The name was meant to be tongue-in-cheek. While “yuppie” is often used as a slur for spoon-fed, upwardly mobile city professionals, Sliver has had to fight for everything he has. In choosing the name, he’s reclaiming it.
His vision of a thirty-something growing up in Dayton and trying to make his community better is what Yuppie means to him. In a sense, he’s redefining the word.
Yuppie released its latest EP, “Normalie,” in November. The four-song album explores the harsh realities and constant grind of everyday life. The music explores darkness beneath a veneer of something fun and light. In fact, it seems the band’s unofficial slogan might be “happy songs about hard things.” But to Sliver, it’s better to take these things head-on than to pretend everything is OK.
The EP was produced by Patrick Himes at Reel Love Recording Company. Mikey Chappell, of Dayton band Scary Hotel, engineered the drums.
Sliver is a Marine Corps veteran whose time overseas deeply shaped his songwriting. For the past six years, he has served as an artist ambassador for Operation Encore, a nonprofit that connects veteran and active-duty musicians with the music industry. He currently is a Veterans Voices producer at WYSO.
“I constantly think that I’m the worst person in the room, and I have to work harder,” he said. “All I know is through my purview of what life is. And I feel like I’m trying to show people who Zack Sliver, the Marine, is in this project, Yuppie. Not every veteran thinks the same way, acts the same way or creates art the way you think a Marine from Ohio would typically lean.”
He says he doesn’t necessarily have a mission, but he still feels like he owes something to everybody around him. He wants to stick up for people who other people won’t. Yuppie draws attention to things that might otherwise be ignored — crippling anxieties, for example, which appears throughout many of the songs — so they don’t fester by the wayside.
“Trying to fit into a world that feels crooked, and trying to normalize talking about it… you’re better off leaning into discomfort than faking the peace,” Sliver said. “It’s not about being OK. It’s about being honest.”
Like many artists, Sliver struggles with perfectionism. But as Tom Petty once suggested, sometimes imperfections are what make things perfect.
In the opening track, “Madhouse,” there’s a hissing sound in the right speaker. The band singled out every track but couldn’t locate the source of the noise, so they decided to keep it — because “life’s a madhouse.” Sliver knows things aren’t going to be perfect, so he doesn’t pretend otherwise.
“I’m always ‘the truth will set you free’ kind of person,” Sliver said. “Just telling the truth, no matter how hard it is, or how embarrassing it may seem, or maybe it won’t be the most popular… sometimes it’s better to be honest and to get the story out.”
“Normalie,” like other entries in Yuppie’s catalog, incorporates dialogue and spoken-word elements. In “Madhouse,” the Charles Bukowski poem “The Shoelace” is recited amid overdriven guitars. The poem, which examines the impact of life’s relentless stream of minor annoyances on mental health, resonated with Sliver when he left the Marine Corps.
The third track “Evening News” comments on the current state of affairs and politics in a holistic manner, while the Bukowski recital in “Madhouse” turns inward to explore the trivialities of everyday life. The repeated line “I’m tired of living in my own head” effectively becomes a mantra.
Sliver doesn’t know how the songs will affect those who may be dealing with similar struggles. All he knows is that he is shining a light in the places that might otherwise remain dim.
As a part of Operation Encore, Sliver plays solo across the country every four months or so. He has played gigs in New York, Nashville and Boise, among other cities.
After performing in Sacramento one night, Sliver was standing outside when a woman from the crowd approached him. She told him she didn’t understand what her brother had been going through until she heard his music. Her brother had taken his life.
The song gave her a measure of peace — insight into something that she hadn’t previously been able to access. Standing there on the sidewalk with Sliver that night, she said she finally understood.
“Most of the time, playing music feels like I’m running on a treadmill,” Sliver said. “In moments like that, I realize that I’m actually running and doing things.”
Brandon Berry covers the music and arts scene in Dayton and Southwest Ohio. Reach him at branberry100@gmail.com.
More info: Yuppie’s new EP “Normalie” is available on all streaming platforms. The band will compete as a part of the 2026 Dayton Battle of the Bands.
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