SilentLie
Iinterview conducted Aug. 23, 2022
By Dan Locke
“Equilibrium” is their sophomore full-length to follow 2015’s “Layers of Nothing”. It was mixed in the U.S.A. by Grammy Award winner Dave Hagen at Dark Horse Studios (Mastodon, Evanescence, Alice in Chains).
Always drawn to the dark side of emotions, “Equilibrium” proceeds along this path. It stands on modern heavy tones and an obscure mood that can be compared to bands like Ghost, Ozzy Osbourne, and The Cure. Spreading their dark wings, drums, and bass, SilentLie builds a wall of sound on which the guitars dance with tombstone keys while a powerful female voice embraces the listener with gritty, but catchy melodies. Many of the songs on the album, thematically, deal with the eternal struggle between good and evil, with lyrics introspective and personal. There’s a maturity to the music that acts as a pendulum swinging between 80s liquid verses and gloomy, almost doomy, parts.
What was your upbringing like?
Luigi Pressacco.: I was born in Trieste, Italy, a beautiful town by the sea. I had a strict but inspiring upbringing, thanks to my young parents. They gave me the basic references while leaving me free to go my own way. I ended up becoming an electronic engineer and musician.
How did you discover music?
Music was always played in my home since I was born. My father had lots of vinyls that I started to play when I was a child.
How did you start to write music?
Right after I started learning to play. I always felt the need to play something of my own.
How did you start the band?
Me and Giorgia were very close friends. Later Davide and Andrea joined the band becoming officially part of the family. Established in 2005, we were influenced by the rising male fronted Gothic-Rock movement. But having each member very different background, we soon decided to follow the hardest path be ourselves. So, we started to write solid riffs, heavy songs with lot of melody and dark atmospheres.
How the band did get its name?
We wanted a name sounding like a devious and unexpected concept
What was your first performance as a band?
We played our first gig in a venue close to our hometown. It was Halloween, the perfect day for a band like SilentLie. It has been very intense and primordial.
Describe your music.
Deep, heavy, obscure, gritty and passionate.
Royalties never appear like magic. Royalties are only sent to you through work undertaken by a PRO to ensure that their members are getting paid. If you’re not yet signed up to a Performing Right Organization like ASCAP, BMI or SESAC, you may not be receiving all the royalties you deserve.
Do you belong to any to songwriters’ organizations like the International singer-songwriter association, SESAC, BMI or ASCAP ?
No, we are not part of any of those organizations.
What makes a good songwriter?
You need to have something to say, something to feel and believe in your work.
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
The very first song I wrote was called “Walking in the city”, I was ten. I recorded the song live on a tape. It was so childish!
What is the process of writing your music?
It’s a quite standard process. I write the music while Giorgia lyrics and vocals. Keyboards are added by Davide and then we arrange every song all together.
Tell me about “Something to Remember”?
It’s the first single released, is a hymn to seizing the moment. It features a good pace which culminates in a great refrain. One of our best songs, definitely.
Tell me about the sophomore full length album, “Equilibrium”?
Which come out in September.
“Equilibrium” is a collection of 10 heavy songs, a journey in the dark without fear. The album stands on modern heavy tones, a musical mood that can be compared to bands like Ghost, with powerful female voice and gritty but catchy melodies. The album has been mixed in USA by Grammy Award winner Dave Hagen at Dark Horse Studios (Evanescence, Alice in Chains, Mastodon). It’s not the typical female fronted album.
Why so long between albums?
We took a long break to pursue other personal projects, mainly musical and personal life.
How was working with Dave Hagen?
It was absolutely fantastic! Dave is an incredible person, everything was easy during the mix. He seemed to be able to read our minds. He really did a great job on the album.
How does the album different from the last one?
“Layers of nothing” featured dark/gothic influences with some old fashioned Sabbath riffing. The new material reveals a more focused sound with a blasting production. It’s deep, heavy and gritty with a dark outline.
What are your feelings about streaming music?
Whether you like it or not that’s how it works now. On the one hand it makes it easy for you to discover great new bands, on the other hand it makes the enjoyment of music much more superficial and quick
The symbol # is known as the number sign, hash, pound sign and a sharp sign in music. The symbol has historically been used for a wide range of purposes Since 2007, widespread usage of the symbol to introduce metadata tags on social media platforms has led to such tags being known as “hashtags”, and from that, the symbol itself is sometimes called a hashtag.
Are people forgetting that the # is a part of music?
Absolutely. I think now only those who study music know the meaning of #.
Digital vs. vinyl?
Now it has become the struggle between good and evil. In my opinion, vinyl is fine for music up to the late 1980s and for certain retro rock recorded with vintage equipment. Recent, powerful productions sound better with digital.
What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, what is the meaning that song means to you?
“Snowblind”, Black Sabbath. I remember the first time I put my dad’s vinyl on the turntable and Snowblind came on with that crazy riff…He looked at me with a satanic grin and said, “Listen to that!” I was completely blown away by it.
