OCTOBER 10th 2018
THE SILENCER EXCLUSIVE
The Silencer who just released a brand new single/music video, which can be viewed here: “Within.” The Silencer is the brainchild of former Julius Seizure frontman and Will Killmore drummer Charlie Corletta. Initially as a side project, Charlie developed The Silencer to collaborate with other musicians. Through the years, Charlie has released a slew of heavy hits, but nothing like “Within.”
The single explored an intricate storyline regarding the resounding interpersonal and positive nature of the lyrical content of today’s youth specifically, suicide, bullying, mental health, social media exploitation, and sexual harassment. Charlies expands, “I want people to know that between the conflicts of good and evil that plague most of us internally, there is an inner light within that can take us out of our darkest moments and into positive self actualization.” In addition, The Silencer has partnered with Artists United Against Bullying to continue the fight for a better tomorrow.
1: Can you tell us about the band and how you started?
The Silencer started off as a solo project a few years ago when I was in between bands. I wanted to have an outlet for writing a releasing my own music. Now the band is a full time band playing life shows releasing songs on a more continuous bases. It's nice to have bandmates who believe in my cause and allow me the freedom to guide the ship correctly.
The Silencer started off as a solo project a few years ago when I was in between bands. I wanted to have an outlet for writing a releasing my own music. Now the band is a full time band playing life shows releasing songs on a more continuous bases. It's nice to have bandmates who believe in my cause and allow me the freedom to guide the ship correctly.
2: You have a new single out called "Within". Can you tell us about the writing of that track.
“Within” is actually the first single for The Silencer where I incorporated the writing efforts of the other members. The process was very organic with Greg, Dave and Zaki all contributing in a great way. The recording of the single was a blast too seeing as how drummer Zaki Ali engineered it. We all have a great sense of imagination and vision so there is no limit to what’s possible when writing and recording.
“Within” is actually the first single for The Silencer where I incorporated the writing efforts of the other members. The process was very organic with Greg, Dave and Zaki all contributing in a great way. The recording of the single was a blast too seeing as how drummer Zaki Ali engineered it. We all have a great sense of imagination and vision so there is no limit to what’s possible when writing and recording.
3: The "Within" video deals with a girl going through some pretty rough times. Can you tell us about the shooting of the video and how it came about concept wise.
The main character who is actually played by my little cousin Gerri deals with a lot in the video. She is bullied, sexually harassed and at one point deals with the thoughts of Suicide. When we were in the process of writing “Within” there was a lot about bullying, school shootings, suicide and mental health all over the media. One night I was watching the music video for Pearl Jam’s Jeremy. It deals with a troubled youth who inevitably takes his own life.The video spoke to my generation when I was younger. Now I see many in my generation taking their own life or suffering from mental illness. It made me wonder what things might have been like if my generation was exposed to a more optimistic approach when trying to convey a powerful message. I then looked at the issues kids today are faced with and why school shootings or suicide have been so predominate. The song was already about the battle between light and dark within ourselves, the struggles we find when fighting the good and evil in us all. After thinking about everything that was going on and seeing the Jeremy video I wanted to take a slightly different approach where the troubled teen doesn’t take their life but instead finds that inner light within herself in the face of trouble to do the right thing and keep on living. I wanted to use a female as the main character because I feel in suicide we tend to focus a lot on the public eye on what males are going through without stopping to think about females as well. The are often the victims of abuse as well.
4: When writing your music what inspiration or inspirations do you draw from?
4: When writing your music what inspiration or inspirations do you draw from?
I draw inspiration from just about everything I hear and see. I believe this is why The Silencer has such a diverse sound that is hard to characterize. There are so many different genres, and sounds within each song while the overall sound still sounds like The Silencer. I take inspiration from bands I listened to growing up like In Flames, Death, Carcass, At The Gates, Shadows Fall, as well as bands I got into later in life like Silverstein, Gorjira, Killswitch Engage, Deftones, not to mention the pioneers like Metallica, Megadeth, Testament, Slayer, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest Guns and Roses and Motörhead.However Metal isn’t the only thing that inspires me. Singer songwriters like Amos Lee, City and Coloure, Prince, and bands like Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden have all played a role in inspiring my style. The biggest things that inspire and motivate me are my inner feels or emotions as well as particular life circumstances. We all have stories to tell and emotions to let out so I use my music as the creative voice to do that. Another huge inspiration for me is seeing other artists live and traveling.
5: How long does it take to write a complete song that you're satisfied with?
There really isn’t a time frame. Some songs have taken a long time. For instance the single “In Waiting” came from a collection of riffs and Ideas I had for the past 15 years, and didn’t actually come to completion until I was trying to actually write a rap song. One night I realized the syncopation and rhythmic scheme of the words flowed perfectly with a few of those doarment riffs. Next thing I knew the song was completed in about a week.
Our brand new single and video for “Die Trying” that was just released actually came together in just under two weeks. I was hired by Evolve Wrestling star Josh Briggs to write him an entrance theme. I told him I would do so if I could not just write the typical wrestler song but instead make it a single for The Silencer. I had a attack deadline to meet since he was debuting for Evolve Wrestling a short time later. I composed the song in a few days, took about three days to record it with Zaki Ali an BOOM a brand new single was born where The Silencer went back to the roots of it being like a slow project where I would write and record all the instruments and vocals only this time Zaki played drums. It's great that we are talking about “Within” but our new track is “Die Trying.” If you love straight forward zero to 100 metal, you’ll dig the song!
6: Do you have any musicians you look up to and if so why?
Of course, I look up to Dave Grohl, Prince, my friends in Gothenburg Metal band In Flames(past and present), Lemmy, and Chuck Schuldiner all because they’ve lived life on their terms and have made music that they are happy with first and foremost.
7: If you weren't in a band playing metal what would you being doing instead?
There isn’t anything else I’d be doing because this is what I am doing. Only thing I could really say to that is that I do what I love and make my passions fuel my life. Therefore there is no way I could ever see myself doing anything else. I will add that I work in the world of Professional Wrestling as well so I can see myself going further with that professionally but that still wouldn’t stop me from playing music and being on stage.
8: If you were to share a stage with any artist who would that be and why?
I would love to be in a super group situation where Dave Grohl was drumming, Slash and James Hetfield were playing guitar, Lemmy was playing bass and I would be singing. Other than that I’d just like to continue playing shows with some of my favorite bands. That way it's always a show even after you perform. Ideally I’d love to be on tour with bands like Unearth, In Flames, Beartooth, After The Burial, Life Of Agony, Bad Wolves, and Killswitch Engage.
9: Can you tell us about some of the plans you guys are doing as we head into the end of 2018?
Right now we just released a new video and single called “Die Trying.” It's the official entrance theme for Evolve Wrestling star Josh Briggs. The video is on YouTube and the single is available on iTunes and Spotify. Other than that we plan on hosting a few of our own shows in the local market, jump on some shows with friends, maybe open for a few bigger national bands and in the winter release a new single and video called “I, Archaic,”
10: Any final thoughts or message to the metal community you would like to share?
Please be open minded about music and artists. Some of the best bands and artists out there you’ll never discover or appreciate if you’re living in a bubble that only caters to the specific sub-genre of metal or hard rock you’ve become accustomed to consuming. There is so much good shit out there if you start to see the world in color and not just shades of grey. Open your mind and explore bands and artist that might originally make you or your friends uncomfortable. Listen to everything and anything with an open heart.