SILAS SHORT: Crafting Sustainable Sounds
Silas Short is a dedicated musician. And I don’t mean that lightly. The 25-year-old R&B/neo-soul mogul is a Milwaukee native, now based in LA. He’s constantly honing his craft, and recently signed to Stones Throw Records—home to MF Doom, J Dilla, NxWorries, Knxwledge, Sudan Archives, Mild High Club, and more. As he develops his first album, Silas tells me he’s on a focused mission to construct sounds that will become certified classics in every sense of the word. He’s a steadfast student, closely studying which elements of his favorite music grant it longevity over generations. This curiosity guides his own creative process, one where repetition and tired motifs are off the table. Following his 2021 EP, Drawing, this next body of work leans into collaboration and promises to beam with Silas’ signature musicianship and production—fluid, soothing, thoughtful, and pristine. Oh, and he’s starting a new holiday, so stay tuned and mark your calendars.
Who is Silas Short?
Man, it is definitely me—it’s my given birth name. I’m from Milwaukee, but I’m based in LA. Before LA, I was living in Chicago for five and half years. I’m still trying to answer the question of, “Who am I?” At the end of the day, I really want the music to speak for itself and inspire people. I’m usually so sure of myself, but lately I’ve been in album mode, working on my first record. Right now, I’m trying to develop and innovate a new sound that also feels familiar. I want to be an artist that everybody listens to. I’ve never met anybody who said they didn’t like Stevie Wonder, nobody could tell you D’Angelo is whack, and everybody loves Erykah Badu. I want to be that type of artist.
Can you tell me about the broken hand incident and how it’s influenced your musical style since?
A few years ago, I spiral fractured my knuckle and thumb while delivering pizzas, and they basically told me I’d never play guitar again. They told me the break was so bad that I’d never have full range of motion in my thumb again. But, I decided to play through the pain. They gave me a splint, so I’d take it off and practice with my broken hand. You know in Kill Bill when she was moving her foot? It was that type of intense—I’d be crying so badly. I was 18 and living in a toxic roommate situation. I had rented out a house with my friends, and basically had to support the entire house because nobody wanted to work. I would work 60-70 hour weeks, and I’d just play guitar any chance I got because I wanted it so bad. The way I play is very jumpy and staccato, because it used to hurt to play. I’d try to play quickly and take shortcuts to play real smooth. It definitely has had an influence on the way I play guitar today.
You have two really beautifully crafted music videos out for “Rooms” and “Queen of Paisley.” Can you walk me through your process of creating a visual to accompany a track?
“Rooms” was a super simple idea we had. I initially wanted it to be a lot bigger and had written this whole treatment for it. But, due to budget constraints, I had to consolidate the idea. So, I was like, “Alright, let me just do a bit of drawing and do that Instagram thing that makes it look like I’m playing all the instruments at once.” I did most of the instrumentation on that song besides the piano, which my homie played. That video was super fun. We got kind of stuck on it for a bit, so, then I was like, “Yo, we should rip some flowers from the National Geographic magazine!” My homie, Ross Harris, directed the music video. We were trying to do a high-level concept without a huge budget.
Both the directors for “Rooms” and “Queen of Paisley” were child stars. The director for “Rooms” was the little kid in the 70’s movie Airplane—one of those OG comedy movies. The director for “Queen of Paisley,” Jackie, was a Nickelodeon kid star on that show Bella and the Bulldogs. Jackie and I collaborated on the treatment for the video after I told him I was obsessed with the Maxwell video for “Ascension.” I wanted something super sweet and light, a hopeless little love story, because that’s what “Queen of Paisley” is.
You’re in the works of your first album—how’s it going?
It’s going super well, I’m really loving the direction of the record so far. It takes a long time to get a record right and find that sound—you’ve got to demo a bunch of songs. Instead of doing everything myself, I’ve been working with a few dope musicians. I’m working with Luke Titus, who did a record with Cisco Swank and played drums on Noname’s record. He’s one of the best drummers in the world—bro is literally incredible. I’m rapping on one of the tracks. I’m taking it back a little bit to the Soulquarians era. There’s a huge Erykah influence, as well as influences from Bob Marley.
The problem is when you’ve been playing music for so long, you stop trying to limit yourself. But, some of the best art, in my opinion, is made with limitations. If you look at Picasso’s The Old Guitarist, there’s only three colors on that painting. So, the biggest challenge for me is creating art with a super original palette. It’s really interesting to work within those parameters. Some of our favorite albums have that palette, they’re not boring, and it’s just good music. I’ve been obsessed with creating different musical layers that could stand as hooks on their own, and are instantly recognizable. Like, if you were to sing one of the side melodies Marley incorporates into his songs, it’d be recognizable to somebody. I’d rather make a record that’s a slow burner than a quick burner. D’Angelo’s Voodoo was definitely an example of a slow burn record—when it first came out, nobody knew what to think about it. Now, it’s one of the most emulated sounds.
I’ve made three albums worth of music since my last EP, Drawing. The first iteration of the album was done in collaboration with the original co-producer on Drawing but it wasn’t in the right direction, so I had to scrap it. Then I had to make the record by myself, and I just felt like it wasn’t where it needed to be yet. I showed Wolf and everybody at Stones Throw, and they said, “It’s good, but it needs a little more.” So, I scrapped that project, and now I’m on the third version. Some songs have survived—I’ve taken the best songs from each iteration and incorporated them into this third version of the record. I’m definitely going for dark and sexy, especially since my last record was light—big Sade vibes on this one. I’m really trying to hone in on this next record, and I’m really excited about it.
Where would you like to see yourself one year from now?
I definitely want to be touring and to be at a level where people want a similar type of production to mine on their records. I also really want to start a music holiday where people give each other vinyls. Think about it—candy companies created Valentine’s Day. So, the holders of the music industries can create a music holiday! I think March would be a good time to do it—that lull where there’s no real commercial holiday. Or a summer holiday with a week-long festival? I’d rather buy some music and gift it to a homie and feel this musical holiday spirit, than have a traditional Christmas. I’ve always hated Christmas, I’m lowkey Scrooge. It always felt so fake, and I hated seeing my parents try to keep up with Christmas every year—making the decision between being able to buy food or gifts for us. Like, dude, why are we doing this? This music holiday is going to happen, I promise you.
What are you listening to, watching, or reading right now?
I’m a huge anime fan, so I’ve been rewatching the 1995 version of Berserk—the old school one is so good. It’s a story of friendship and betrayal that hits so deep. It’s literally so good, if you like anime. I watched Chainsaw Man recently which is also super good. I made a record inspo playlist that I’m always listening to: Black Star, Quasimoto, my homie William Alexander, Flying Lotus, NxWorries, DJ Harrison, one of my close homies who goes by semi-cycle, Cleo Sol, Sault, James Blake, Greentea Peng, Devin Morrison, Solange, Frank Ocean, Nick Hakim, Thundercat, Free Nationals, Athletic Progression. We gotta put in the brown sound, don’t mess with me!
Follow Silas Short: Instagram (@SILAS_SHORT)