Silent Jack

Louise Swift 27 August 2014 Featured Band

.@PlanetMosh features .@silentjackband who will be the opening @Degenfest Lincoln on 29th-30th August. They will also be out on the Road to Ruin Tour in September 2014 which ends with the Roxx to Ruin all day hard rock event in Birmingham on 28th September.

Silent Jack Biography

Silent Jack are a band on a mission; a very simple mission. They want to rock you, and rock you hard!
Playing straight up hard rock with blues influences and down’n’dirty riffs, the lads play music to make you scream out loud! When you combine musical influences such as Aerosmith, Mötley Crüe, and Guns N’ Roses with the Bill & Ted ‘Party On, Dude!’ sensibility, what you get is a band that only really takes one thing seriously; the music!

From Birmingham, UK, the home of heavy metal, the band formed in 2009 when a fledgling rock band was started by Adam and Scott Carson, and some school friends. They had almost everything required – guitar, bass, drums – all they needed was a singer. When Rich ‘Stitch’ Mason responded to their advert, what they got was a close imitation!
The lineup fluctuated for a couple of years until the arrival of Dickie Spider as bass guitarist. He became a vital member of Silent Jack – in part because he had a car – and the band evolved into the monster it is now.
Silent Jack don’t believe that big shows should only be put on in big venues, and strive to make every show an event, rather than just a gig. Lasers, light shows, and ladies are a big part of every performance. Every show is a rocking rollercoaster with music to make your body move!

The band have toured the UK many times, trying to play new places with each successive trip, have featured on festivals such as Deadfest, and Blood, Sweat & Gears, and have supported pirate metal band, Alestorm.
They even have their own event, in hometown Birmingham, called Hard Roxx, where, as the name suggests, the best hard rock bands can show off their skills. Silent Jack love playing, and love meeting new fans, so each Hard Roxx event isn’t just a show, it’s a party!
They may not be from Hollywood, and it may not be the 1980s anymore, but Silent Jack don’t think that’s any excuse not to have fun!

Silent Jack Bio: http://www.silent-jack.com/bio.php

10 Quick Questions

1. Who came up with the name?
Not quite sure. It was a mash up of Black Jack and Silent something. But it’s got a ring to it, don’t you think?
2. Who writes the music/lyrics?
It’s a group effort. Rich writes the lyrics, and then the music follows. Or Adam writes the music, and then the lyrics follow. Once the foundations are laid, we just build up from the bottom until we have something that rocks!
3. Where do you get the inspiration from?
Sex, drugs, rock n’ roll. The usual!
4. Where was the first gig?
O2 Academy 3, Birmingham, January 2010. We were nervous, but organised. The staff didn’t seem to be, though, so the nerves quickly dissipated. The audience were fantastic, the equipment sounded good, everything just flowed. From then it’s been onwards and upwards!
5. How many gigs do you think you’ve played since?
We’ve done three tours, and various one off gigs, and… I don’t know. A hundred? More? Not enough, that for sure!

6. How often do you have a Hard Roxx event?
The Hard Roxx events used to be three to four bands every month, but now we’re changing the format slightly. Instead of a regular night, the next one is actually going to be an all dayer with two stages, so we’re expanding it into something bigger, and closer to an unsigned festival. Once we see how well it works, we’ll start organising more!
7. Where is it held?
Roxx To Ruin is being held at the Roadhouse in Birmingham, on September 28th 2014!
8. How do interested bands apply to be part of it?
Unfortunately, the lineup for Roxx To Ruin is full. Any band that’s interested in playing one of our Hard Roxx events can get in touch with us via Facebook or email, and let us know. We try to remember everyone and sort out the best line-ups! (For further info see below)
9. When do you plan another album release?
Another? We haven’t released an album! Snakebite is technically an EP… We’re actually working on our debut album right now, and will be going into the studio at the end of this month to start the recording process. We will be releasing something very special in the early parts of next year. Watch this space!
10. What can people who haven’t seen Silent Jack before expect from a show?
An unstoppable hard rocking experience to shake your core and make you feel alive! We’ll be opening Degeneration Fest on August 29th, so anyone who hasn’t seen us should come check us out there!

