A Silent Film | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Origin | Oxford, England |
Genres | Piano rock, [1] alternative rock [2] |
Years active | 2005–2018 |
Labels | Creative Media Investments, Xtra Mile, Bieler Bros., Silent Songs |
Members | Robert Stevenson Spencer Walker |
Past members | Karl Bareham Lewis Jones Ali Hussain |
A Silent Film are an English alternative rock band [2] from Oxford. The band consists of Robert Stevenson (vocals/piano/guitar) and Spencer Walker (drums). [3] Their first album, The City That Sleeps, was released on 6 October 2008, [4] [5] with one reviewer describing it as "a surefire winner". [6] One critic has said that A Silent Film's style "distinctly echoes" Coldplay, Snow Patrol and The Killers. [7] Their latest album, A Silent Film , was released in October 2015.
The band formed in 2005. Three of the five members (Robert Stevenson, Spencer Walker and Lewis Jones) had been members of another band named Shouting Myke, [8] which formed in early 2000. In 2005 two members (Benn Clarke and Steve Meyer-Rassow) left the band and were replaced by Ali Hussain, whose older brother is noted classical conductor Leo Hussain. The newly formed band chose the name A Silent Film after lead singer Stevenson wrote a song using the melody from a song from a Charlie Chaplin film; [2] the band agreed they liked the style and chose the name as a reference to Chaplin's many silent films. The band released their first recording in 2007, an EP titled The Projectionist. [9] They performed on the BBC Introducing Stage at Glastonbury in 2007. [10]
The original UK version of the album, produced by Sam Williams, [3] contains 11 tracks. A reviewer compared the album to the music of Coldplay and described it as "catchy and accessible". [5] The single "You Will Leave a Mark" was number one in the Sunday Times Culture magazine's Hottest Downloads chart. [11] It was featured as an iTunes Discovery Download and has been downloaded over 110,000 times. [12] It was also nominated for the XFM New Music Award. [13]
After the album's release, the band toured the UK and then Portugal where they quickly became popular. [12] After a matter of weeks, "You Will Leave a Mark" reached the top of the Portuguese download singles charts, followed by the album soon after. [12] The band have played and toured with OneRepublic, Scouting for Girls, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Temper Trap, Sleigh Bells, Biffy Clyro, Fitz and the Tantrums, Civil Twilight, Athlete [14] and Blue October.
In 2010 The City That Sleeps was re-released in the US with two alternate tracks, [12] "Driven By Their Beating Hearts" and "Firefly in My Window". "Aurora" was featured on Linkin Park's iTunes celebrity playlist podcast. [15] Multiple appearances on MTV's The Hills, [16] The Hard Times of R J Berger, [17] Investigation Discovery [18] and an appearance on the Rockband video game [19] all helped to raise awareness of the band in the US. "You Will Leave a Mark" topped numerous national radio most-requested playlists, [20] picking up first place at the Sirius Alt Nation awards for Best in Studio Performance and ranked No. 4 for Song of the Year behind only Mumford & Sons, The Black Keys, and Vampire Weekend. [21] The song also peaked at No. 38 on Billboard's Hot Modern Rock Tracks. [22] The band successfully performed to a capacity room at SXSW in March 2011. [23]
A Silent Film released their album Sand & Snow on 5 June 2012. The self-produced album contains 11 tracks, with three additional songs on the bonus edition. It has been praised for its musical depth and creativity and has a notably stronger electronic influence than their first album. [24] The album produced two hit singles, “Danny, Dakota & the Wishing Well” and “Harbour Lights.” [25] The album peaked at No. 38 on the Top Heatseekers chart in 2013. [26] Following Sand & Snow's release, the band announced their appearance at Firefly Music Festival in Delaware alongside Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Foster The People, Vampire Weekend, and many more.
On 21 April 2015, A Silent Film released their EP New Year. The EP was self-produced, in collaboration with Matt Wilcox, and was mixed by The City that Sleeps producer Sam Williams. Recorded in a rustic studio on a pecan farm just outside El Paso, Texas, New Year expands on the cinematic alternative rock of 2012's Sand & Snow and 2010's The City that Sleeps. The song "Tomorrow" has been praised for its strong storytelling quality, depth, and power. [27]
After the EP's release, the band started their Secret Rooms tour, giving 12 intimate performances in non-traditional venues throughout the U.S., revealed to ticket buyers just days before each show. The tour completely sold out. Using only production elements designed and hand-crafted by the band themselves, A Silent Film transformed unique spaces such as a historic recording studio, an abandoned warehouse, and even an old silent movie production studio, into unique, in-the-round concert venues. With only 50 guests each night, the band was within arms-reach of every audience member, allowing for a high level of intimacy and interaction between the band and fans. The entire tour was documented by noted videographer Luca Venter and videos of the performances were posted for those who couldn't attend.
