About
Defender 1 was created out of late night recording sessions at the Belafonte Research Center. Dylan Silvers left the conventional practice space to dig deep into his comic book and film influenced roots in order to create a comprehensive narrative that's much larger than just the music. Inviting Hightower to join once things were in motion to add his unique style of bass playing that the songs needed, and filmmaker Ryan Hartsell to help bring the songs to life in cinematic form. The music ended up picking up where Dylan's former band [DARYL] left off in its early synth driven noise pop haze it created in 1999-2004.
After sending rough mixes to friend and producer Dave Trumfio (Wilco, Built to Spill, Granddaddy) of The Pulsars, Dave immediately became interested in helping Silvers finish Defender 1, becoming a 3rd studio member in the process. Silvers went to L.A. in the spring of 2012 to finish up additional tracking, mixing and a bottle of Gusano Rojo's finest Mezcal with Dave at his Chateau Studio.
Silvers has always had a affinity for analog keyboards, the 77 punk scene, and noisy Pixiesesque / Kevin Shields guitar feedback swirl. Defender 1 blends those 3 key elements seamlessly with simple infused analog beats and repetitious pop hooks. Adding Silvers raw yet melodic vocals to make this unmistakably his own, Silvers wields the early post punk energy of bands like the Police, The Clash, Missing Persons, Joy Division, but is also very influenced by the art and production of Brian Eno's ambient undertones and films such as Tron, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Crow, Batman, The Watchmen, and artists like Alan Moore, Frank Miller, and John Mueller.
Going beyond just the music, These Machines Are Winning takes on a full emersion of creative expression combining narrative film making, photography, and graphic art. The goal is to create a mythos that encourages further exploration of the material. Silvers draws lyrically from this concept, teaming up with long time friend Ryan Hartsell To shoot, direct and co-create with Silvers this comic vision. having the first two cinematic videos out of their four part mini series completed for Defender 1, taking their vigilantes to new extremes.