The Silents are an Australian
psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...
band from
Perth
Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
,
Western Australia
Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
.
Biography
Lloyd Stowe and Jamie Terry began writing and recording
song
A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...
s in 2002, heavily influenced by early sixties psychedelic and beat music. They then began looking for a rhythm section with similar
rock’n’roll influences, however with little success. In September 2003, Stowe watched friend Sam Ford’s band perform at a local Perth hotel and after the show asked if both he and drummer Alex Hayes would be interested in joining him and Terry to form a band. In early December 2003 the Silents recorded a three track demo.
The name 'The Silents' is taken from
Simon and Garfunkel's haunting folk ballad, "
The Sound of Silence". The name was also influenced by The Silence, the original name of
Marc Bolan's band '
John’s Children', one of the first psychedelic bands in the UK.
On 15 April 2006 their debut EP ''Flicker & Flames'', recorded with Dave Parkin (
Red Jezebel), was released with
Rubber Records nationally, with the lead single "Nightcrawl" receiving large amounts of airplay on
Triple J and alternative/community radio across Australia. They toured extensively with
The Exploders in 2006, and appeared as the
house band on ''
Rove Live''.
The Silents were also nominated 'Most Promising New Act' at the 2006
WAMi Awards.
In April 2007 The Silents signed to
Ivy League Records following which they toured nationally with
The Vines and the
Red Riders.
In May 2007 the band commenced recording new tracks for their debut album, which was mixed in Sunset Studios California by Doug Boehm (
Starsailer,
Guided by Voices
Guided by Voices is an American indie rock band formed in 1983 in Dayton, Ohio. It has made frequent personnel changes but always maintained the presence of principal songwriter Robert Pollard. The most well-known lineup of the band consisted o ...
,
Sahara Hotnights). On 3 November 2007 the band released the first song from their debut album, "23", in the form of an
EP. It has already received significant airplay on
Triple J.
Triple J playlist
/ref> On 29 March 2008 the band released its debut album, '' Things to Learn''.
In November 2008, Hayes was replaced by new drummer Mike Jelinek, Hayes went on to form a project named Hyla. The following year was a rather challenging one for the band, as they parted ways with the Ivy League label as well as their management, choosing to independently re-establish the sound of the band with the new lineup, as well as work on new material for their second LP. The album, entitled "Sun A Buzz", was recorded in an isolated part of the South West of Australia and in Blackbird Sound Studios in Perth in late 2009.
After the album was recorded, the band brought on board new management and embarked on a national tour with Tame Impala in May 2010.
Members
* James Terry – guitar, vocals, keyboards (2003–present)
* Lloyd Stowe – guitar
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
, vocals (2003–present)
* Sam Ford – bass, vocals (2003–present)
* Alex Hayes – drums
The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
(2003–2008)
* Michael Jelinek – drums (2008–present)
Discography
Albums
* '' Things to Learn'' - Ivy League Records (IVY060) (29 March 2008)
* '' Sun A Buzz'' - Independent (SLNTS001) (25 June 2010)
Singles
* "Little Girl Lost" - Ivy League Records (2008)
EPs
* '' Flicker and Flames'' - Rubber Records (RUB212) (6 March 2006)
* '' 23'' - Ivy League Records (IVY056) (29 September 2007)
Compilation Records
* ''Kiss My WAMi 2006'' - "High Blues" (2006)
References
External links
The Silents' Official WebsiteThe Silents' Official MySpaceAMO Interview with The Silents (20 February 2006)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silents, The
Australian rock music groups
Western Australian musical groups