Silver Jet Discuss "Pull Me Up ... Drag Me Down" & What They Learned From Touring With Cheap Trick!

Originally published in Teenage Kicks #2 (Fall 1997)

Interview by Devorah Ostrov

Silver Jet
(from the CD booklet)

Some people have called Silver Jet "the Cheap Trick of the '90s" (well, Jason from Dura Delinquent did). 

And it's not without reason. As evidenced by the dozen tracks on their Virgin Records debut Pull Me Up ... Drag Me Down, Silver Jet deliver tight, bright, hard pop tunes akin to the Trickster's initial efforts. At the same time, their catchy lyrics focus on girls, insecurity, girls, other people in bands, girls, loneliness, and mostly — girls!

It began in the '80s.

Lead singer/guitarist Luke Tierney was going to Santa Barbara High and fronting a glam/punk outfit called Lost Kittenz. He loved the New York Dolls and Jetboy. He was also known to venture down to Los Angeles whenever Guns N' Roses played.

Meanwhile, recent Chicago transplant, Jeff Gross, was also attending Santa Barbara High. And he was playing bass with the decidedly darker, female-fronted Under the Weather, which he describes as "kind of like Siouxie and Banshees meet Killing Joke."

My autographed copy of Pull Me Up ... Drag Me Down

The two future bandmates weren't yet acquainted. "I knew about Luke's band," says Jeff, "and he knew about mine. But we had never met."

Neither of their groups went anywhere. But during a series of break-ups and realignments, Luke and Jeff finally met up, and the nucleus of Silver Jet formed about four years ago. 

With the addition of a temporary second guitarist and a part-time drummer, they entered Rick Parker's studio to work on their first demo tape. And this is where Grant Conway came in. 

London-born Grant moved to California when his father came over to open Island Record's LA office. Needless to say, Grant grew up surrounded by rock 'n' roll. He can, for instance, nonchalantly toss out Nigel Olsson's name, not just as an influence but as a teacher: "He introduced me to drums at an early age, like two or three. He used to live with us. His drums were set up in the garage."

Grant was working as a recording engineer at Parker's studio when he met the members of Silver Jet — their demo was his first project. And getting him to join the group was easy. "Our drummer was also playing with Rick [Parker]," says Jeff. "So, our band wasn't his main band. We were interested in finding a steady drummer. Grant knew that, and he liked our music."

Luke Tierney
(from the CD booklet)

With their drummer issue sorted, the guys carried on as a four-piece. But the revolving door of second guitarists got tiresome.

"We kept trying out other guitar players," emphasizes Grant. "When we'd play a show, we'd borrow a guitar player, either someone we were trying out or a friend from another band." 

"It was holding us back," agrees Luke. "So, we decided to go with what we had."

Trimmed down to a dynamic threesome, Silver Jet spent the next three-and-a-half years gigging around Los Angeles. "Waves of interest would come and go," recalls Jeff.

At one point, they came close to signing a deal with E Pluribus Unum, the indie label co-founded by Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz. 

"Adam was coming to every one of our shows," notes Luke. "He was going out of his way. He was leaving rehearsals early to come and see us. He was bringing his friends to see us."

Although they decided not to go with Duritz, his interest motivated them to hire a manager. "Things took off from there," says Luke. "We got a bunch of offers, and Virgin seemed like the best one." (They claim never to have played an intentional showcase; supposedly, Virgin didn't even see the group live prior to signing them.)

Before they released Pull Me Up ... Drag Me Down, Silver Jet issued a limited edition, four-song vinyl EP. "A novelty thing," as Luke calls it, which featured the sardonic "Plastiqa": "Collagen plastic silicone/Feel so real/But got a mind of their own/Soon they'll be making girls/Out of styrofoam..."

"The Boys" - acrylic on canvas
painting by Luke Tierney
(from the CD booklet)

The EP also included the optimistic "Meant to Be" ("It was meant to be this way/I just wanna sing every day...") plus demo versions of David Bowie's "Star" and the terrific Tierney-penned "Kid" — which once contained the perfect line: "She probably dates a future KROQ star." 

"KROQ" was later changed to the generic "indie rock star" over concerns that should "Kid" become a single, every radio station would want to fill in their own call letters. A great gimmick! But "it wasn't the route we wanted to go," states Luke.

All the songs from the EP, save the Bowie cover, made the transition to Pull Me Up ... Drag Me Down. 

Co-produced by the band and Tim Palmer (best known for his work with alt-rock outfits like the Cure, Sponge, and the Mission, as well as Bowie's Tin Machine), the CD is well-crafted, bursting with energy and propelled by memorable hooks at every turn. The group wanted to work with Palmer because of personal and professional reasons. 

