Silent Motion
Gig Seeker Pro

Silent Motion

Band Rock Funk

Calendar

This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

Music

The best kept secret in music

Press


"http://www.zwire.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=16432558&BRD=2384&PAG=461&dept_id=551971&rfi=8"

They’re On the Hook For Rock n’ Roll: ‘Silent Motion’ Shines At Fest

A packed house rallies behind the Brooklyn-born band as it clinches the quarter-finals of the Emergenza Music

Rockin’ the house…

Brooklyn band Silent Motion is headed for the big time – or at least on its way to winning an international music competition – after clinching the quarterfinals of the Emergenza Music Festival at The Hook.

The five-member band from the Bergen Beach-Marine Park area, which fuses rock and jazz with funk, had the standing room only crowd on its feet and dancing in the aisles at the popular Red Hook club, 18 Commerce Street, as it put forth a dazzling performance, rife with electrifying guitar work and potent vocals.

The dynamic performance – by guitarist Shawn Rosen, bass player Mark Abramov, guitarist and lead vocalist George Diheakos and drummer Robert Operman – garnered the band a second place win and an entry to the June 17 semi-finals at a location yet to be determined.

The nationals finals will be held on July 8 at Webster Hall in Manhattan.

The festival offers amateur bands an opportunity to perform in front of a large crowd, courtesy of a state-of-the-art sound system, network with other bands, broaden their fan base and look forward to the prospect of winning a record deal, plus a free trip to Germany to play in front of 50,000 people.

Silent Motion, which recorded its first album, “Damsel in Distress” in the summer of 2004 followed by a demo tape, entitled, “Clubhouse,” competed against 10 bands in the quarterfinal.

“It was exhilarating – we had so much positive reaction from the crowd that it only enhanced our understanding of what is yet to come,” said Ilan Stern, who co-manages Silent Motion with Bryan Nardone

The band – which since the quarterfinals has brought in keyboardist Mike Goikberg – will perform in the “Battle of the Bands” at Binghamton University on April 7, and at a separate gig at Albany University on May 6.

For more information, visit www.silent-motion.com.
- Courier Life


"http://courierlife.net/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=2384&dept_id=553358&newsid=16310621"

It's worth the seventy bucks and then some.

That's what bands are saying about the Emergenza music festival taking place in Brooklyn for the first time this year.


In exchange for the entrance fee, the 200 unsigned participating bands are given the opportunity to play for a large crowd through a top-quality sound system, network with other bands, expand their fan base, and maybe even to win a record deal and a free trip to Germany to play in front of 50,000 people.


That is, if they make it through the elimination round, quarter finals, semi-finals and national finals, the first two of which take place at The Hook, 18 Commerce Street, in Red Hook. The first round began in December and the second round begins March 23 at 7 p.m. and runs most Thursdays through Sundays through April 16.


The semi-finals will take place June 17 at a location yet to be determined, and the national finals will be held July 8 at Webster Hall, 125 East 11th Street in Manhattan.


The purpose of the 15-year-old international festival that draws thousands of bands to hundreds of clubs worldwide annually, according to Francesca Carpita, its North American Resource Director, is "to give these bands a real chance to get exposure, first of all at the local levels, and then play in clubs that they wouldn't normally be able to...We are trying to give them the chance to perform on stage, to perform in front of other bands and expand their fan base."


This is Emergenza's third year in the U.S. and first in New York. Last year it expanded from having shows in five cities to 17, and this year to 45. Next year the goal is 60, and the creation of a New York City office is in the works. For its Brooklyn shows Emergenza did a lot of organizing from its Montreal office via the Internet, soliciting bands on the blog My Space to sign up.


The only requirements for bands to enter are that they must have at least three members who play instruments, and they must not be signed to a major label.


"It's the biggest music event in the world so that's why I wanted to be involved in it. It's cool as hell," said Jeff Goldin, one of five managing partners for the two-and-a-half-year-old club The Hook, four of whom live within a mile away. Plans to hold the festival in the same place next year are already being discussed.


