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Local Rockers Stay True To New Orleans

Silent Cinema lead singer, Micah McKee, who started the band six years ago, and lead guitarist, Matt Glynn, are excited. And not just because of this feature. They’re excited because their band is coming together, their sound asserting definition. The past six years have seen various incarnations of Silent Cinema, but the current eight member powerhouse is what fills them with confidence, they’re beginning to sniff a whiff of success in the air, they know who they are and where they want to be. Well established in the New Orleans music scene (“We got a great compliment from a bartender the other day,” Matt says. “She said we sell more drinks than any other band.”), they’ll soon be releasing their fourth CD, and are getting ready for an east coat tour come fall.

“My personal opinion,” Micah says, light-hearted but truthfully, “is that if we just got on a plane to France, that would just set us off. I idolize Europe, I think of it as such a gateway. People in other countries really like American rock n’ roll, and they really like New Orleans. To be able to bring that to the world….”

Silent Cinema’s sound is deserving to reach more distant shores. There’s a video on the band’s website (silent-cinema.com) that sums them up well. It’s for their song “Catch a Ride,” and was shot by keyboardist Jack Kennedy, who walked around filming New Orleans for eight hours, and then sped up the footage almost unrecognizably. The result is an unceasingly frantic walk-thru of a barely identifiable city. Silent Cinema’s sound is like that too, indelibly hip with intricately layered Southern sensibilities that become part of the fabric without dominating. Resonant of the retro-chic garage band sound that re-emerged with groups like The White Stripes and The Strokes, Silent Cinema’s rawness unfurls brandishing a brass section, multiple guitars, and dabbed with occasional second line rhythms.

“A lot of people who play rock ‘n roll here try to completely erase all New Orleans influence from their music,” Matt explains. “But I feel like it’s gonna sound forced, it’s gonna sound like you’re trying to do something that you’re not. If you just naturally let it fall into play, people will catch on. It just works.”

“The main thing is that we’re sleazy, and that helps,” Micha half-jokes. “The Southern-ness is just a bunch of sleazy fellows. We’re in the practice room and we’re making rude jokes and smoking – it comes out in this weird form of rock therapy. We’re a rock n’ roll band, an honest rock n’ roll band. The whisky does not lie.”

The image of New Orleans music does not usually encompass large rock ensembles, but it seems to be working. Music blogs as distant as Portugal and Barcelona have posted the band’s last CD for download. The word, spread show by show in a grassroots style, is out. And they’re doing it themselves. All of Silent Cinema’s CDs are self-produced, on their own label

“We’re learning how to be very self-sufficient,” Micha says unhesitatingly.

“It’s something you can really do on your own if you put the time into it,” Matt agrees. “You can get on the internet and form a following yourself. Probably more so than some label that’s throwing you a sum of money.”

“I’m certainly not going to divorce myself from the idea of being with a label, and having that support because that’s fucking nice, that’s really sweet,” Micha laughs. “But doing it ourselves, recording ourselves, you’re so closely connected to it, you think in realistic, literal terms, and you connect with your audience better. You want to be legitimate. We have our sights set high, but we always look you in the eye.”

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