Audible Silence Finds Their Balance on New Album { 60 | 40 }

A Bond/Band is Formed

Born from their basement jams in Harleysville, PA, Audible Silence formed in 2007 after drummer Chris Fox and leader/guitarist Jake Hoffman met and began to mingle at practices for the band Sighlence. That band was comprised of both of their older brothers along with Jake, who was three years younger and still in middle school at the time. Also buzzing around the bands at the time was their good friend Aaron Throop. The duo needed a bassist and Aaron, while not a bassist at the time, was always around and willing, so they asked him to play. As it were, Aaron learned bass specifically for the band. As Jake put it, “He was our great friend, his attitude is perfect and he loved crunchy tones!”

With Aaron in tow, the trio got together over shared love for bands like Tool and Rush, and a simple suggestion of “Let’s jam!”. Through these jams specific riffs would emerge as they established their sound. But it wasn’t until their friend, Mike Wrigley, a known and respected Call of Duty player, got hung up on one of their riffs after attending one such jam. As Jake puts it, “We kept coming back to this one riff and after playing he comes up to us and is like, “YO, I LOVE that riff” and he started singing it and that’s when we realized we were a band!”

While I do know these guys outside of the band, it was pretty obvious in interviewing them and seeing them talk and laugh together that they have a fantastic bond with personalities that compliment each other and create a cohesive beauty even if sometimes chaotic. Which, the same thing can be said for their music really. The more I have thought about their bonds and the stories I have heard through the years, the more my admiration grows for who they are as people. There honestly is a wonderful spark amongst them, in their friendship, and they do a fantastic job carrying that over into their music!

Sounds of the Past

Their past releases are quite wonderful, high-energy albums with great peaks and valleys. One moment the music is tumultuous, another it’s calm and serene as a sea of sound washes over you softly. Their music can be incredibly sporadic and chaotic, perhaps more often than not. I personally describe their overall sound as “Tornado Music” as it truly is an exceptionally exhilarating whirlwind around every corner. Each album is an adventure in sound(noise) and emotion, meticulously put together and practiced to perfection!

Despite being together for 16 years, the band doesn’t play live, that is unless you were lucky enough to have found yourself at one of the few private backyard or basement parties they’ve played since their inception. When asked about their future intentions to do so, they summed it up with “It doesn’t really concern us(to play live)”. They simply aren’t motivated to pursue gigs much at all. “I never really thought about playing to an audience!” said drummer Chris Fox, somewhat humored by the prospects, “We almost need someone who is booking a gig to ask us to play”. While that might sound funny in the wrong context, it’s really just part of what makes the band so great from an outsider’s perspective. To them, the band is the desire and end-goal, everything else is an added benefit if it doesn’t break the bands golden rule of “No stress!”.

A Long Time in the Making

The songs for their new EP, { 60 | 40 }, were written by Jake around 2012-2013, during which time the band was recording their previous album Three’s Crowd. It wasn’t until 2018 that the band worked the songs out formally as a unit and they became a part of the regular rotation.  Still, the EP wasn’t recorded until late 2022. Having self-produced their previous release and learning a lot of tough lessons from the process and energy that goes into doing so, they opted to have this album professionally recorded at Everloft Studios in Schwenksville.

According to the band, this album differs greatly from their previous releases. “It’s our first album that isn’t full of love songs!” joked Jake. For one, it’s their first with a seven-string guitar on the leads. “When I wrote these songs, I wrote them on a seven string guitar that I had since then sold. But when we got back together as a band after a few year hiatus, we really wanted to play these songs. I couldn’t transpose them and work it out on the six-string, so I had to buy a seven string again just to get it done.”

Balance and Peace, Musical Release

{ 60 | 40 }, in its meaning, is a lifestyle balance. Its logic is essentially a way of living harmoniously. As the band says, “Sometimes you’re the 60, sometimes you’re the 40”.

As bassist Aaron Throop puts it, Audible Silence is their place to go to embrace the chaos, an outlet to get lost in and to let loose, and a place for the listener to do the same. The band seems to agree that Audible Silence exists because of the necessity for such an outlet. Perhaps this explains their reasonings for not marketing themselves heavily or playing live… they’ve found something nice, it simply exists as it is and it has worked great for them thus far. That said, I am a huge believer in their talent and do believe they have significant potential to build a great following the more they put themselves out there!

Their new EP, { 60 | 40 } came out October 7, 2023 and can be found on their Bandcamp. The full interview with the band can be found on the Telford Moon YouTube Page. If you enjoy their musical offerings, be sure to let them know on Facebook or other socials. Also, be sure to check out the album/interview teaser below: