UN: Silverstein was started as a side project I read. When did you guys decide to make it your full time commitment? Was the material starting to turn out really good and you decided to commit, or were you guys just unsatisfied with your other bands at the time?

Neil: I guess that was exactly it. The material and our relationships with each other were fit so well together that Silverstein had to be our main focus.

UN: I was just curious to ask why you decided on the name you did. I read that it's an authors name but I am unfamilar with the name. I'm sure it's safe to assume you guys are big fans of his work.

Neil: When we were first writing songs, Shane didnt have any lyrics written yet. So what he did to sing along was he would pick up random books lying around in Josh's basement and sing from those. One day he picked up "Where the wild things are" by Shel Silverstein and sang from that. From that moment we realized and remembered how much we all liked Silverstein's work as kids, he just passed away recently and it just seemed fitting that we named the band after him.

UN: Are you guys happy with how When Broken is Easily Fixed turned out? I think it stands out like a sore thumb right now with a lot of bands playing it safe with a lot of the same forumula's and ideas. The album doesn't really sound like many other bands playing right now.

Neil: We are so pleased with the album. We worked very hard on it with help from Justin Koop our producer. Justin did such an amazing job because he actually cared about the music as if it were his own, most producers dont give a shit. I wouldnt say that we are trying to be different though, it just turned out that way.

UN: I have to say that I was really impressed with the artwork and layout of the booklet. Did you guys have the artist in mind before starting the layout? I think the artwork is very cool and is definitely an original piece of art to find on an album in your genre. It's very simple, opposed to the all over the place art you'd usually see.

Neil: We definately had Martin Whittfooth in mind. We've seen his work before and thought that it was amazing. We told him what kind of concept we wanted and he gave us a masterpiece. Sometimes its good to keep things simple but very effective visually.

UN: How are things working out with Victory so far? Did you have any offers from any other bigger labels before they came into the picture? They seem to be pushing your album quite a bit, which is good because it's a great album that needs to be heard.

Neil: Victory is being too good to us. Our album is getting out there and being sold because they do the best promotion that ive ever seen before. Big props go to Victory.

UN: It's seems like it's getting more and more important for even smaller bands to have videos these days. How was making the video from Giving Up? I haven't had the chance to see it yet, can you explain the concept a little?

Neil: Im not even sure what the concept is supposed to be myself! hahaha. But ya, making videos ain't really my thing.

UN: Being a Canadian band, do you find it hard to break in the States? I'm not sure if you guys have had the chance to play many shows in the US, but I'm sure a full US tour probably isn't far off. Any plans for a full Canadian tour? Do you guys get to play as often as you'd like?

Neil: It's not hard at all to break into the states if you have great distribution. We've been touring contantly and consistently in the US and Canada for the past 4 months. A full Canadian tour may not be too far off, but who knows what will happen, we dont have plans yet. We play so many shows its ridiculous.

UN: Do you think the Canadian scene really gets as much attention as it deserves? Sure, a few bands have made it pretty big, but there are so many great bands like Boys Night Out and alexisonfire, that you'd think you'd hear more about more of the bands. Have you guys been getting a lot of attention from the US? Anyone ever surprised that you guys are from Canada?

Neil: I think as Canadians we are beginning to get the attention we deserve but it's all coming in baby steps. Give us at least another year, just you wait. We've been getting most of our attention from the US, probably mainly because of our record label. I think we just need better distribution in Canada and probably get our video played more.

UN: One of the first things I was blown away by with When Broken Is Easily Fixed were the excellent lyrics. Does it take a lot of time to piece together lyrics? Do you find it helps to be in a certain mindset to write the lyrics for Silverstein? I would definitely think that you wouldn't be in a very chipper mood when writing some of them.

Neil: Well, most of the lyrics are based off of personal experiences. So of course you have to be in a certain mindset, if it wasn't, it would sound too fake. Music is all about emotion, straight from the heart and soul, you know?

UN: I know you guys released some stuff before you were signed to Victory. Is any of that stuff still available? Does it sound any different then your current album?

Neil: We have a 6 song EP still available "When the Shadows beam" that we released ourselves. That album was at a stage where we just found the right sound. You can tell by the different styles of songs on there.