Inside the uPlaya Music Universe®: Anthem of Silence Interview Part 1

We are so happy for uPlaya regulars, Anthem of Silence, for being selected as our Benedetto Contest grand prize winners, with their super catchy song “Elton Jung.”

Here is part one of the Q&A we had with the band to discuss some of their influences, experiences, and their exciting new full-length album, which will be released later this year. Some new AOS songs are available for download at http://anthemofsilence.bandcamp.com/

uPlaya.com: What are the real names and roles of each band member?

Cameron: “My name's Cameron, I sing, play guitar, a little piano, and write most of the music. Adam is the bassist, the manager and co-founder of the group. Dolce plays cello and guitar. Serge plays drums, and all of us sing.”

uPlaya.com: When and where did you start playing?

Dolce: “Anthem of Silence started playing in Los Angeles in 2009.”

Cameron: “Personally, I grew up in a musical family. My sister, father, and mother are all musicians.  My earliest memories are of sitting quietly with my eyes closed imagining songs or replaying the sound of cicadas in my head. I sang in the choir every year (mom was the director) and I enjoyed it, I honestly think I enjoyed it because it came so naturally to me. I didn't have to work hard.  Haha! A little lazy-ish.”

Serge: “[For me] that magical moment happened in Belgrade, Serbia in my friend’s living room.”

uPlaya.com: Describe the moment that you knew you would become a musician or form a band.

Cameron: “At around 12 years old I asked for a guitar from my parents (after hearing "smells like teen spirit" I think. Haha!) I had played piano but really wanted a guitar. I think I got one in about 48 hrs.  My folks have always been encouraging about my playing.  Seemed like everybody in my town was in some kind of band, most of them self-taught.  I played guitar for a while in a couple bands but never really liked the songs they wrote.  I started writing my own, but then I didn't like the singers, so I started singing.  I think I was about 14 by this time, and then started my first band with me as the frontman. It was called ‘chewbacca’.  I noticed right away that people enjoyed it. It was fun to listen to and fun for us to play.  I knew then that type of interaction with an audience, being creative and having fun doing so, was going to be something I would never stop doing.”

Dolce: “My parents were classical musicians and even named my siblings and I after musical terms.  To say the least, music was always around growing up.  Being in the classical world gave me the technical training and ear for good musicianship, but it wasn't until I started playing with bands did I start to feel free with my instrument.  Anthem of Silence really pushed me to start soloing and creating new sounds with the cello.”

Serge: “I entered my high school friend’s apartment and found him trying to record some simple song on acoustic guitar that he just learned. He would play with knitting needles on the pillow and record that on one tape-recorder. Then he would play that tape and play along another thing on top of it and record that on second tape recorder.... and the cycle continued.... I suggested that I take knitting needles so that he has one less job to do...then we remembered another kid from upstairs that played accordion on school events and holidays and asked him to come down.... in an hour we had the band formed and whole career planned out…we were sure we were gonna rule the world!!!!”

uPlaya.com: How did you come up with your band/performance name? How has it evolved?

Dolce: “We used to be called ‘Kid Gloves,’ but that didn't sound quite right for us.  When we started to get more serious, we threw around a bunch of names (ideas from Bright River Racket to Documents and Settings) and landed on Anthem of Silence… silence is where music and expression is derived from, and an anthem is the celebration of it.”

Cameron: “Anthem of Silence is a lyric and also the name of an older song. The meaning of it is pretty simple.  An anthem is ‘A rousing or uplifting song identified with a particular group, body, or cause.’ In AoS ‘silence’ is the ‘cause.’ Silence is something we all respect deeply and retreat to as the birthplace of our music, so the outcome, music, is our way of paying our respect to the abundance that is silence...wow I guess it's kinda complicated in words, but really simple just to think about.”

uPlaya.com: What would you say your band/performance is best known for?

Dolce: “A deep sound, and fun to watch live.”

Cameron: “I hope that we are known for having an approach to melody that is innovative and yet still feels traditional.  I know that we all have a natural sway towards music and sound that is beautiful, stuff that's actually pretty even when it's heavy.  We don't hold to it as a rule, but I know I personally just love music that's pretty and often feel as though it's missing in a lot of more popular stuff today… maybe my ears are just different.”

Stay tuned for part two of this exciting interview and in the mean time, check out some of their previous tracks and music videos to cure your Anthem of Silence fix.

For songs, including prize winner, “Elton Jung”: http://anthemofsilence.bandcamp.com/

For videos, visit their Youtube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/anthemofsilence