While recording for their upcoming release, Tilt-A-Whirl, The Silent Boys went about their latest single in a way vastly different from any song they’ve done before.

Since reforming in 1999, vocalist Wallace Dietz has been the sole singer-songwriter of the band. However, lead guitarist John Suchocki texted Dietz one day with a song attached.

“Listen to this one, Wallace,” the text said. “Maybe you can write lyrics, and we can record it on the new album.”

Dietz set the song aside and all but forgot about it – there were already too many songs on the album and he was in the midst of choosing which ones would make the final cut. Bassist Michael Click didn’t forget about it, however. He wrote lyrics and created a new version on his acoustic guitar, called “Last Time”, before showing it to Dietz. 

“And it was good, really good— good enough to be a featured song on the new Tilt-A-Whirl album,” Dietz said. “I have been joking with [Suchocki] and [Click] that I am going to lock them in a room together and not let them out until they write another pop gem. Or they could just kick me out of the band!”

When Click all but hijacked the song, it was written from a perspective of a “dead end” – a relationship that wasn’t going anywhere. There was one line that he really felt a connection to and made sure it stayed in the final cut.

This is the last time I say goodbye to you

“That line reminded me of a series of relationships that I could not get past the 30-day hump,” Click said. “No matter how many good times were accumulated, things always, frustratingly, seemed to stall and sputter.”

However, when Suchocki recorded and mixed it, he secretly reversed a key line, changing “Falling for you means falling from you again” to “Falling from you means falling for you again”. It created a sense of ambiguity, Dietz said, and left the meaning open to interpretation.

The band has been able to see an intense progression in the music industry from the mid-80s to today. Their drummer, John Morand, owner of Sound Of Music Studios and a full-time sound engineer since 1984, opines that all the big money has disappeared since the 80s when record labels were throwing their weight around.

“On the flip-side, there are no longer gatekeepers,” Morand said. “If you have the willingness to work and promote your band, you can be successful without having to go through someone who says ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to your music. Furthermore, digital distribution enables bands to efficiently and inexpensively share their videos and songs.”

From a musical standpoint, Dietz has noticed that today’s popular music generally relies more heavily on the bass and the backbeat with the vocals set atop. He don’t hear as many big rousing choruses that were everywhere in the 80s. Also missing, he said, are the catchy instrumental passages and a layer of melodic guitar or keyboard parts, underlying the vocals.

The Silent Boys being able to switch up their creation process goes to show that there is always something new to learn when making music. As they gear up for the release of Tilt-A-Whirl­, they are also ready to take on the constant changes of the industry around them.