A Silent Film announced their return on 16 October 2015 with the follow-up to the critically acclaimed Sand & Snow: the new full-length studio album A Silent Film. The self-titled album will be released on the band's own label, Silent Songs. Produced by the band's Robert Stevenson and Spencer Walker, with assistance from Matthew Wilcox (Foster the People, Bethel Music), the 11 track album was recorded in A Silent Film's hometown of Oxford, UK over a five-week period.
After 3 albums, multiple charting singles, festival appearances at Corona Capital and Firefly, supporting tours with OneRepublic, the Temper Trap and Smashing Pumpkins, and over 20 million streams of their songs, Robert and ASF co-founder Spencer Walker decided to take an indefinite break from the band in 2018 to pursue other creative and personal priorities.
Title | Album details |
---|---|
The City That Sleeps |
|
Sand & Snow |
|
A Silent Film |
|
Title | Album details |
---|---|
The Projectionist (EP) |
|
You Will Leave a Mark |
|
Tomorrow (Single) |
|
New Year (EP) |
|
Lightning Strike (Single) |
|
Coheed and Cambria are an American progressive rock band from Nyack, New York, formed in 1995. The band consists of Claudio Sanchez, Travis Stever, Josh Eppard, and Zach Cooper. The group's music incorporates aspects of progressive rock, pop, heavy metal, and post-hardcore.
Feeder are a British rock band formed in Newport in 1994. They have released 11 studio albums, 12 compilations, four EPs and 43 singles, spending a combined total of 184 weeks on the singles and albums charts as of 2019, while accumulating 25 top 75 singles between 1997 and 2012. At the peak of their commercial success, Feeder won two Kerrang! Awards in 2001 and 2003; they were inducted into their Hall of Fame in August 2019.
Snow Patrol are a rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland. The band consists of Gary Lightbody, Nathan Connolly, and Johnny McDaid ; Lightbody is the band's sole remaining original member.
Underoath is an American rock band from Tampa, Florida. It was founded by lead vocalist Dallas Taylor and guitarist Luke Morton in 1997 in Ocala, Florida; subsequently, its additional members were from Tampa, including drummer, clean vocalist and last remaining core member Aaron Gillespie. The band's current lineup consists of Gillespie, keyboardist Christopher Dudley, lead guitarist Timothy McTague, bassist Grant Brandell, and lead vocalist Spencer Chamberlain. Originally, the band identified as a Christian group; they have since distanced themselves from Christianity.
Silverstein is a Canadian rock band from Burlington, Ontario, formed in 2000. Their band name is a reference to the famous children's author Shel Silverstein, whom the band had admired and whose work they had read as children. They have released a total of 11 studio albums, seven EPs, a compilation album and a live DVD/CD. Their lineup remained unchanged for eleven years from December 2001 to September 2012, then consisting of lead vocalist Shane Told, lead guitarist Neil Boshart, rhythm guitarist Josh Bradford, bassist Billy Hamilton, and drummer Paul Koehler. In September 2012, the band had announced that Neil Boshart had been fired and would be replaced by Paul Marc Rousseau, who also joined Billy Hamilton on backing vocals. The band achieved moderate success with their second studio album, Discovering the Waterfront, which was nominated for a Juno Award and reached No. 34 on the Billboard 200 charts, with the following two albums charting at similar positions. Silverstein has sold over 1,000,000 albums worldwide.
Scott William Matthew is a singer-songwriter born in Queensland, Australia. He was a member of alternative pop band Elva Snow (2001–2006), which he co-founded with Spencer Cobrin. On 7 March 2008 he issued his solo debut eponymous album. His second album, There Is an Ocean That Divides, appeared on 24 April 2009. On 10 June 2011, Matthew followed with his third album, Gallantry's Favorite Son. He resides and performs as an independent artist in New York City.
Air Traffic are an English alternative rock band from Bournemouth signed to EMI Records. Formed in 2003, the band consists of Chris Wall, David Ryan Jordan (Drums), Tom Pritchard (guitar) and Jim Maddock.