Silent Jack are:

Rich ‘Stitch’ Mason – Vocals/2nd Guitar
Adam Carson – Lead Guitar
Dickie Spider – Bass Guitar
Scott Carson – Drums/Backing Vocals

Introduction to Each Band member in Ten Questions:

Rich ‘Stitch’ Mason – Vocals/2nd Guitar

1. How long have you played guitar/sung?
I started singing not long before I joined the band, actually. I started in bands as a bass player, and was in another band where we were covering Youth Gone Wild by Skid Row. The vocalist was having trouble so I started singing along and, well, apparently I sounded pretty good. I’d had people stop to listen to me singing at work, so I figured I might as well give it a go! I’ve been playing guitar for 14 years and I’m nowhere near as good as I am at singing!
2. What made you want to play guitar/sing?
I grew up listening to the music my Dad would put on. That was frequently rock like Bon Jovi, or Spin Doctors. I just wanted to do what they did. I never really wanted to be the guy in the front, though, so I wanted to play bass. How things have changed since then!
3. Who are your biggest influences?
Guns N’ Roses are obviously a big influence. Axl Rose has that voice! Aerosmith, too. Again, Steven Tyler has a voice that is so unique, and it works so well with the music.
I like a lot of what people refer to as ‘classic rock’, the stuff from the 70s and 80s that is just pure driving riffs, and makes you want to move. That’s what I like and that’s what I write.
4. What was the first record you bought?
I’m not sure to be honest. I remember I bought the single Say It Isn’t So by Bon Jovi, and I bought Significant Other by Limp Bizkit. I think that was about the same time, but I’m not sure which was first. But I remember being given Bat Out Of Hell, by Meat Loaf, when I was very young. Not the album, just the single. I listened to that a lot!
5. Who is/are your favourite artists/bands?
I like a lot of Swedish rock, so I listen to a lot of Hardcore Superstar, and Crashdiet, along with English bands like Jettblack, Heaven’s Basement, and then classics like Ratt and Whitesnake. I’d have to say that Guns N’ Roses are my favourite, but they are closely followed by Mötley Crüe!
6. What is your favourite song of all time?
That’s like saying ‘Who’s your favourite parent?’, you can’t just pick one!
7. What, for you, is the most memorable album in your collection and why?
I have a CD called ’25 Years Of Birmingham Punk’. It’s something I don’t listen to a lot any more, but it’s still one of my favourites simply because it’ a celebration of music from my home city. There’s a track on there where Sensa Yuma cover Jasper Carrott’s song Funky Moped, and it’s fantastic in its mild absurdity.
8. Which is the best/worst gig you have played and why?
That’s a hard question to answer. We’ve done some gigs that have started terribly and ended brilliantly, and some that have started with a bang but then fizzled out.
One of the most memorable was a show we played at the Asylum venue in Birmingham, for an alternative fashion show. The acoustics were amazing, the place was rammed, and the audience loved us. It was definitely a highlight!
Then again, we’ve also played a show in a barn, which was interesting. It got us in the local newspaper, but there was no stage, seats were bales of hay, and the sound guy disappeared halfway through our set, and the sound went to hell. Speaking of hell, we also once played in a church where we got shut down for being too loud – I like to think that makes us ‘louder than god!’
9. If you could open for a headline act (past or present) who would it be and why?
I’d probably have to say Mötley Crüe. They’re one of my favourite bands, and they always put on a fantastic live show. Since they’re on their ‘Final Tour’ now, if we could open for one of their UK dates that would just be amazing. It would literally be a once in a lifetime opportunity. Until they break their contract and do another tour, of course…
10. Apart from Silent Jack which up and coming bands would you recommend people listen to and/or go to see?
There are so many! We’ve played shows with so many talented bands. Only The Good, Loveless Luck, The Vigil, Tigerpunch, Hammerjack, and more. For sheer entertainment, I’d also recommend Gehtika. They’re far more metal, but they put on a fantastic show, and that’s what it’s all about at the end of the day.

Adam Carson – Lead Guitar

1. How long have you played guitar?
There have always been guitars at home belonging to my parents, longer than I can remember. I bought my own decent guitar around 8 years ago and started learning how to play properly.
2. What made you want to play guitar?
Me and my brother Scott grew up hearing Rock/Metal and guitar driven bands at home, so it wasn’t much of a stretch to starting thinking I could do that if I learnt how to play. Before joining a band it was all about trying to jam and play my favourite songs, now its all about writing the next killer track.
3. Who are your biggest influences?
Most of the earliest bands I remember listening to were bands with strong riffs; Deep Purple, Metallica and Black Sabbath. This shows in the Silent Jack songs I have written the music for (King Cobra, Brand New Start). Our newer songs in our upcoming album have really taken these influences to the next step, creating catchy strong riffs on a lot of the new songs.
4. What was the first record you bought?
I haven’t really bought that many physical records; at home I had access to my parents vast music collection on CDs and LPs. `Most of these were rock and metal, they were full of guitar and drum solos….. haha! When I started getting properly into music myself, mp3 players were around. I had an iPod and ITunes and access to any music I wanted!
5. Who is/are your favourite artists/bands?
GnR/Metallica/Iron Maiden/Green Day/Whitesnake
6. What is your favourite song of all time?
Sweet Child O mine/Guns and Roses
Great song with one of the best guitar solos ever!
7. What, for you, is the most memorable album in your collection and why?
Guns and Roses- Appetite for Destruction
Apart from housing my favourite song, every other track is as good as the last. All the songs are varied and I could listen to it every day without getting bored.
8. Which is the best gig you have played and why?
Best gig we ever played I reckon was at the Asylum 1 in Birmingham. We played great, had a big audience and the sound setup was awesome!
9. If you could open for a headline act (past or present) who would it be and why?
Jimi Hendrix Experience – Woodstock 1969 – Think the real gig was delayed and happened on a Monday morning!
10. Apart from Silent Jack which up and coming bands would you recommend people listen to and/or go to see?
The Vigil – We are touring in September with them
Only the Good – We played with the singer’s old band in our first gig at the o2 Academy

