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The Silencers
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THE SILENCERS
A Night of Electric Silence
For the first time , the Best of the ledgendary scottish band live !
THE SILENCERS were formed by Jimme O'Neill in London in 1986. Their first single "Painted Moon" was and still is regarded as a "classic"; was a hit in America and then in Europe. For the first couple of years the band toured constantly gaining great reviews for their brand of Celtic rock - comparisons were made with U2 and Simple Minds - but discerning critics pointed to the melodic side of the band, the song structures and the lyrics - powerful and emotional, ironic, vulnerable and witty. Indeed the French rock press seemed to understand exactly what O'Neill was doing. It was a hybrid sound from many sources - Beatles, Velvet Underground, R&B and late sixties pop. The first album, A LETTER FROM ST PAUL, put the band on the map and still sounds great today !
The making of the first album took its toll, however, when lead guitarist Cha Burns had a brain haemorragea during recording. The album was fraught with difficulties but Cha recovered to do his bit in the studio.
After tours of America and Europe the band recorded their second album A BLUES FOR BUDDHA. It was a more atmospheric, more spontaneous sound and contained great songs like "Answer Me", "Scottish Rain" and a song that became one of their 'anthems' : "The Real McCoy". The joy of being out on a Friday night in Glasgow (O'Neill's birthplace) was captured perfectly in this uplifting Celtic soul ballad. "Tearing Down The Walls Of Troy" was a reference to the religious differences which still divide the city.
The band were then pitched into a major European tour supporting the Simple Minds and consolidated their growing army of fans by more than holding their own with their scintillating performances. In Europe they played some legendary gigs including one in Besançon in France where the bouncing audience threatened to collapse the dancefloor. The cancellation of the show caused a riot calmed only when the group promised to return and when they did months later they were greeted like conquering heroes.
The constant touring and pressure to try to stay ahead of the game and not least the financial insecurity (the band were being basically ignored in England by radio and press) caused a split during rehearsals for that always difficult third album. Out of the blue the rhythm section left. Undaunted O'Neill turned the situation to advantage (an aries trait) and by experimenting and going to places musically they wouldn't have dreamed of going before, adding a fiddle player and a funkier looser rhythm section, masterminded the third album DANCE TO THE HOLY MAN - a very different animal had emerged and while there were gems like "I Want You" - a Celtic love song with an African lilt, the "heavy" was "Bulletproof Heart" a song O'Neill had recorded with his previous group the new wave Fingerprintz. Bulletproof is a dark ironic love song-echoes of the conflict in the north of Ireland weaved with a world weary realisation of the fragile nature of relationships. After a slow start the song became the bands biggest hit in Europe. The yoh yoh yoh refrain being sang along to enthusiastically by delirious fans. For the tour the band was supplemented by another singer Jinky Gilmour. O'Neill explains "I felt we could use some help in the vocal department - a lot of my songs had strong harmonies - Jinky was a good friend and I intended to bring him more to the fore in the future." A painting by Jimme was used for the cover and the manic "outsider" images perfectly complemented the change in the music.
In Britain the bands bad luck continued - radio decided the song was a bit controversial - the Gulf War began on the week of release and anything with "bullets" in the title was "discouraged". Despite this, DANCE TO THE HOLY MAN became the biggest selling album for the band mainly due to the great live concerts the band did at this time especially in France and Spain. "I don't really know why we were more accepted in Europe - our songs were perfectly programmable on their radio - Britain was either Ultrapop a la Stock, Aitken and Waterman or more Indie and then because of our higher profile over there we could afford to tour and that was impossible in England."