The Dykeenies are a Scottish indie rock band from Cumbernauld, formed in 2005. The group consists of brothers Brian Henderson and Andrew Henderson, along with Steven Ramsay and John Kerr. Since their formation, they have released one studio album, Nothing Means Everything, accompanied by three singles. After a worldwide tour, the band began work on their second album, which was released in October 2011. They broke up in January 2012, before re-forming for two performances in 2017. The Dykeenies released their EP 'I Wanted To Show Her All The Beautiful Things in the World' on 11 May 2018. The title of the 2018 EP was taken from Bret Ellis-Easton's 'American Psycho'.
"Signal Fire" is a song from Irish alternative rock band Snow Patrol, appearing on the soundtrack of the film Spider-Man 3, released on 24 April, 30 April, 2 May and 14 May 2007, depending on the region. It was the only single released from the soundtrack. It was recorded at Grouse Lodge and was produced by long-time Snow Patrol producer Jacknife Lee. The song was also initially offered to Shrek the Third.
The discography of Snow Patrol, an alternative rock band from Northern Ireland and based in Dundee, Scotland, consists of seven studio albums, thirty-one singles, eight extended plays, three compilation albums and one live DVD. Snow Patrol was formed in 1994 by Gary Lightbody, Michael Morrison and Mark McClelland under the name Shrug. They released an extended play (EP) titled The Yogurt vs. Yogurt Debate. Morrison left in 1995, and the band changed their name to Polarbear. Under this name they released their other EP, Starfighter Pilot, on the Electric Honey label. Drummer Jonny Quinn joined in 1997 and the band signed to Jeepster Records the same year. They then underwent their final name change to Snow Patrol. The band's first two studio albums: Songs for Polarbears and When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up were released in 1998 and 2001 respectively, but failed to do well commercially. Subsequently, the band was dropped by the label.
A Hundred Million Suns is the fifth album by Scottish-Northern Irish alternative rock band Snow Patrol. The album was written by Snow Patrol and was produced by longtime producer Jacknife Lee, who has previously produced albums for Bloc Party, R.E.M., and U2. The songs were recorded through the summer of 2008 in Hansa Studios in Berlin and Grouse Lodge Studios in Ireland. The album was released in Ireland on 24 October 2008, on 25 October in Australia, on 27 October in the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe and in the US on 28 October.
"Crack the Shutters" is a song from Scottish alternative rock band Snow Patrol's fifth album A Hundred Million Suns. It was released as the follow-up single to "Take Back the City" on different dates in December 2008 depending on the region, and was the second single taken from the album. The lyrics were written by Gary Lightbody and the music was composed by Snow Patrol. The song was described by lyricist Lightbody as the purest love song he'd ever written. The single was received generally positively by music critics, the lyrics and vocals being praised in particular.
Miike Snow is a Swedish indie pop band formed in 2007. The band consists of producing team Bloodshy & Avant and American singer Andrew Wyatt. The band is often represented by a silhouette image of a jackalope. In their career, the band has released three studio albums: Miike Snow (2009), Happy to You (2012), and iii (2016).
Owl City is an American electronic music project created in 2007 in Owatonna, Minnesota. It is one of several projects by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Young, who created the project while experimenting with music in his parents' basement. Owl City developed a following on the social networking site MySpace, like many musicians who achieved success in the late 2000s, before signing with Universal Republic Records, now Republic Records, in 2008.
"Just Say Yes" is a song by Northern Irish alternative rock band Snow Patrol, released as the single to follow "The Planets Bend Between Us" in October–November 2009, depending on the region. The song, produced by Jacknife Lee, is one of the three new songs, and the lead single from the compilation Up to Now. The lyrics were written by Gary Lightbody and the music was composed by Snow Patrol. "Just Say Yes" has its origins as a song written for pop singer Gwen Stefani, who rejected it. Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls was then given permission by Lightbody to record it for her solo debut album, which was later shelved.
eagleowl are a Scottish lo-fi, indie folk band from Edinburgh, Scotland.
The City That Sleeps is the debut studio album by alternative rock band A Silent Film. First released in the UK, it was followed up with a US version two years later containing two alternate tracks for American audiences.
Augustines was an American indie rock band based in Brooklyn, New York consisting of guitarist William McCarthy, multi-instrumentalist Eric Sanderson and drummer Rob Allen. Augustines were known for their intense shows and heavy interaction with the audience. Numerous shows saw the band leave the stage to perform on the floor with the fans.
Silent Planet is an American metalcore band formed in Azusa, California, in 2009. Their name is derived from C. S. Lewis' science fiction novel Out of the Silent Planet. The group consists of vocalist Garrett Russell, guitarist Mitchell Stark, drummer Alex Camarena and bassist Nick Pocock. They are currently signed to Solid State Records and have released five studio albums. Their latest studio album, Superbloom, was released on November 3, 2023.