Interview with Tim Ubels from The Sylvia Platters
A look at the inspiration behind Youth Without Virtue; the motivation behind The Sylvia Platters
rayanne gwilliam, contributor
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing a member from an indie band called The Sylvia Platters. Some back story for those who aren’t familiar with The Sylvia Platters: they’re a Canadian-based band who records and produces their music in British Columbia. They’ve produced various music over the years, most recently releasing a five-song cassette called Youth Without Virtue – which is available on various streaming services like Apple Music and YouTube Music, to name a couple.
When discussing this release, I had asked Tim Ubels, the bands drummer, for more information on the inspiration and meaning of these songs and he said “Youth Without Virtue is a summery dream pop album that deals with the anxiety of growing up in an environment where conservative structures and leadership can constrict your own self-discovery.” A very relevant topic amongst young adults, one could argue, as adulthood could be described as figuring out who you are.
This sparked further curiosity regarding what they hoped people would get out of the music, to which Tim responded, “We wanted to release something that went beyond just a digital version, streaming version. We wanted something people could take home with them — it’s a little bit of nostalgia. Working with Renee Campbell on the artwork, we figured that a physical release would showcase that more. We could include liner notes, for example, which can get lost in a digital release.”
The thoughtfulness behind the band’s decisions became very apparent as the interview continued. This made the band’s collaborative skills and attentiveness to detail imminent, which made me intrigued about the band’s plans aside from touring. According to Tim the band is “looking to do video, either a music video or live recording using one of the songs off Youth Without Virtue to have ready for the fall, potentially. The next thing we’re looking forward to is our next batch of songs, a follow-up to Youth Without Virtue. We’ve already started writing a few tracks!”
Considering all the work involved, one comes to wonder how the band works together. Tim praises his bandmates regarding this, saying “the group has a good balance of working together. As much as Nick is the lead singer and the de facto leader, it’s democratic and everyone contributes to the songs. This band is not a career path for any of us, we all have our lives outside
