A Silent Film
Words by Sophie Eggleton
Consisting of four school and university friends, A Silent Film are garnering quite a following. Their piano based, melodic style breeds obvious comparisons but in reality there is something unique about the Oxfordians: their live performance being a surprise highlight of my gig calendar last year. You may not know their faces yet, but you’ve probably heard their music - they’ve been plugged by Steve Lamacq and XFM.
Sophie Eggleton interrupted singer/pianist Robert Stevenson for a chat…
Hello Robert, so what are you up to today?
Today I’ve disappeared to my secret hideout to write new songs. I find the only way to get what I want out of my writing is to go somewhere I can cut myself off and just concentrate. I have a piano, a guitar, one microphone and a laptop.
What does your daily routine involve?
Everyday is different at the moment. When I’m writing I don’t sleep well because my mind is buzzing with words and melodies. The rest of the time I’m restless because I have an intense guilt that I should be as busy as my friends who work 9 to 5. I try to eat well and I usually avoid going out.
Your album ‘The City That Sleeps’ was nominated for XFM’s New Music Award, and you gained an Honourable Mention as one of two acts to look out for in 2009. Do awards mean a lot you and do you think it’s helped your profile?
For a band of our stature it means a hell of a lot to be nominated for anything. We don’t have any big budget machine keeping us afloat, to be noticed and brought to the attention of XFM’s listeners is a big deal for us right now!
Steve Lamacq has also championed you. How did it feel to meet such a legend in the industry?
Steve is great, he truly listens to new music and has a great ear. In an interview he asked us our favourite songs off our album and I said ‘Feather White’ or ‘One Wrong Door’, thinking it was a great chance to show support for two weirder sounding songs that people who don’t have our album might not have heard. He had written those two on a piece of paper before the interview!
What is the hardest aspect of the industry?
Maintaining momentum is very difficult for a band like us. Everybody likes to be surprised and to hear something new and unexpected. When you’re in a band it’s your job to be one step ahead of yourself, if you drop the ball and relax you can watch the ‘industry’ move straight onto other bands at the blink of an eye.
Tell me about your writing process - what inspires you, where do you like to write, is it completely collaborative?
Inspiration comes in the strangest forms. I’ve found myself staring at the piano for days with nothing, only to be swept off my feet by a seemingly random incident. I find watching the news on television good, reading about history on the internet, sometimes identifying with a character in a film.
People love to hate bands such as Keane, do you worry about such comparisons?
We don’t worry at all, we are who we are. We know what feels right to us and in time will carve out our own niche, for now we have to put up with people using other bands as a reference point because the Great British public hasn’t a clue what we sound like.
You were chosen by Emily Eavis and the BBC to perform on the Introducing Stage at Glastonbury, was it a daunting experience?
Not at all, it was exhilarating to be asked to play Glastonbury. I think if we were daunted by that sort of thing we’d be in the wrong game.
‘You Will Leave The Mark’ was chosen for TV advertising campaign for the launch of UKTV’s new channel WATCH. Was it thrilling to hear your music on TV?
Absolutely, it was fun for a few weeks having the advert come on in the middle of some boring mid-week cop drama. The response we had from people reacting to the song was fantastic, it seemed for a moment we had slid across to popular culture in a way that we hadn’t imagined before.
You have gigged with British bands the Mystery Jets, Scouting for Girls and Athlete. Did you socialize much or learn anything from each-other?
We get on really well with everyone we play with, sometimes bigger bands prefer to keep to themselves so you have to respect that. Mystery Jets and Athlete were nice guys, Scouting for Girls we didn’t ever meet.
You have been supporting One Republic, what’s it like to tour with an international band? Is it important to you to be a fan of the people you support?
The One Republic tour was a highlight of last year for us, they were so so welcoming and all their crew were great. While their music definitely hadn’t entered my radar before, we watched them play most nights and although I see what you’re getting at I would say yes! I’m a fan of those guys!
Any funny tour stories to tell?
We stole Drew from One Republic back to Oxford one night and took him for a good ol’ pub crawl. He’s American, he needs a bit of culture.
You produced most of your own material, such as ‘The Projectionist’, but ‘The City That Sleeps’ was produced by Sam Williams. What did he bring to the table?
Sam has an incredible positive force that rubs off on everyone around. He came to some rehearsals and made some suggestions, the kind of suggestions that seem pretty small but a change here and a change there, you listen to the song back and it just feels better. He also took us to the right studios and people to record the album the way we wanted to.
You have used a lot of visuals on stage in the past, something that isn’t possible as a support act. How will you incorporate it in your own headline shows in the future?
We don’t have any plans right now to use a big visual element in the live show, that was to accompany our release of ‘The Projectionist’ we did a group of gigs which culminated in a final show down at a cinema in Oxford. We’re always keen to try new ideas though, I wouldn’t rule anything out in the future.
So many people recall seeing you in small venues around Oxford, has your rise involved a lot of grafting?
Perhaps it could be described as ‘grafting’ but we don’t see it that way; it’s what we enjoy doing. I hope that comes across to anyone who has come to our shows or listened to our album.
Was there ever point when you thought you’d have to give it all up?
Well we all hold down jobs at the moment so I wouldn’t say we have anything to give up,
As the venues get bigger do you miss the intimacy of your earlier gigs?
Not really, we like to play to audiences big or small. Both have their merits and we’re not out of the woods yet by any means. Even if we left the small club circuit behind, we could go to America and do it all over again.
What’s been the highlight of your career so far?
Seeing our first album through to release.
What’s next for you?
We’ll carry on touring a bit this summer then write a second album, see if we can do better than the first.
Are you doing any festivals this summer?
Hopefully lots and lots, but it’s too early to say.
What is your dream collaboration?
Neil Young (stupid I know) or maybe someone like Jay Z, I like the idea of collaborating with someone who has a different background to us.
Lastly, what are you listening to at the moment?
TV on the Radio.
http://www.myspace.com/asilentfilm
http://www.asilentfilm.bigcartel.com
http://www.asilentfilm.com/
Posted Tue, March 31, 2009