Silver Starling is a Canadianindie pop band fromMontreal,Quebec,Canada.
Silver Starling began as a project of Montreal-born singer-songwriter Marcus Paquin. Outside of creating his own music Marcus has been arecording engineer[1] having worked withTorngat,Arcade Fire andThe National.[2]
Paquin met drummer Liam O'Neill after seeing him perform at a free jazz show and the two soon began performing the songs together.Marika Anthony-Shaw joined the band, adding violin, viola and keyboards. Peter X was soon added on bass guitar and banjo. The then four-piece recorded their self-titled debut album and added Gabriel Lambert as an additional guitarist. The album was released onLast Gang Records in October 2009. It reached No. 115[3] on theEarshot Top 200 and No. 130 on the CMJ Top 200. It was distributed throughUniversal Music in Canada andFontana in USA.
Falling under the genre classification of pop/rock, their sound was described as "brilliantly conceived, skillfully executedart-pop",[4] "touchingly vulnerable yet heart-achingly optimist slowrock tinged with the gentleness offolk"[5] with "an eclectic-yet-carefully-plotted blend of elements of Blues, Country, Rock"[6]
Silver Starling played three large Canadian Music Festivals in 2009:Osheaga,[7]Hillside[8] and theToronto Virgin Fest.[9][10]
The band toured in September 2009 in Quebec and Ontario to promote their upcoming album. They played the 2009CMJ Music Marathon in New York,[11]M for Montreal in November 2009 andSXSW in March 2010.[citation needed]
On February 26, 2010, Silver Starling premiered their video for "Closer"[12] on Spinner Magazine[13] and were nominated in the Freshman Video category atmtvU online, alongsideJonsi fromSigur Ros.[14][citation needed]
The UK bandBand of Skulls added Silver Starling as an opener for their 2010 cross-Canada tour.[15] Drummer Liam O'neill left the band shortly before tour and was temporarily replaced by Mike Shulha.
The band announced its amicable dissolution on its Facebook page on April 28, 2015.[16]
Paquin subsequently produced albums forReuben and the Dark (un love),The Weather Station (Ignorance),Sarah Harmer (Are You Gone),Tim Baker (Forever Overhead),Stars (From Capelton Hill) andJulia Jacklin (Pre Pleasure) before releasing his debut solo albumOur Love in November 2022.[17]