Dickie Spider – Bass Guitar

1. How long have you played bass?
5-6 years
2. What made you want to play bass?
I liked what Flea from Red Hot Chillis could do with a bass and just went from there
3. Who are your biggest influences?
Green Day, Blackstone Cherry, GnR, Motley Crüe, ACDC
4. What was the first record you bought?
Green Days American Idiot Album
5. Who is/are your favourite artists/bands?
Green Day
6. What is your favourite song of all time?
Too many to choose from
7. What, for you, is the most memorable album in your collection and why?
Green Days American Idiot album due to it cheering me up when my nan passed away got me through it
8. Which is the worst gig you have played and why?
Vagabonds was poorly organised
9. If you could open for a headline act (past or present) who would it be?
AC/DC
10. Apart from Silent Jack which up and coming bands would you recommend people listen to and/or go to see?
Out of Luck

Scott Carson – Drums/Backing Vocals

1. How long have you played drums?
I got my first drum kit 7 years ago! I literally bought one and taught myself from scratch.
2. What made you want to play drums?
It must have been when I was in school; I saw the school band performing in one of the assemblies one morning. I remember paying a lot of attention to the drummer. I thought to myself, ‘hell, that looks like a lot of fun, I wish I could rock out on the kit like that, tonnes of drum fills powering their way to every chorus, arms waving everywhere and sticks flying in the air’. Yeah, from this moment on I pretty much wanted to wreck the skins. This was also one of the first times I’d ever seen a live full rock band, and I never once thought I would ever be hitting the stage myself. This goes without mentioning my upbringing on rock/classic rock music. My parents would listen to stuff like Van Halen, Bon Jovi, Metallica and GNR on a daily basis. I feel very lucky to have been given a rock n roll upbringing.
3. Who are your biggest influences?
I would say my biggest influences are the bands I have been brought up listening to, the kinda music I have been nodding along to since my childhood. Main influences would include Whitesnake, Bon Jovi, and Aerosmith. I’m also a big Marc Bolan and T-Rex fan, this has a big influence on the type of music I want to create and what freeing effect I want it to have to the people that listen to it. I want people to lose there minds when they listen to Silent Jack.
4. What was the first record you bought?
Apart from the odd few which I have bought, most records my family would already own. My family have a extensive collection of CDs and records, for me its a classic rock/ metal gold mine already present at my finger tips! I remember from my younger years I used to keep a greatest hits Queen CD in my room and listen to it loads on my portable walkman, that would probably explain why Queen are one of my favourite bands.
5. Who is/are your favourite artists/bands?
This is always a really hard question to answer as I have so many different musicians and musical groups which I hold in such high esteem, so many that I just love. But one that always tops the list is Bon Jovi without a doubt, there’s just something about their whole musical style and song writing that I just love. I’m also a sucker for good love songs – the Jovi have tonnes! It’s too hard to pick my favourites so i will list my current most listened to bands, which seem to be Whitesnake, Hardcore Superstar, Van Halen, Airbourne, Hendrix and Def leppard.
6. What is your favourite song of all time?
This is a tough one, I would say its a close tie between Bad Medicine – Bon jovi or Def Leppard – Animal, the choruses are just sing along heaven. These songs will always get me strumming the air guitar in the mirrow.
7. What, for you, is the most memorable album in your collection and why?
Van Halen, 1984. I remember seeing the album cover for the first time when I was a young rocker and it always has stood out to me. Not to mention the amount of awesome Van Halen tracks on this album. It has the total package of coolness and screams out the true rock n roll spirit and shows musicians of today what all good albums should inspire to be like. This album is currently resting in the back seat of my car!
8. Which is the best gig you have played and why?
Some of the best gigs we have done are the ones we have put on ourselves. Booking the bands and getting an audience to a venue is always a lot of hard work, but the times when we have managed to pack out places such as Scruffy Murphy’s and Eddie’s in Birmingham for our Hard Roxx events have been so much fun. When you are on stage and everyone is going wild, drinking and dancing, just having a great night out at the local gig, its just a good feeling to know that you made this happen, and being on stage while people this rock n roll heaven unfolds is a great feeling. This is why we all truly do it!
9. If you could open for a headline act (past or present) who would it be and why?
I would love to open for any of my favourite bands any time. Whitesnake At Donington 1990? Yeah I think that would be pretty awesome. Any big band at Donington back in the day Silent Jack would happily support. Better get making that flux capacitor.
10. Apart from Silent Jack which up and coming bands would you recommend people listen to and/or go to see?
Only The Good are a great one to catch live. And I would advise everyone check out Loveless Luck, awesome vocals and guitar and catchy sing along songs!

