Moncton melodic guitar rock band The Silent is taking a leap of faith. The trio recently left the relative comfort and security of the Hub City to take up residence in Nashville in effort to further their music career.
Yes, you read that correctly. Nashville isn’t just home to a bevy of country bands.
After the release of their Americanized EP (which is available for free download at www.noisetrade.com/thesilent), the group sensed that moving out of the Maritimes might be a necessity in order to bring them to the next logical step of their careers.
With many bands wanting to achieve a greater degree of success with as little inconvenience to their personal lives as possible, The Silent’s move from Moncton to Nashville is both admirable and terrifying; a step into the unknown with unknown rewards potentially waiting for them.
According to Silent bassist-vocalist Marc Jolicoeur, the group has been busy shaking hands and kissing babies since their arrival in Nashville. Oh, and they’ve also been busy writing new songs too.
“A high percentage of the most successful artists in our niche market call Nashville home, including a lot of people that we’re very interested in working with,” Jolicoeur says. “We do feel that our odds are better with a little distance.
“A wise man once said ‘A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country.’ We may not be prophets, but the principle holds true. This is one of several reasons why the timing seemed good to relocate. Plus Nashville is such a central area to tour out of, with a lot of highly populated areas within a short driving distance.”
The niche market Jolicoeur refers to above is the Christian music market. Although the members of The Silent will readily admit their beliefs, there is nothing necessarily inherent to the band’s sound or songs that would lead you to believe they are affiliated with Christian music if you weren’t already aware of it.
Jolicoeur says that not all bands embrace the Christian label so willingly though.
“We have never made a conscious effort to stay away from the Christian music label. Many bands are opposed to the label due to the weight that comes along with it. Many fans of the genre get upset if their bands are a little vague with their beliefs. People don’t want Christian bands to be wishy-washy when it comes to whether or not they are ‘in’ or ‘out’ of the community.
“But we grew up in the Christian market; we listened to the bands that did the same thing that we are aspiring to do. We’re merely reflecting the art we grew up with,” Jolicoeur says confidently.
Many Christian-oriented bands have found mainstream success including Jars of Clay, Switchfoot and Mute Math. And before too long, The Silent might very well be the next cross-over success to take the music world by storm.
While in Nashville, the band is slugging away at getting a new record written. Perhaps equally important though, they are also looking to develop their band on other levels, doing songwriting sessions with others and receiving tips on further refinement to their stage show.
Fans don’t have to worry that the end result will be a too glossy The Silent, however. The experience that they are currently living is part of the appeal although the length of time that the band will remain in Nashville is still unknown.
“We hope to be returning home soon,” Marc says. “But we will be here (in Nashville) until we accomplish what we feel needs to be done and be where we want to be with our career.”
Visit The Silent online at www.thesilentonline.com.