Silver Owls Have Nothing to Prove

Nearly four decades after first making music together, Cork musicians John Haggis and Eddie Butt are still following their instincts. We caught up with Eddie from Silver Owls to talk about their new single, “Blinded by the Darkness,” long songs, lasting friendships, and making music on their own terms.

The two of you have been making music together for a long time. What's kept that creative partnership going all these years?

We also work on individual other projects, such as myself with Arctic Lights and Goth Star, and John with Gammy Origami and Speckled Doves. This gives us creative freedom, so when we get together to do something, there is a history and a connection, as we are very familiar with each other's style, with a mutual respect. A lot of it stems from the fact we share the same musical tastes.

How did “Blinded by the Darkness” first come together?

John contacted me and asked if I would play bass and some guitars on a song he wrote just for fun. When I finished my parts and heard the mix back, I said, “John, we have to release this.”

The song runs for more than six minutes. Did it always feel like it needed this much space?

Yes, we did discuss doing a radio edit, but why should bands always stick to the 3-minute formula? We knew it would go against us when sending it to radio stations and Spotify curators, but that's not why we do what we do. We make music for the love of it, and hopefully like-minded people will enjoy it. We don't care about commercial success, never did, or how many metrics we get. That means you are a prisoner to the system, and that's not why we make music.

After revisiting Emperor of Ice Cream, what made now feel like the right time to focus on Silver Owls?

After releasing the Emperor album and a few other Emperor new singles, we just wanted to start a small project making music for the enjoyment of creating something new. Before we released “Blinded by the Darkness,” we also released an EP under Silver Owls with FIFA Records on CD and cassette called Serpentine, which sold out. That can be found on our Bandcamp.

If you could go back to 1989 and play “Blinded by the Darkness” for your younger selves, what do you think they'd say?

I think we would be very happy with it. The record company, Sony, would probably have told us to shorten it. :-)

The world is on fire; which three albums do you try to save?

Disintegration by The Cure, Loveless by My Bloody Valentine, and Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space by Spiritualized.

“Blinded by the Darkness” is now available everywhere you get your music. Connect with Silver Owls here: Spotify | Bandcamp