The Silverteens are Making a Scene

July 9, 2026

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Making a Scene Presents an Interview with The Silverteens

The Silverteens are a Minneapolis band with deep roots in the city’s rock, punk, new wave, and power pop history. Long known for an eclectic live set that pulls from obscure 1960s garage rock, late 1970s punk, power pop, and other high-energy corners of rock and roll, the band brings together musicians who have been active in the local scene since the 1970s and 1980s.

What gives The Silverteens their character is not just their song selection, but the history behind the players. Each member carries decades of experience from Minneapolis clubs, original bands, cover projects, and the underground music community that helped shape the city’s identity. Their sound reflects that background: raw but tuneful, loose in the right places, sharp when it counts, and rooted in the joy of playing songs that still have electricity in them.

After building a reputation around their wide-ranging cover sets, The Silverteens stepped forward with original music of their own, releasing an LP in 2023. That album showed the band as more than a group of scene veterans revisiting old favorites. It revealed a working band with its own voice, drawing from the same garage, punk, power pop, and rock influences that have long fueled their live shows. The Silverteens have continued that momentum with new music planned for 2026.

The band features guitarist Terry Isachsen, a familiar figure in Minneapolis music who also plays with the Flamin’ Oh’s, Lolo’s Ghost, and other projects. Isachsen’s history reaches back to the 1970s, when his band Nip and Tuck regularly performed at Jay’s Longhorn, the legendary Minneapolis New Wave club that became a crucial home for punk, new wave, and original rock.

Bassist and backing vocalist Steve Olson brings his own connection to the city’s post-punk and club history. In the 1980s, he was a member of Laughing Stock, a post-punk band that frequently played Minneapolis landmarks including 7th St. Entry and First Avenue. Olson also plays with the Minneapolis band Hot Pastrami!, adding another layer to his long-running presence in the local scene.

Drummer and backing vocalist Jerry Johnson has played both bass and drums in a wide range of Minneapolis bands from the 1980s through the 2000s. His credits include Mezzo Fist, No Apparent Reason, Pushpause, Splat, Helen Killer, and Evaporated Family. That broad background gives him the flexibility to anchor The Silverteens’ mix of garage rock punch, punk energy, and melodic rock drive.

Front man Mark Engebretson also comes from the heart of Minneapolis music history. He performed at Jay’s Longhorn in the late 1970s with the MORs and later at 7th St. Entry and First Avenue with The Whole Lotta Loves in the 1980s. Engebretson is also the director of the 2019 documentary film Jay’s Longhorn, a project that helped preserve the story of one of Minneapolis’ most important music venues.

Together, The Silverteens are both a continuation of Minneapolis rock history and a living, working band with new songs still to play. Their music carries the spirit of the clubs, records, and scenes that shaped them, while their original material keeps that spirit moving forward. For listeners who love garage rock grit, punk attitude, power pop hooks, and bands with real history in their bones, The Silverteens are the genuine article.

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