A Chat with The Silence Industry (20.03.24)

The brainchild of musician Graham Jackson, The Silence Industry is a gothy, DIY, brutally honest and sometimes weird mishmash of sounds. Formed in 2007 (give or take), The Silence Industry captures the heart of obscurity wrapped in a veil of oddness and executed with raw enthusiasm. We speak with Jackson about his new EP The Crawling Eye, what music means to him, upcoming plans and foods that are difficult to eat.

OSR: How did The Silence Industry come about? What drew you to music?

Jackson: The Silence Industry (TSI) came about more or less immediately after my previous project split up. It was never really a question of whether or not I wanted to continue making music. That was an obvious yes. It’s been such an integral part of how I relate to the world around me, and it’s the thing I’ve been most into since I was a kid.

I was in the process of rethinking how I wanted to go about making and releasing music, and I didn’t want to have to through having a project split up again. TSI is really just what came out of that. I guess it sounds kinda egocentric in a way, but being essentially my own thing I knew that I’d be able to write, record and release stuff whenever and however I wanted to. I admire the heck out of groups who are able to work well together. It can be tough! Especially at the indie level. Everyone has a life they need to live on top of music.

OSR: You recently released your EP The Crawling Eye. What can you tell us about it?

Jackson: The Crawling Eye is the 3rd in a series of what will probably be about 4 digital 7-inch singles that TSI puts out in the process of working on tracks for something more like a conventional full-length or EP or somewhere in between the two.

This just seemed like a fun way to release songs as I was putting together a more conventional release. The idea started as more or less just that, but then I got to thinking it would also be a nice excuse to get to do more cover art, more lyric booklets, and do some sonic experimentation that might not otherwise see a release.

I didn’t intend to get too deep into that, mostly because I didn’t want to delay the release of an eventual full length, but I had even more fun doing that than I thought I would so it probably has slowed things down a bit on that front. It’s been well worth it I think, though.

The title track pushes a bit harder into the deathrock side of TSI’s sound and revolves around themes of contemporary surveillance. Also included are a couple of ambient pieces (one of which was composed of sounds I recorded at work via my cellphone), and a re-imagining of an older track.

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OSR: What was the most exciting and most challenging thing (for lack of a better word) when creating The Crawling Eye?

Jackson: Exciting? I’m always excited when doing the writing and arranging of a new song, but I especially had fun writing the words and working on the vocal arrangements. The challenging part was probably actually figuring out the vocal arrangements, but I guess challenging in a fun way if that makes any sense.

The other exciting part was seeing how the B-sides sorta came together, especially ‘The Maw of Sleep (dead labour version)’.

OSR: If you could change one thing about the EP, what would it be and why?

Jackson: I’m pretty happy with the release! I wouldn’t change anything musically. I used to nitpick things a lot more, but these days I prefer to keep a lot of the edges rough and not overly polished.

If I could change one thing it wouldn’t really be anything to do with the release itself per se. It would be more, like, finding ways to make it more accessible to people digitally especially with all the extra stuff like the printable lyric sheet etc. You really have to go out of your way to find stuff like this these days, although I think that also does make the artist/audience relationship qualitatively different and special in a way. (I hope that doesn’t sound too pretentious!)

OSR: What do you hope people take from your music?

Jackson: I hope they take something from it. Anything really. That’s enough. I hope it moves them in some way, or even just for them to go “Huh, that sounds cool” or even “Uh, not for me!”. It’s next-level cool when they get into the whole thing, like, sonically, lyrically (especially!), aesthetically. Sounds unlikely for a project like TSI, but I’m told it happens from time to time. The best thing ever is when I can help play a small part in inspiring someone to do their own thing musically, or with words or visual stuff.

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OSR: What does music mean to you?

Jackson: Music is fun. It’s great. It can make you excited and inspired; get your blood pumping or make you reflect. It means a lot to me, because I think it’s the best way I know how to communicate with the world, and also just journal my own thoughts ideas and emotions. In a way it means everything to me, and also in a way nothing because it’s just a part of the fabric of my life and what I love doing most.

OSR: What makes The Silence Industry unique?

Jackson: Ha! I’m not sure if I think that TSI is all that unique. I mean, everyone’s music is unique. If something makes TSI unique, it’s that it’s me and not somebody else and also my relationship to everyone who has ever listened to TSI and enjoyed it. They are all as much a part of TSI as I am.

OSR: Random questions: What do you consider the most difficult food to eat?

Jackson: Pizza that is screaming hot can be a real tough one actually! Beyond that, I can eat pretty much anything. 🙂

OSR: If you had to describe your current life as a movie, which movie would you choose?

Jackson: That’s tough! I kinda feel like we’re all living in a combination of Bladerunner 2049, Dawn of the Dead (the original, not the garbage 2000s remake) and Terminator at the moment… but personally? Maybe an episode of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 spliced with bits of Battleship Potemkin.

OSR: What can we expect from The Silence Industry in the future?

Jackson: At least one more digital 7-inch release before something more closely resembling a proper full-length or EP. After that, I’ll probably write more songs and maybe do some more of the same.

Probably some experiments with bespoke physical media, like hand-made zines that come with a USB or SD or CD-R. Maybe some more video experiments if I can find the time. I’m hoping to do a little thing for The Crawling Eye if I can get to it.

OSR: Do you have a message for our readers?

Jackson: Thanks so much for reading! Thanks for listening! Keep loving music and art. Keep being you. Fight for a better world. Make history; we’re always doing this whether we like it or not. Peace. G. ❤️

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Many thanks to Graham Jackson for speaking with us. For more from The Silence Industry, check out its Facebook and Spotify.

This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator