Josh Epstein from the Silent Years won’t stop apologizing to me over the phone. An interview was set up on Friday, but the guy had to play a show and needed to practice. So, he said that he’d call me back Saturday morning. Sure. I had my doubts. But come Saturday morning he made true on his promise. What type of musician isn’t hung-over after a show?
“It was a good show,” Epstein humbly murmurs, “where the opening band had a weird doo-hicky going and I just wanted to be a part of it.”
Epstein ended up playing a solo gig the night before, just him and his guitar at the Phonotropic Festival in Detroit.
“There was a bit of cramming before. I had to write like three songs before the show.”
Josh confessed that he hadn’t played a solo gig in awhile, hence the last minute cram session. But anyone who went to high school knows where he’s coming from. He’s only human, right?
The Silent Years garnered all types of praise from the critics in 2007 as a breakout band and a gem from the Detroit music scene. Fast forward to 2008, where singer Josh Epstein is in a new band. Well, the same band, but with a new lineup. After seeing some success the band went through a lineup change and everyone but Epstein left.
As the first Silent Years were going through changes, another local Detroit band, the Rescuers, were going through a similar breakup. Epstein made a connection with the ex-Rescuers, who came to the... er, help and the second age of the Silent Years was born.
The result of the new lineup is The Globe – a bevy of Jimmy Eat World power ballads with a quick kick of power pop. And though some of the album was written over the course of the years with linger feelings of the original TSY, the new lineup adds a new expression that quickly becomes its own idea.
But what does Josh Epstein, an all around nice guy who doesn’t have hangovers, do on his free time?
“Well, I don’t have a million dollars to blow,” Epstein said referring to a story of a man who bought The Beatles’ drumhead from the cover of Sgt. Peppers for a small fortune. “But that’s the album to throw all your money on. I wonder if anyone else will see it?”
What can be seen is the enthusiasm that seems to circle the band as all eyes are on them. They even brave the middle of their tour which took them into the heart of the Warped Tour in Detroit.
“I love to play for young people, because of their energy,” said Epstein.
Right after this interview the Silent Years were signed to the Defend Music label. That’s another step close to a million.
