We Chat To Silver Gore, The New Project From Ethan P Flynn + Ava Gore

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We chat to Silver Gore, the new project from Ethan P Flynn and Ava Gore, about their origins, futures and dog howls

‘Dogs In Heaven’ is the debut EP from Silver Gore, out today via Island Records. Made up of Ethan P Flynn and Ava Gore, the EP is filled with personality, from synthy dog howls to spacey drums.

While Ethan is an established name, with excellent solo albums and writing/production credits for some huge names (FKA Twigs, Nia Archives, David Byrne), this is the first time Ava has taken on lead vocals, having played in Flynn’s live band previously.

We got the chance to chat to the duo about their writing process, an album possibly being in the works, and a lot of words about synths. Read the full interview below:

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Can you tell us a little about how the collaboration started? 

A: We met in 2018, just at the pub with friends. I was a massive fan of Ethan at the time. 

E: We became friends over the years, through other people, then in 2021 I asked Ava to drum for me because I knew she was a drummer and I was starting a new live band for my own thing at the time. There was always talk of taking that live band and making it into its own band.  But over a few years, it ended up just being us two that we took forward.

We did the song ‘25 Metres’ as our first proper thing. We’d actually put that out before in 2023 and we took it down when we started doing this new stuff. 

A: When we were making the EP songs, we didn’t know that we were making an EP at the time. We were just writing together but we weren’t making a body of work because we hadn’t made Silver Gore yet or anything like that. We’d be rehearsing for Ethan, then afterwards, we’d play around a little bit. We did ‘All the Good Men’ as well in one of those rehearsals. I was drumming and singing at the same time.

Then after that we would be writing more purposefully, when we decided to make it an actual thing.

You said you released ‘25 Metres’ before, but you took it down. Did you then rework it or remix it, or was it just a case of it wasn’t the right time?

E: It was mixed again but it wasn’t drastically remixed or anything. We just wanted to start again. 

A: It sounds like the luxe version now. 

E: Yeah, it’s just a bit better mix. 

You mentioned that these tracks were recorded quite quickly, each track all in one go. What was it about that approach that felt right for this specific project? 

E: It’s because it wasn’t really a project at the time. We were just kind of doing it because it was something that we were doing. If there was a free day that we had, we would just make a song and just finish it. That’s basically what the EP is. We didn’t have any real backing or anything, so there wasn’t much point in putting too much time into it then. 

A: We were also trying to keep each song like a time capsule of emotion. Ethan, you find it quite hard to work on songs after we’ve done them. 

E: I think it’s the recording side. I could write a song for like two years and then record it, but when you’ve recorded something, it’s quite hard to go back in if it’s the exact same people, to finish it. You’ve got to bring in someone new to finish it, and we weren’t going to do that. So, what we got on the day is just what we used. 

A: In order to get these songs written and recorded all in one day, Ethan would work on it for 30 hours straight.  

E: Not 30, it was a long time though. 

A: It was like 24 hours at least. 

E: I slept at some point. 

A: I would fall asleep on the floor of the studio and Ethan would wake me up to do my backing vocals, then go back to sleep. 

Ethan, aside from your solo project, you’ve written for a lot of other artists as well and lots of collaborations behind the scenes. When you approach your songwriting, do you know who you’ll be working with or do you write a song and then see what feels right, to release under your own name or under a different project? 

E: I’ve never written anything on my own and given it to anyone else. A lot of the time, it’s people I meet, sometimes it’s just a session that appears to my publisher or my manager or label or something. And then you just go in the room with someone and write a song. I’ve never written anything on my own and given it to anyone.  

Ava, I understand you’ve worked with musicians and within bands, but this is the first time you’re  releasing a project as a lead vocalist.

A: Well the only person I’ve ever actually worked with is Ethan. At uni I was doing a lot of Brazilian style music, I did a lot of samba stuff and things like that on the drums. Apart from that, I did classical singing and a lot of opera and things like that when I was much younger. But apart from that, only some vocals on a couple of other projects. It’s been really amazing and I’m so lucky and honored to be working with Ethan. I’m a massive fan of his. 

E: I’m honoured to be working with you!

I’ve been listening to the EP and there’s a lot of pretty crazy synths on there. I was wondering whether there’d been any other artists that have influenced you with that instrument at all?

