Silent Civilian Frontman Sees Offshore Drilling as a Two-Sided Issue

Silent Civilian frontman Jonny Santos has always been one to vocalize his outlook on the political world in the band's lyrics, but on the band's newest, 'Ghost Stories,' he toned it down a bit wanting to pull lyrical thoughts to social issues. But even so, the guitarist, who also fronts Spineshank, was very vocal to Noisecreep that these are troubled times we live in.

"It's pretty evident that our society as the human race is screwing itself up," he said when referencing the themes of the album. "Not to sound like a crazy hippie, but we're destroying our planet. A lot of people are doing things to change things with alternate fuel sources, but a lot of people just don't care. The majority of the world doesn't care."

Of course many more are now caring, or at are least aware of the possibilities of environmental damages due to the horrific images and possible spread of the Gulf oil spill. Our conversation with Santos took place before all this. The guitarist was on a road trip to visit friends, and while taking a break from the drive we asked him about the current news of that week: President Obama announcing a desire to drill off U.S. shores.

"If it's going to help our economy then I'm all for it, but then you have environmental issues," Santos weighed in. "Personally I'd like ... if we're going to spend a s--- ton of money, let's spend it on researching out alternate fuel sources. We're just polluting ... we're probably not going to see much damage in our lifetime, but I have a daughter and I'm sure she's going to have kids, and her kids will have kids. What the f--- are we leaving for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren?"

But the issue is a tricky one, one that reaches into economics, which Santos called "a double-edge sword," admitting a frustration putting his beliefs in the middle to fight it out almost for the greater victor. For him, the economic side of the struggling times right now could have been solved if so many jobs wouldn't have left for countries filled with cheaper labor. "I don't think the big corporations should be able to do that right now," he says. "Maybe in the future when the country is doing real good, OK. But we're really not taking care of Americans right now."

He added, "I come from a working class family, my father's a machinist and a welder. I've seen him go up and down, and it kills me we're doing this to the common working man."