"I was really into the Tin Machine record," says Jeff. "I thought that was a really exciting turn for Bowie, and I thought the production was cool — real aggressive, y'know. Plus, Tim had been a friend of ours for a number of years. He came and checked out the band a bunch of times; he'd seen us grow over different eras. So, when it came time to make the record, we felt comfortable that he knew what we wanted to accomplish. We didn't want to stray too far from what we do live. We didn't want a lot of production. We just wanted to capture the band in its simplest form."

Silver Jet
(from the CD booklet)

The record company bio states that Palmer told them to choose four "focus words" during the recording sessions. They picked "big, dry, youthful, and fun." While the last two adjectives are self-explanatory (and very well represented), perhaps "big" and "dry" could use some clarification.

"Dry in a production sense," explains Jeff (laughing at my allusion to soggy vinyl). "Dry in the sense of not sounding too reverby — like Back in Black is big and dry. We wanted it to sound big, but we didn't want it to sound big by using a lot of reverb."

As Silver Jet's main songwriter, Luke's lyrics tend to focus on clever boy-meets or sometimes doesn't-meet-girl themes, like "That Call" ("He's calling her/He's not so sure/He tries to stall/He's making that call...") and the hapless hero of "Kid" ("Sitting there with my jaw on the floor/Like a kid at a high school dance/Maybe she'd dig me if I was Thurston Moore...") 

Dogstar and Silver Jet at the Fillmore
San Francisco - August 1, 1997

"Most of this record was written right at the end of, and the whole time after, the break-up of a really long relationship," allows Luke. "So everything was new, and that was sort of my inspiration lyrically."

Maybe that explains why the hesitant "Kid" is followed by the arrogant "Free to Roam" ("I don't need a woman I can call my own/I just need a girl that can take me home..."). However, Luke insists that "as far as the order of songs, we were trying to keep a theme going musically more so than lyrically."

There's also the mocking sarcasm of "Master Plan," which is about "people who can't ever stick to one band," and a three-minute bout of lonely introspection simply called "Pain" ("I wanna help you/But can't you see/I'm helpless too...").

"Mostly, anything that sounds really depressed is probably me writing in the first person about someone else," reflects Luke. '"Pain" is about an experience I've had more than once, of being asked for change and literally not having any. And then getting hassled about it. I wanna feel bad, but it's like, what can I do? I feel like saying, "'Just be glad you're not in as much debt as I am!'"

In promotion of the album, the band filmed a video for "Plastiqa" (featuring a "cryptic mannequin theme"), which is airing on regional video shows. But so far, MTV is ignoring it. For the most part, Silver Jet is playing live — often and everywhere.

There were special appearances with the Presidents of the United States of America and Dramarama (members of both groups are Silver Jet fans), not to mention last year's support slot on several dates with Cheap Trick.

Jeff Gross
(from the CD booklet)

"That was a dream come true," enthuses Luke. "Although I don't know how effective it was for us as far as getting new fans. I think Cheap Trick's fans liked us 'cause they knew we really liked Cheap Trick. But they have a following that's like... it's people who already have all the records they need, and most of them are Cheap Trick records!"

Did they pick up any handy tips from the old pros?

"I definitely learned some things here and there on that tour," nods Grant mysteriously.

"They taught me that you can't just mope when things aren't going perfectly," remarks Luke. "Those guys go out and just floor their audience every night. They're insane live! And they never stop. No griping. They just keep going."

"And we learned to shop as much as possible," interjects Jeff. "Tom Petersson hits every music store and buys a new bass; picks up a couple of suits..."

This year, you might have seen Silver Jet at one of the 48 (!) cross-country shows they played with Keanu Reeves' Dogstar. I caught up with them at the tail end of the tour — gig #46 at the Fillmore, with just Palo Alto and Los Angeles left to go. 

Grant Conway
(from the CD booklet)

Luke comments that the tour has gone "really well." He adds that "there's been a few shows where it hasn't been totally packed, but those have been the exception. A lot of the shows were sold out!"

Finally, I wonder, are they sick of all the Cheap Trick comparisons?

"No," smiles Luke. "I love Cheap Trick, so that's fine. I'm sick of comparisons in general, but there's really no way to describe a band on paper. You have to come up with something tangible, so comparisons are inevitable. But it's all right. That's one of the comparisons I like, let's put it that way."

* * *

L-R: Grant, Luke & Jeff
(Virgin Records publicity pic)

On a side note: Silver Jet handled most of the CD artwork themselves! Luke designed the cover, which Grant photographed. In addition, Grant and Jeff took several other photos used in the booklet, and the caricature of the group on the back cover is an acrylic on canvas painting by Luke titled "The Boys."