Cambridge has proven very fertile ground for bands over the years, it’s dreaming spires and gently rolling punts seeing a whole slew of musicians enjoying their old-world charms whilst looking forward to much noisier pursuits.
The latest in this long line of artists is four-piece Silence And Company whose own brand of bluesy hard rock, heavily infused with a wonderfully rustic commercial edge, has seen them making waves far beyond the ripples of the Cam.
In the space of a few short months of forming, the band have seen themselves winning a major songwriting award for their debut single ‘This Ain’t A Blues Song’, releasing an EP and playing to packed out venues both locally and further afield.
With a constantly evolving writing style the band have brought a much heavier feel and brought this to play with their previous elements, managing to record three new tracks just before the lockdown happened. Singer, songwriter and guitarist Jake Wix is gives us a view into his world at the moment.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQR7hZvoMeo&w=560&h=315]First off, and most importantly: How are you doing?
I’m doing good, me and my girlfriend who are both musicians in Silence And Company (and other projects) have just moved into our new house so that’s been keeping us busy and indoors. We’re also very glad that all of our family has been taking lockdown and quarantine very seriously!
How have you been keeping yourself busy?
Well as I said me and my girlfriend have just moved to a new house which has taken up a lot of time but I’m also a session guitarist and have my own guitar-based YouTube channel so between all of that I’ve stayed busy!
Have you been doing any online live shows or seen any good ones?
Silence And Company collectively decided that because we were between releases and also because the online live stream show market was so so full that we’d wait and continue writing and recording and focus on that.
Have you had to change your way of writing material?
We usually write all together so it has been challenging but luckily there is plenty of ways using technology to send demos to each other.
Do you keep in touch with your fellow bandmates / other musicians much?
It’s very easy not to stay in touch or lose track in time during lockdown. We usually see each other a couple of times a week but obviously that hasn’t been possible. We’ve tried our best to stay in contact through social media with our band mates and management. We’re very much looking forward to being able to see each other again, even with social distancing rules observed.
What plans have you had to change this year?
It’s basically been cancelling all shows and pushing back our EP release. That’s obviously really bad for morale but it has to be done to stay safe. Like I said before we’re just increasing our writing output and preparing for next year!
What do you think of the social distancing gigs (like the one that happened in Kansas recently – 229 people in a 1,100-seat venue) or the thought of drive-in gigs as has just been announced by Live Nation?
Personally, I would rather go to a venue that can only have half capacity than go to a drive-in show and have to stay in my car. But having talked to friends and family it seems to be 50/50 so it looks like they’re be takers for both options.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq773_BRoAQ&w=560&h=315]How do you think the music industry will have changed after this period of lockdown?
I think it’s going to be absolute carnage when everything gets up and running again. They’ll be even less money in the industry from the top down, there’s barely any money in it for unsigned acts anyway. It’s going to be very hard to book shows as everyone will be trying to get up and running again and festival applications will only increase.
What plans have you got for when the isolation finishes and gigs start back up again?
We’re going to hold back and not jump straight in with everyone else. We’re to keep rehearsing and create the best live experience we can for everyone. We’ll also hopefully do more recording so we can release something really special as well.
How can people support you during this time?
We’ve been very lucky with the amount of support we’ve received from our fans. Also, I would stay is please keep streaming our songs, watching and music videos and following us on social media.
https://www.facebook.com/silenceandco/
Interview by Paul Monkhouse for MPM
