Songwriter Fernando Silverio Solis on growing up, sobering up, and writing music for himself
Flint, Michigan songwriter, Fernando Silverio Solis, was chasing a feeling. Whenever he’d get close enough he only crashed into another roadblock. He was perpetually stuck. Years of partying, jumping from band to band, relationships both good and bad, and parenthood were all thrown into the mix, forcing him to make abrupt lifestyle changes and figure out his life as an adult. So if music kept letting him down, what feeling was making him go back time and time again?
“I was trying to remember why I even liked playing music, because what I was doing at the time wasn’t making me happy,” says Solis. “Should I sell my guitars? I see my friends that get older and stop playing music, then sell all of their stuff and just keep one guitar, but I didn’t know if I could do that. I didn’t know if that would make me happy.”
This new project isn’t a collective of other band members, or hiding behind the shield of a moniker, it’s the first time it’s Fernando Silverio Solis as himself and he’s taking it seriously. After years of hiding behind a false character to rile up a crowd with intense live shows or go extra crazy at the aftershow parties, Solis is just one man and a guitar ready to let it all out. He sobered up after feeling trapped in an endless cycle. He started to make changes to feel healthier and happier and ease into adulthood. Things were getting better, but it wasn’t easy.
“I was burnt out. I was manic. I was just filling a void and looking for a replacement, anything I could get my hands on. After I finally went back out and drank again, it just didn’t make me happy. It wasn’t just the substances I put in my body, it was my perspective and outlook on life that was the problem.”
Unlike writers wanting to struggle to get inspiration, Solis was well-aware of his self-destructive path and did whatever he could to not only avoid a terrible future, but to be in control of his present. His relationship with his father put his relationship with his own daughter into perspective and it changed things drastically. He was at a generational middle ground seeing the younger and older versions of himself, almost like he was staring into the past and future.
“When I would sit down to write, I wouldn’t know where to pull ideas from anymore. I didn’t have any qualms as far as friendships or relationships go. I didn’t want to keep seeking out those situations to get inspiration to write.”
So he did the hardest thing of all, get better and seek inspiration from positivity and document his journey from the dark to the light. There wasn’t time for bottling in emotions anymore. Changes were underway. Instead of using a song as a temporary fix or bandaid, it was a time for digging deep into his heart and his brain and work things out in real life as well as his music. From the process came four brand new songs.
The music of Fernando Silverio Solis is about learning from your past to save your future. It’s about taking action to get out of a rut when it’s easy to get stuck in one. It’s about acknowledging your faults, making amends and moving on. It’s about chasing a feeling you can’t describe, like playing in a high school band with your friends, but as an adult who’s seen it all and wants to believe in the magic of music again. It’s about unabashedly being yourself for the first time.
Listen to the new EP, Wake Up Slow, now on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/3W4B4enyUgqY5mmoKBmXcM?si=mcYtNyyPTzOZWZtyM1yOPg
You can catch Solis performing live at the Winter Clothing Drive at The Blue House in Ypsilanti, MI on February 1st at 7:30 pm. RSVP here: https://www.facebook.com/events/787528508430906/
Follow Fernando Silverio Solis on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FernandoSilverioSolisOfficial/
