tend to be the most iMPortant. I listened to the Beatles’ Abbey Road endlessly as a child and I still have the record my mother lent me. I’ve worn the grooves out on that one.
TV: You’ve played a few shows already. How did they go?
MP: Yeah, we’ve played Hillside, Osheaga, shows around Montreal…We’re finding our voice as a live band. We’re learning to project and make a show of it, to blend images and sound.
TV: Images and sound? Is your live act a multimedia experience?
MP: When you check out the record, there’s a lot of imagery associated with what we do. We’re trying to evoke in people the emotions we felt while recording it.
TV: I’ve heard the album’s sound and emotional resonance was largely informed by your close friend’s battle with cancer and untimely death.
MP: The songs are directly and indirectly informed by it. It gives you a different perspective when one of your best friends is sick—it gives you an appreciation of resilience and generosity; an appreciation of being alive…There is a certain beauty in sad things. Will it break you or will it make you stronger?
TV: Was the process of recording this album cathartic?
MP: I think it’s good to talk about your emotions. I did a lot of talking and a lot of song-writing.
TV: You’re playing the Drake soon for the album release party. What should we expect?
MP: People have been really enthusiastic so far. We’re pretty under the radar, but people have been singing along, buying T-shirts, asking for the album. It’s been great…New fans can expect a deep show. We’re excited to play music and hope to put on a beautiful show.
Silver Starling play at the Drake Hotel with Final Flash on September 25. Tickets are $12.50 at Rotate This and Soundscapes.
