INTERVIEW WITH THIEVES OF SILENCE

HELLO PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF AND DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC….

Hi, we are Thieves of Silence, a Brussels-based post punk band that formed in March 2010, just a group of young guys in love with the 80’s. As our music, we’d say…spontaneous, cold, and simple.

I UNDERSTOOD YOU’RE QUITE NEW, NOT?

Indeed, it’s been 5 months, we built our set in very few time.

WHEN I HEARD THIEVES OF SILENCE I WAS BLOWN AWAY BY YOUR SOUND,
THERE IS DEFINITELY A TOUCH OF JOY DIVISION AND WIRE IN IT….

We’re not really influenced by wire but we all have Joy Division as a common influence. Of course we like most of the 80’s new wave music; Killing Joke, Siouxie & The Banshees, Echo & The Bunnymen... but the way our sound came, was bit of an accident, it mainly came with Paul’s arrival in the band.

IF I HEAR YOUR MUSIC I CAN’T HELP IT IMAGINING THAT I’M IN 1979 OR SO WHICH IS ONLY A GOOD THING…

That’s because all the essential elements of our music come from that time, which we’re fans of.

IN 2010 THE TERM POST-PUNK IS USED IN EVERY REVIEW BUT IT ENDS UP IN BEING A CLONE FROM INTERPOL OR EDITORS, IT SEEMS LIKE THIEVES OF SILENCE ARE NOT IN THAT LEAGUE….

We listen to lots of bands on myspace, unfortunately too many of them qualify themselves as “post punk”. Nowadays, it’s a very misused word. Those guys keep the codes butthey have lost the spirit of this brilliant era. That being said, a part of Thieves of Silence really like post-punk revival bands like Interpol or Editors.

I KNOW IT’S A DIRTY QUESTION, BUT SO BE IT…
I LIKE YOUR SOUND AS IT’S SO RAW AND I HOPE YOU’LL NEVER MEET A PRODUCER WHO RUINS THAT SOUND!

Thank you very much! Actually that sound comes from the lack of means we have to record, everything is homemade on a computer, and we have very few knowledge about recording and stuff... everything happened so fast, we didn’t even think about it. Besides, if we ever have a producer, we won’t ever let him fuck our sound up. Anyway, we’d really like to stay autoproduced.

HOW COME THAT YOUNGSTERS LIKE YOU ARE IN LOVE WITH THE SOUND OF THE 80’S?

Paul grew up with New Order and Sisters of Mercy, his first concert was Depeche Mode, he was 10, his father mainly influenced him, and we can say that’s almost the same thing for Forster. Pablo and Quentin discovered The Cure as teenagers, moreover, it’s at a Cure concert, at the Sportpaleis, that they met.


THIEVES OF SILENCE COME FROM BRUSSELS…
YOU HAVE THE FLEMISH SCENE AND THE SCENE FROM WALLONY BUT I CAN’T HELP IT THINKING THAT THOSE IN BRUSSELS END UP BEING FORGOTTEN…

Music, in Brussels, in a general way, is not really supported, people don’t trust their musical scene, and it is a pity that post punk is not that famous among young people nowadays

OVER HERE TOO MANY BANDS ARE COPIES FROM OTHERS (YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MANY NIRVANA OR DEUSCLONES WE HAVE), WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT?

We understand that people like to imitate their idols, and I think we all did it as beginners, but that’s too bad because all the musicians are going in the same direction. And after this step, everyone has to develop his own style. Look at all the ads posted by bands looking for musicians. Everything’s always the same. We are clearly disappointed by that but there’s nothing we can do about it…

ARE THERE ANY PLANS TO RELEASE ANYTHING?

we’re focusing on playing live gigs for the moment. We’re a young band and we need to be more confident on stage! If you know any organizer who could make us play, don’t hesitate contacting us : tos.mgmt@gmail.com . But that being said, we’re preparing something for this fall ;)

SOME RUMOURS… PAUL HAS A CERTAIN CELEBRITY IN THE FAMILY, NOT? TELL OUR READERS…

Indeed! Paul’s uncle was the bassist/singer for Lucie Cries, a 90’s French cold wave band

SOMEONE INFORMED US (WE HAVE OUR SPIES) THAT YOU GOT THE INTEREST FROM BEING SUPPORT BY DE BRASSERS DUE TO THE DARK ENTRIES-REVIEW.
HOW MUCH OF THAT IS TRUE? (WE LOVE OURSELVES SO THAT’S WHY THE QUESTION IS ASKED….).

To be honest, we don’t know much about this, but without any doubt, it helped. It would be an honor to share the stage with DE BRASSERS and we’re really grateful to you for this review that overtook our highest hopes.

APART FROM THAT, ANYTHING ELSE IN THE PIPELINE?

We have several shows in France, mainly at the Klub, in Paris. We’re focusing on shows, we’re looking to play as much as possible so…promoters, this is for you.



EVERYBODY MUST ANSWER THIS…NAME YOUR FAVE RECORD OF ALL TIME PLEASE.


Paul : Heaven Up Here and Porcupine - Echo & The Bunnymen
Quentos : The Queen is Dead - The Smiths
Pablos : Virus Meadow - And Also the Trees / The Downward Spiral - Nine Inch Nails
Forster : Metropolis Part.2 : Scenes From a Memory – Dream Theater


WHY DO OUR READERS HAVE TO CHECK OUT THIEVES OF SILENCE?

Go check, and you’ll see by yourselves! Thank you so much for this interview, we didn’t expect this to happen so soon. Come to our shows, come and speak to us, we like to have contact with people!


Merci bien!
Didier