Just For Fun!

You describe yourselves as ‘Rip roaring sexy music to rock your clothes off to’ so who in the band would be most likely to bare all in a ‘Girls mag?
That’s something we’ve never considered! None of us are really that way inclined. Adam showed he’s a bit of a dark horse, though, doing karaoke in a club in Blackpool. So maybe him. It’s always the quiet ones you have to watch out for…
Who is the most popular with the fans?
Not sure, really. But Scotty certainly seems to think he is!
You supported Alestorm so who would make the best pirate and what would his pirate name be?
Best pirate? We’re all pirates! We sail under the flag of the Silent Jack! Cap’n Richie Flamebeard, Bo’sun Scotty Bones, Galleyman Spider, and our secret weapon, The Destroyer!
What’s usually on your rider?
Nothing! Rider? What rider? Occasionally we get a few beers and some sandwiches , if we’re lucky!
If money were no object what would be on your rider?
Fabergé eggs. On toast. And Fugu! Japanese pufferfish that can only be prepared by trained professionals because it can kill you! Oh, and a chauffeur… And beer!
When Dickie Spider joined he had a car. What make and model was it – and what colour?
A blue Ford Fiesta from 2004. Complete with rattles, clanks, and other associated tics. However, it managed to take a licking and keep on ticking!
Does he still have that car or has he moved on to a more Rock Star car?
Alas, the car had to go. It has been replaced with… another Fiesta! Black this time, so far more fitting a rock star

…….and to finish on a more serious note

Which big festival would you love to play?
That would have to be Download. Castle Donington has such a legacy, and who wouldn’t want to be on stage in front of the crowd and shout ‘Scream for me, Donington!’, really?

Where do Silent Jack hope to be in five years’ time?
Performing at Download, of course! We’ll have released three albums, gone triple platinum and have huge houses in the Hollywood Hills where we will hold BBQs for Ozzy and Slash…
More likely we’ll still be plugging away playing music the way it’s meant to be played, loud and hard!

Any final message?
Is this the point where we’re supposed to become all stereotypical and say ‘Support your local scene!’ or ‘Rock on!’? Maybe ‘Follow your dreams!’ or something like that? All are true, but more important is to work hard.
Most importantly, however, is to listen to the words of the mighty Wyld Stallyns:
‘Be excellent to each other. And party on dudes!’

Roxx To Ruin All Day Hard Rock Event

On September 28th 2014 The Roadhouse, Birmingham, is set to host a blisteringly hot lineup of the best of the current crop of bands for a day of all out rock! Musicians, both local and national, are coming together under one roof with a single shared goal: to shake the foundations!
With nine of the best live rock bands on the main stage, plus a headline act to be announced, anyone who likes like their music hard and fast then is bound to find something to bang their head to.
If it all gets to be a little to much, though, then the acoustic stage will be home to a more stripped down, but still powerful rock experience. It’s an opportunity to catch rarely seen acoustic sets by musicians that normally play full electric. Some bands will even be pulling double duty and performing on both the main stage as well as the acoustic stage.
With a fantastic lineup and more acts to be announced, this is one music event that should not be missed. At only £5 for an advance ticket, there is no excuse not to check it out.
For more information, go to http://www.roxxtoruin.co.uk

Lineup
Main Stage: StOp sToP / Silent Jack / Fallen Mafia / Hangfire / Endless Mile ft. Richie Hevanz / The Vigil / Tigerpunch / Wylde Orchid / Anger Rising
Acoustic Stage: Section Nineteen / Endless Mile ft. Richie Hevanz / Inbetween Seas / Out Of Luck