Young Gun Silver Fox INTERVIEW
Silver Machine
Taking cues from Steely Dan but bringing their own unique vibe to the 70s AOR genre, Young Gun Silver Fox have grown a devoted fanbase. We join guitarist and co-founder Shawn Lee to see how rare, oddball and collectible guitars have powered their sound
Words Jamie Dickson
Photography Olly Curtis
Tucked away in a studio complex in London, you’ll find an enchanted grotto of weird and wonderful guitars, musical curios and vintage synths. Duck under Brazilian percussion chimes, oddball guitars and tiger masks and you’ll find the genial owner of this cave of tone – Shawn Lee, the guitarist and co-songwriter behind Young Gun Silver Fox. The band, who recently had a breakthrough performance at the Royal Albert Hall, have revived the yacht-rock genre that Steely Dan and Michael McDonald polished to such a high art in the 70s, bringing their own fresh, contemporary energy to it and attracting a rapidly growing international fanbase to their beautifully crafted grooves and harmony-rich songs of heartbreak and hedonism.
Intrigued, we journeyed down to catch up with Shawn, who also collaborated with Little Barrie for their excellent Ultrasonic Grand Prix album, Instafuzz, which sounds like the soundtrack to a lost Italian heist movie from the 70s. Shawn’s very happy to keep things varied, he says – though it’s clear that Young Gun Silver Fox have resonated with plenty of listeners starved of classy chord changes and lush vocal harmonies.
As the excellent new album entitled Pleasure is out now, we sat down with Shawn to talk recording, influences and head-turning Japanese guitars…
You’re five albums in now with Young Gun Silver Fox, but it seems like things have reached critical mass recently, with sold-out US tours and a show at the Royal Albert Hall. What’s your perception of the band’s path to success?
“I think it’s a very slow, gradual, organic thing with Young Gun Silver Fox. I think the Royal Albert Hall was a moment. I mean, I had never played there – and I had always wanted to play there, so I felt the gravity of it.
When I was on stage, it felt like, ‘Wow, this is amazing,’ and a couple times I got a bit choked up [laughs]. I always felt that I would play there at some point, but to do it with my own project is another thing again.