If “Video Killed the Radio Star” do you think that the Covid-19 virus has killed live music? Do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
Considering that most bands have to tour to make money, surely Covid has done great damage. For the near future I think the situation will gradually return to normal. People want to see real concerts under the stage.
Do you think that Covid-19 has been a plus to an artist’s career?
I don’t think so. There was more time available, but in such an oppressive situation I don’t know how many of us had good inspiration.
How do you stay healthy during the lockdown?
Mainly staying at home, walking with my family in the nearby woods, and when necessary using all the necessary safety equipment.
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
I took the opportunity to renovate part of the house.
Live Nation Entertainment – the corporate parent of Ticketmaster and a dominant force in the entertainment industry was able to get many of the funds which were met for smaller Venuses. Because these venues were not able to get access to these funds. Many of them went out of business still protected.
Live Nation as a parent company did not directly receive any money from the program, but the government relief to its subsidiaries still protected its investments and improved its long-term outlook, however slightly. The earnings of its subsidiaries provide Live Nation with crucial cash flow and enable it to service its debt, it said in securities filings. The aid enabled the companies to pay staff and recover more quickly from the disruption, their executives said in interviews and emailed statements
In 2018 Live Nation purchased what it described at the time as a majority interest in Frank Productions, a Madison, Wis.-based concert venue promoter. Frank Productions’ operating company, Frank Productions Concerts LLC, received $10 million from the SBA grant program in July, the maximum amount possible. Both Frank Productions and Frank Productions Concerts are listed as Live Nation subsidiaries in the SEC filings.
Do you think it was fair for Live Nation to use their power within the lobbies of the congress to get money for their subsidiaries?
I can’t tell you that, I’m not very interested in what goes on behind the economy especially because most of the time it’s all deplorable.
How can bands keep their fans if they cannot play live in front of the fans and sell merchandise to them at the show?
Thanks to social media, bands can be virtually close to fans on a daily basis, and if they wish, fans can buy merch from anywhere in the world. The problem is for up-and-coming bands that need to build a following. Without touring it is definitely more difficult.
Is pay to play still a thing? Now pay to play also means thinks like playlist on the internet and opening slots for a major band on tour.
Yes. The business has changed and the way of making money is different. It is a perverse but in some ways inevitable mechanism.
What about Holographic concerts in our living room?
It’s something I’ve often fantasized about, but more so that I could witness past events again.
In the past, if a musician stops doing music they find a new career. For example David Lee Roth from Van Halen became a licensed EMT in NY for 6 years, San Spitz (guitarist for Anthrax) became a master watchmaker, Dee Snider (Twister Sister) voice over work for SpongeBob SquarePants..
If you can’t do music, what would you like to be doing?
I would continue to design tube guitar effects.
What is your happy place?
My home with family and the beautiful nature around us.
Red Hot Chili Peppers are about to sell their entire song catalog for $140 Million. In the past year a lot of musicians such as Stevie Nicks ($100 Million) , Bob Dylan (over $400 Million), Taylor Swift, Journey, Def Leppard, K.T. Tunstall, and Shakira have sold their catalog rights within the last year. Bob Dylan sold his entire catalog for a reported $300 million. Neil Young song 50 percent of his worldwide copyright and income interest in his 1,180-song catalogue to Hipnosis Songs Fund limited. Once you get to the age of about 70. Publishing is far more lucrative then the mechanical royalties paid to artist based on sales, airplay and streams. A good example of this is Michael Jackson brought the rights to the Beatles catalog in 1985. And in the late 80’s the Beatles Revolution appeared in a Nike commercial.
The lump sums being offered by publishing firms are more tax friendly concerning estate planning.
Do you think you would be willing to sale your back catalog if someone like Universal is will to buy everything, such as all the rights to all your songs?
At where we are now, I wouldn’t think twice about it, hahaha.
What is your feeling about TikTok? With Sony Music and Warner Music strucking an “expanded” global licensing agreement with Universal Music Group. Now that TikTok is now fully licensed by all three major record companies, will you start using TikTok more?
I personally do not use TikTok. If I do it will only be to give more visibility to the band.
Also, TikTok has launching TikTok Radio (ch. 4), a full-time SiriusXM music channel. The station will be available is vehicles and as a streaming channel on the SiriusXM App, desktop, and all connected devices.
The station will be part of a new TikTok collaboration with SiriusXM and its subsidiary, Pandora, to jointly promote emerging talent.
Do you think this platform could became a force in the future of streaming music?
Probably yes, for the younger generation.
They say create content content content. How does pre-save help with content
If you have good content, it is easier to get fans’ attention, and with pre-save you increase the chance of being heard. I don’t think pre-save helps with content anyway.
Anything you would like to say in closing.
We wish to thank Unrated Magazine for questions and opportunity given to talk about our new album “Equilibrium”. Horns up!
