As Sylmar stands at the precipice of one milestone, the band is recovering from another one. The Cincinnati quintet has just returned from their first European tour, a rousing success by any measure.
“There were only ten shows,” says frontman Brian McCullough over coffee at Deeper Roots. “There were more, but the ones with really good guarantees were cancelled because we didn’t sell enough tickets. The other ones sold out and they were phenomenal. It was Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria, and they really enjoyed it. And they listened.”
Local, regional and national audiences have been listening to Sylmar’s brand of dynamic indie rock for nearly a decade, a period that will be officially celebrated in February 2026 with the band’s tenth anniversary. The more immediately laudable event is the October release of Sylmar’s third full-length album, the cryptically titled Matching Caskets.
“The title is from a song we haven’t put out yet,” says McCullough. “I like the image of two people who commit to the bitter end. That’s the line: ‘Though we are the same/No, we’re not the same/But we bought a pair of matching caskets.’”
While the song lending its title didn’t make the cut for Matching Caskets, a similar emotional theme bubbles up in the track “Vidalia’s Dementia (Onions),” pulled directly from McCullough’s life.
“It’s the story of this older couple where one is going through breast cancer and the other is developing dementia,” says McCullough. “My grandparents both had dementia and my father had breast cancer. It’s a love song but it’s also a ‘fuck it’ song, like, ‘Let’s have some fun while we’re old and above ground and above the law.’ When you’re old, you can do whatever the fuck you like. The song isn’t necessarily depressing, but in our music there’s always a range of emotions, like, ‘We’re dying but we’re going to party to celebrate that we only have a little bit left.’ There’s some depth to it.”
Matching Caskets is unquestionably Sylmar’s heaviest album to date, in terms of emotional impact and sheer volume. While there were moments of raucous fury on 2021’s Glass Ladders, there is an almost relentless feeling to the material on Matching Caskets. Even in its softer, more delicate tracks, the album bristles with undeniable power.
“Angular is what I call it,” says McCullough. “It can go from a heavy ephemeral moment to just me singing and it really is a beautiful thing live, especially in a small room. You’ll see a killer rock act that will move you dynamically. All the songs are that, basically. The first four or five songs are riffy, dynamic Queens of the Stone Age type stuff, and then the back end is really pretty. The front is more traditional Sylmar, where maybe there’s some political critiques or tongue-in-cheek stuff, and the back is sadder and quieter.”
McCullough readily admits that most of Sylmar’s songs find their true forms once they’ve been subjected to the band’s live process, where the material’s sonic identity is forged and solidified. Most of the songs were written during Covid lockdown and then fully realized in its aftermath.
“We got really lucky in 2022 and 2023 to go on some really long tours — we basically toured the whole country — and we played the shit out of these songs,” says McCullough. “They ended up developing into what they are, which I think are pretty interesting songs, with maybe more depth than some of our past stuff. It’s in the textures of different instrumentation and that just evolved from playing live a lot.”
McCullough is also fully aware that a certain percentage of Sylmar’s existing fanbase may be alienated by the density and volume of Matching Caskets, but he and the band are relying on their fans’ boundless devotion to accept the new album and its forceful direction.
“We started seeing more people coming to the shows with purple hair, because the songs went from straight ahead pop-focused to more art rock/progressive type stuff,” says McCullough. “At first, I was a little averse to it, but now I love it, because our fans are very loyal and they’ll travel forever to see us.”
Even with the crucible of the stage to reshape the songs’ structure, the foundation of Sylmar’s material begins with the band’s impressive egalitarian writing process. Without that sturdy base, there would be nothing to reinvent.
“With the way my mind works in creating a song, the volume and the shifts are just the way they come, every single time,” says McCullough. “Like ‘Babysitter’ on the new album, where you’re just skating the whole time, I’d love to write something like that but it always ends up being a roller coaster. That’s just how Sylmar is, that’s how we’ve developed our sound, and that’s why people like to see us live.”
From Sylmar’s launch in 2016, the band has maintained an inclusive writing stance when working up new material. Since the release of Glass Ladders, some changes have taken place that marginally impact that paradigm, namely the departures of guitarist Dan Sutter and bassist Dominic Franco.
“To be honest, I don’t think we were using Dan as the weapon he was,” says McCullough. “You can’t tell an amazing natural guitarist what parts to play when they can make a better part. Dan and Stephen Patota and (Sylmar drummer) Ethan Kimberly play at Anjou in Walnut Hills. It’s like watching Bill Frisell, he’s that good. And Dom was a great player and a great hang, but he’d be the first to tell you that music was not his priority. He’s a programmer, so he bought a trailer and he and his girlfriend travel around the country and he works remotely, and climbs. He’s a big climber.”
McCullough’s startling revelation that he nearly shuttered Sylmar after Sutter left the band is somewhat mollified by his realization that the band’s secret sauce was installed in the drum chair.
“Ethan is very much Sylmar, and without him, the band ain’t shit,” says McCullough bluntly but with a laugh. “Ethan has been taking the lead more. I love it when he writes songs. He’s in so many projects, and what he’s really talented at is he’s got his style. He’s able to foster his style with every group he plays with. And he writes great bass lines.”
The other leg of Sylmar’s current writing triumvirate is guitarist Luke Glaser, who McCullough claims does much of his writing for the band in relative stealth mode.
“Luke has always been the central guitar writer,” says McCullough. “He’s the type of guy who won’t get an idea for a couple of months, then suddenly your phone hits and you’ve got four new ideas, and it’s like, ‘Oooh, I’ve got things to work on.’ Songs just tend to happen when you’ve got great players.”
Just as Matching Caskets was largely worked out when Glass Ladders was released, Sylmar has another album waiting in the wings just as their new album is released. Given that their current modus operandi is to record in their practice space and perform all the adjacent business functions — art, promotion, finding distribution, etc. — without assistance, it’s amazing they find time to write and record.
“We’ve got another record ready to go, but for the future, I think I’m writing a lot of the songs,” says McCullough. “I’ve got the energy for it. We’ll see what happens.”
The two latest musical masters to claim Sylmar membership are guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Dylan Etienne and bassist Lee Sullivan. Etienne, a recent graduate of CCM, has performed with a variety of local bands, including Goof Juice and Low Gap, and Sullivan is playing simultaneously with Kimberly in Touchdown Jesus. They originally signed on with Sylmar as touring members, but they seem to be taking hold as permanent replacements.
“Lee is a great guitarist but he’s playing bass with us, and Lee and Ethan have a really good connection, and Dylan is just an amazing guitarist and he takes us places that always surprise me,” says McCullough. “And even though they’re just players, they already feel like part of the band. They’re bringing new ideas to the table and they’ve recorded on the new songs.”
As McCullough looks back at the past decade and forward into Sylmar’s future, he tends to be realistic about the band’s place in the musical food chain, and yet hopeful about the infinite possibilities afforded by their talent and determination.
“My greatest fear is that we become a bunch of hacks and we’re just playing covers of old Sylmar songs. If it ever gets to the point where the players don’t mesh, it’s just got to end,” he says. “But right now, it sounds better than ever, and it’s crazy how that keeps happening. Every time we have a new group, it’s like, ‘Damn, it’s a different animal.’ We’re still gaining fans and people still appreciate it. What more can you ask for?”
Sylmar will join The Wonderlands and Saving Escape for a show at the Woodward Theater on Dec. 27 at 8 p.m. More info: woodwardtheater.com.
This story is featured in CityBeat’s Dec. 24 print edition.
This article appears in Dec. 24-Jan. 6.