The Sound Of Silence

Sibling power fuels this modern Ontario rock band

The family that plays together stays together. That certainly seems to be the case with Blyth, Ontario band Silence. You see, they are composed of five siblings, all of whom apparently co-exist incredibly well.
"We really do all get along and are best friends," stresses singer/lyricist Matthew Hussey. "That seems to shock people. They say, 'well I could never be in a band with my brother or sister!'"
He explains that "there are actually nine brothers and sisters. Growing up in the country in a low income family we didn't get out much, so really all we had was each other."
Making their own fun generally centered on making music together. "We were a band before we could even play our instruments," recalls Matthew. "We'd get out the badminton racquets and be an air band in the living room and videotape it. It was just obvious what was in us to do, so I guess we were destined to be rock stars," he laughs.
They now seem to be on their way. There is a real industry buzz about the sound of Silence, and that is expected to heat up with the release of a fine independent debut CD, Saintless. An earlier EP, Ruins sold well locally, and Silence won a FM 96 (London) Battle Of The New Rock Contest earlier this year.
The group paid their dues early on. "We played turkey suppers at town halls in the area," reminisces Matthew. "When we first started it was as a cover band, but we quickly started adding more originals."
Silence's music draws on influences ranging from '70s style progressive rock through to groups like U2, and, via the vocals of Melina Hussey, Garbage. "We all have some different tastes based on our age gap," says Melina. "I am more late '80s and early '90s." Matthew chimes in that "Mark [keyboardist/bassist] and I were big '80s fans and that is maybe where a lot of the keyboard elements come in, while our drummer Manny is more into hard rock. It is a nice mesh. We bring all these influences in and mess them up!
"I think we are still evolving as a band, and it may be easier to define down the road. Our very first EP was very progressive rock. We'd do 10 minute songs, but then started to concentrate more on melody than movements."
Some of that prog-rock influence remains in frontman Matthew's theatrical stage presence (he has had acting experience) and his vocal and performance interaction with Melina helps make Silence's style distinctive.
The group's self-confidence was boosted by a recent appearance at the CMJ music festival in New York. "We had a fun show and made a lot of good connections," says Melina. "It was nice to play the city after September 11," adds Matthew. "There were five recovery workers in the audience, and they said it was just what they needed to escape from it all."
In light of those events, he believes the album is quite timely. "It has comforted some people so we are happy to be a part of a healing process."
Silence is a socially and spiritually aware band. That's indicated by the fact that even in these early days of their career, they have formed their own charitable human aid organization, S.I.L.E.N.C.E. (save innocent lives...endless needs...care endlessly). It is designed to help provide sustainable solutions to world issues.
Their comparatively isolated rural origins have been an asset, Matthew asserts. "I think we have been fortunately sheltered from a lot of that how to stuff. It evolved very naturally, from just being together as a family making music. We never even saw ahead to playing in Toronto until recently."
Now, however, Silence are both committed and ambitious. "We have huge goals. We are all totally going for it. There is nothing else we really can do or want to do!"


Saintless is now out. Check www.silence-band.com for more information.Silence play at Clinton's in Toronto, Nov. 16.

Publication Date: 2001-11-11
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=593