E: You know, it goes back to the beginning of electronic music. When I say electronic music, I mean music made with electronics. A lot of people I speak to have different opinions, because I think of any recorded music as electronic music. 

Even if it’s Mumford and Sons, they recorded it through cables and wires and it immediately got turned into voltage. So when I use a synth, I just treat it the same as any other instrument, but you just have a lot more control over the timbre and shit. Synths are very freeing in that way.

When I think of a recorded acoustic guitar or something, I think of it in the same way, because it’s just a signal. There’s a band called Syrinx. I don’t really  like Brian Eno anymore but he was good in the seventies, you know. 

On the track ‘Dogs in Heaven’, are the howls synths or are they vocals?

E: It’s just a synth patch. I’m going to say a lot of words about synths now. I patched the envelope to the pitch and then when you have a synced oscillator also tracked to the envelope, that sounds very vocal. When it’s tracked to the pitch, you can play it like an instrument, you press longer and it goes higher. So it’s like…

(Ethan makes howling noise)

A: When we do it live, I’m doing them as well and we have a synth player also. We have Olivia and we recreated the patch on her synth so she’s doing them live. If we’re feeling a little extra howly that day, we can add a few more in. If we’re vibing really especially hard, like at Green Man and End of the Road.

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The songs were all written by you guys and produced by Ethan, it’s quite an intimate process. Are you looking to keep it that way in the future or are you looking to bring more people into the creation of new music?

E: It’s a locked room, it’s closed. Maybe down the line. We’re working on an album. Our friend Ben mixed the EP and he’s doing some additional engineering and mixing on the album. He worked on some of my music as well. We don’t need more cooks. Maybe we’ll bring in some more engineers and stuff in the future if we want to go bigger. But with the EP, we’re just having fun really. 

A: If we didn’t want somebody else to join or help, we don’t have to, contractually. That’s really important because sometimes labels can say “we want a specific producer” and you kind of have to do it if they want you to. 

You played at Green Man and End of the Road this year. How has it been playing these songs to a bigger crowd? Has it recontextualised the way they feel in your mind at all after seeing the fans reaction to it?

E: Yeah, actually. We’re playing some new songs as well that aren’t finished. A big idea of doing these shows before we put anything out was just to feel what people respond to. 

A: There’s been a few times where I’ve thought something is the best song and we played it and I’ve been like, “why is nobody screaming and jumping around?” Sometimes it’s on the songs I’m not expecting them to and then I’m like, “I don’t even like that song very much.” We’re still improving the live show. 

E: It’s been really good though. We got some really good feedback. 

A: We really know what we want it to sound like live and we’re not really gonna settle for it not to be the best in our eyes and do the songs justice. It’s been better than I thought it could ever be, but it needs to be better than that. 

With these shows with Water From Your Eyes and in the future, what can we expect? Do you have a larger live band? Is it more experimental?

E: We play with a four-piece band. We’re just trying to really have a good time and have fun and make it fun for people. 

A: We’ve got something being made. 

E: Someone’s been invited and is going to be joining us on stage. 

A: If they turn up. 

You’ve piqued my interest now, I’m gonna have to come and have a look. 

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Listen to ‘Dogs In Heaven’ here:

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Catch Silver Gore at the following:

September 17th – Reeperbahn Festival, Hamburg
September 27th – YES (Basement), Manchester
October 23rd – Left of the Dial Festival, Rotterdam
November 5th – Pitchfork Festival, London
November 7th – Mutations Festival, Brighton
November 8th – Pitchfork Festival, Paris
November 15th – Live at Leeds Festival, Leeds
November 20th – Brussels, BE @ Rotonde – Botanique*
November 21st – Cologne, DE @ 674.FM*
November 24th – Hamburg, DE @ Aalhaus*
November 25th – Copenhagen, DM @ Ideal Bar (Vega)*
November 26th – Berlin, DE @ LARK*
November 28th – München, DE @ Import Export*
November 29th – Milan, IT @ Arci Bellezza*
November 30th – Düdingen, CH @ Bad Bonn Kilbi*
December 2nd – Paris, FR @ La Boule Noire*
December 3rd – Lyon, FR @ Le Sonic*

Water From Your Eyes support

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