Now, despite hazving a fan base in Scotland and Europe the band were under pressure with their record company. They were in the usual "debt trap" so common in the music business. In fact a delegation from BMG London came to see the band live in Edinburgh with the intention of dropping them but were so knocked out by the show that it paved the way for SECONDS OF PLEASURE : the fourth album. "I Can Feel It" opened the album up and it was "a great pop blast of positive noise". The spirit of the live concerts was now becoming a part of the whole. Recorded in Glasgow for O'Neill this was a crucial turning point. "I realised that I could produce the records myself at a fraction of the cost we had incurred in the past and this led me into thinking about not just the record but the whole situation - despite significant successes we were totally broke and always under the thumb of the record company."
More tours followed - "I remember an interview with Jim Morrison where he said he would like to make music that was an "explosion of pure joy because their stuff was kinda gloomy." Well during gigs at this time that's exactly what The Silencers were doing. A lot of my songs were introspective but despite myself I began to love live performance - therapy I suppose - we create a very positive vibe - it's not very trendy but ask the audiences if they enjoy themselves. Also we take the attitude that if we're having fun then so do the fans - I suppose its a Celtic thing - we like a party !
The press was re-thinking their original appraisal of the band as U2/Simple Mind soundalikes and some glowing reviews followed. The songs were anthemic yes - but filled with soul and poetry and the unpretentious attitude of the boys was more in common with punk than stadium rock.
They finally parted company with BMG London in 1995 but signed to the French for another album the prophetically titled SO BE IT followed by a Best Of BLOOD AND RAIN in 1996. With no financial support Jinky left.
"It was time anyway to rethink our whole operation - music was changing again and I wanted the chance to re-invent myself. There was new technology around - the internet was happening and a lot of interesting things were going on musically. I was re-reading Kerouac, Burroughs and Bukowski and started writing some more experimental things. We had done some festivals in Europe so with the money leftover began some recording. For the first time since the Silencers started I managed to put a little demo studio together. Aura my daughter had sang on SO BE IT...on the track "Wild Mountain Thyme" which had become a bit of a classic in Scotland as it was used in an advertising campaign for the Scottish tourist board and she joined as a permanent member - it was an organic change and seemed to be natural - Aura has a unique voice - its very emotional yet understated - part Tracy Chapman part Debby Harry. She gets better all the time and is going to have lots of fans.
Some of the new tracks were recorded as if this was a different band. I wanted to forget about everything we'd done before and some of what came out reminded me of FINGERPRINTZ - new wave for the nineties ! Shirley Manson had toured France with us when she was in Goodbye Mr Mackenzie and she was becoming a superstar with Garbage which was fantastic. Surprisingly, however, the Celtic thing started intruding and the songs began to take on a slightly different identity. Where we're at now is a shameless hybrid of influences which shouldn't really work but does !"
Joined by MILLA on fiddle which brings a Celtic flavour back into the band the new Silencers have made their most innovative and exciting album to date. "For the first time we've created our product ourselves with only ourselves in mind. Artwork, photos, everything. I've no idea what people will make of it but I don't really care. I know what its taken to pull all this together. There's a lot of listening in this album - if you can be bothered - a lot of care and attention went into it but I hope its still fresh. Whatever - I'm really happy with it and also we've created a model for the future." This model have been titled "RECEIVING" and is the Silencers seventh album to date !

2001 : The Glasgow mavericks are back ! And they're playing louder, faster and better than ever !

"A NIGHT OF ELECTRIC SILENCE" is not only the Silencers' first live recording... but it's also a engagingly sweaty compilation drawing on all six albums of their brilliant career. As you'd expect, it's fabulous ! The Silencers are a band of intuitive sensitivity, Jim McDermott, drums, Stevie Kane, bass, Phil Kane, keyboards, James O'Neill, guitar and an irresistible girlie contribution : Milla on violin and vocals by Aura - who is also Jimme's daughter !

On this CD they recapture the power of O'Neill's most memorable tracks : "Painted Moon", "Bulletproof Heart", "I Can Feel It", "Wild Mountain Thyme", "The Real McCoy"... before closing the set with an eye-opening acoustic version of Serge Gainsbourg's "La Chanson de Prévert". Bone-shaking, soul-stirring and festive, this live opus is pure energy and fun. This essential CD, recorded in Glasgow in january 2000, captures them at their peak. The good news is, it feels like the "new" SILENCERS have only just begun !