One of the plusses of the festival, Goldin said, is the variety of musical genres represented, which includes hip hop, rap, hardcore punk, straight rock and roll, and even ballads. Ages of participants also vary, and Goldin said the range is from14-50, with the majority being between 19 and 25.


"We love it...It's brought us a hundred bands that never heard of the club before" as well as 3,000 guests, said Goldin. "We had six or seven bands who blew us away," he added, naming My Friend Ben, and The New Piracy.


Bands were blown away by the club in return. "It really sounds very professional when you play there," said George Dikeakos, vocalist and guitarist for the Mill Basin/ Marine Park-based four-piece Silent Motion. "You get an idea of how professional bands work in the studio."


Silent Motion, which recorded its first album, Damsel in Distress, in the summer of 2004, and a demo called Clubhouse Jams the following year, made the elimination round cut at its January 16 show and is scheduled to play in the quarter finals at 10 p.m. March 24.


The band, which mixes rock, jazz and funk, received 46 hand votes - the method used to determine popularity in the preliminary rounds - despite only bringing about a dozen friends to watch.


The 18- and 19-year-old members of Silent Motion are hopeful that playing the festival will help them find a label for their next release.


"No one will ever tell you the recording industry is easy. You really have to struggle to make it," said the band's co-manager, Bryan Nardone. But playing in Emergenza makes it a little easier, and band members said the experience will be worth it regardless of the outcome.


"Everyone can't think they're going to win," said co-manager Ilan Stern. "I think we'll go to nationals. Will we go to internationals? I'm skeptical of that."


Kofre, a six-piece ska, punk, metal and Latin band from Queens named for the Spanish word meaning "a box where one puts valuables such as jewelry," according to its saxophone and trombone player, Fernando Leon, and composed of members between the ages of 21 and 30 who have full time jobs in addition to playing music, made it through the elimination round as well.


Kofre, which sings in Spanish about topics including immigration issues and the rights of workers who come from Third World nations, came in second at its February 24 show and is scheduled to play in the quarter finals at 10 p.m. April 14.


Although Leon would prefer judges to hand votes, he said the experience was beneficial anyway.


"It was another place to play, another venue to meet more people," he said about why the band that has roots dating back to 1996 signed up. "It seems like it's very well organized."


Leon was concerned about how his band would be received by audience members who do not speak Spanish, but said he learned from the positive response, "Not to worry about whether the crowd doesn't understand your lyrics, just to play good."


Tickets to Emergenza shows at The Hook are $10 in advance and $15 at the door, and admission is limited to those 18 and over. There is free shuttle bus service from the Carroll Street F/G stop at Smith and Second streets for the festival.


For more information visit www.emergenza.net or call the Hook at 718-797-3007.

- Courier Life Publications


Discography

Silent Motion - Damsel In Distress

1. Drive Me Mad
2. Paper Walls
3. Poison Fruit
4. Damsel In Distress
5. The Sun Behind The Stars
6. King of the World
7. Looking Out, Looking In

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

Silent Motion recently traveled up to Clubhouse Inc. Recording Studios in Rhinebeck, NY. After two long days in studio, they found themselves tired and weary. And yet, they walked away saying they feel great, because they accomplished something they never thought they could.

When the members got together a few years back, they each understood that they were in this for a common interest, their love for music. Once together they were able to come up with amazing lyrics and then amazing music. Silent Motion is a family. We all grew up together, we fight, we laugh... but thats what a basic family does. And of course we work things out because thats what we do. This band is unique, in that any one of them would be willing to help the other out in anyway possible at any given time. Whether it be financially or emotionally, they are there in time of need. This band has ambition, determination, motivation but most of all dedication. Music is their life, and so they have decided to pursue that dream and make it reality. They want their life's work to revolve around music, their music.