When you cover music for a while you discover just how easy it is for bands to break up over just about anything. So it’s pretty refreshing when you find out about a band like The Silence who have been together for nearly 15 years.
That’s right 15 years... and we’re not talking about classic rock has beens, we’re talking about a group of guys that have been friends and bandmates since grade school.
The Silence hail from the Philadelphia / South Jersey music area. The band is comprised of Evan McIntyre, Tim Malcarney, and Andrew Parry. They’re currently on tour to promote their latest CD, “Find Your Way Home” and will be playing at the Saint in Asbury Park on May 21st.
“There’s not one style of music that we like,” said Tim Malcarney. “Each of us will have a pretty diverse collection of our own music and pretty extensive. I think it’s fair to say that all of us will have everything from rock to classical and jazz to a little hip-hop. Good music is good music no matter what it is. People always ask bands who are your influences. Well, if you listen to enough stuff who isn’t an influence?”
The core of the band is Evan McIntyre and Tim Malcarney. The two met while going to school in Haddonfield and discovered that they both were very much into music. One day they decided to start their own band. The first few years their parents probably wished they were listening to silence instead of the noise being created in their house. As they stuck together, they eventually began to get better and better. By the time they were in high school they were playing on South Street in Philadelphia and in other clubs in the area.
“In the beginning, we actually had to have our parents drop us off at the shows,” said Malcarney. “We would go in and rock out for a few hours and then have our parents drive us home. Back then whenever we were interviewed people were always interested in us because we were so young. And now it’s gotten to the point where people are amazed because of how long we’ve been together. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
After high school, the band members all went to different colleges up and down the east coast. Instead of forcing the band to break up, this actually helped them increase their fanbase. Each band member would book shows at their col- lege and around the local area. The band would then set up tours that rotated around the various colleges.
The end result is a fanbase that allows The Silence to bring a solid crowd to shows in places like New Jersey, Maryland, New York areas. Through the years the band has opened for such artists as Live, The Connells, the Ocean Blue and the Samples.
“The weirdest gig was playing on the steps of the Capitol,” recalled Malcarney. “I don’t know if you can actually get that close anymore to the Capitol. It was a benefit for Habitat For Humanity. When we pulled up there with all of our equipment there was Secret Service agents with dogs sniffing everything, which always makes you a little nervous. That was probably the coolest and the strangest location we’ve ever played.”
The band took some time off after making their last record so even though the CD came out around Thanksgiving they are just now starting to tour in support of it. The network of contacts created while in college still helps them do the initial building of their tours. Malcarney says that the band is ready to start playing regularly again.
Live, the band lets their music breathe a little bit. They’re not afraid to take a few chances and change things around while on stage.
“When we play live we definitely open up the songs a lot more,” explains Malcarney. “It’s just fun because people really get into it and we get into it. When I go to see a band I like to see them do something different than just recreate what they did on the album.”
The record has started receiving airplay on radio stations like WXPN in Philadelphia and online stations like UpstageRadio.com. You can hear cuts from the band’s latest album on their website at http://www.the-silence.com.
“We’ve been together for so long that everybody is involved with each other’s lives,” said Malcarney. “There’s no way we could do this if we weren’t friends. We hang out just as much as we play. I think that really translates in the music because we’re able to understand and read each other.
“I think it’s too far ingrained in us for us to just stop. I don’t think that it’ll ever stop. We like the control we have with everything. We have the artistic freedom to put out an album that we really feel proud about, so we can keep doing this forever. It’s an insane hobby and it’s too far embedded in us to stop, but we’re not out there thinking 'man if we don’t get signed this is it.' It is what it is. We just love playing.”
or region of New Jersey
click here for our advanced search.
