Peter Silberman grew up in a family of writers and editors. When you hear his band The Antlers — and more importantly, when you read his lyrics — it’s obvious. The story told in the band’s 2009 album Hospice reads like a young writer’s first tragedy. And it hurts to hear.
Just shy of 24-years-old, and fresh off of nearly four months of touring, Silberman was sipping coffee in Brooklyn on a December morning. He said he was "very happy," but he mostly spoke about illness, abuse and mortality, the themes of his latest record.
"I hate to say that my favorite writer is very depressing, but it’s true," he said. He was speaking, of course, of 1980s short story writer and poet, the seminal minimalist Raymond Carver, whose work Silberman called both "hopeful" and "doomed."– read Joe Coscarelli interview with the band here.