Rockers Silent Hearts talk about their debut EP “Love||War”!

Hello, Silent Hearts! Thanks for your time! Would you mind introducing your band to our readers? Hello! No problem! We are:

Ben Pusateri - Lead Vocals David Gast - Guitar Mike Drum – Drums (yes, that’s his real name) Dylan Kendrick - Guitar/Backing Vocals David Dixon - Bass

We are based out of Marblehead, Ohio, on the shores of Lake Erie and a just quick 15-20 minute drive to Sandusky, where the world-famous Cedar Point amusement park is. As members, we collectively have decades of experience in music business, performance, and production. We draw inspiration and influence from bands in various styles of the rock genre and beyond. We are never opposed to experimenting with different sounds and styles that sometimes would not even fit into the general idea of “rock”.

How would you describe the rock scene in Ohio? There are so many good rock bands from Ohio. The term “Rock n’ Roll” was coined in Ohio, so that is a really awesome thing to be known for. We are proud to claim Ohio as our home and we hope to carry on the great tradition of bands who have done/ are doing great things in the industry. Like Nine Inch Nails, The Black Keys, Starset, Beartooth, and so many others.

Your debut EP 'Love||War' dropped last year. For those who haven't heard it yet, what kind of songs can we expect on this release? We would describe the overall style of the EP as upbeat, driving, melodic, with a few gnarly breakdowns thrown in. We have our “anthem” song up first in “Sing”. This is followed by a couple driving and aggressive songs in “Better Days” and “Best of Me”. Then comes the namesake of the EP, “Love is War” our debut single that set the tone for Silent Hearts. Next is “Rise Up”, it’s a couple of the members’ personal favorite off of the EP. It is just a huge, powerful feeling you get from the song. Then, we slow it down with “Take Away the Pain”. Last is kind of a bonus track because it is a “reimagined” acoustic version of “Love is War”.

How did you approach the writing process for this EP? We really left it open-ended. We had an idea of the direction we wanted to go, but we were open to experimentation. Our good friend and producer Matt Dalton of Rock Hill Sound in Rochester Hills, Michigan also added some valuable input. We consider this to be a transitional EP as we really had no idea what our fans would like, that is why there are a lot of different “flavors” on it.

If you had to pick one song that you think best reflects the overall spirit of this release, which one would you pick and why? We would have to go with “Love is War”. Being our debut single, it really set the stage and gained our initial momentum. We believe best portrays the “Silent Hearts” attitude.

 You also released a music video for your single "Stranger", the follow up to your debut EP. How was the shooting experience? Any funny story to share with us? We have had the pleasure of working with our friend John Fleischmann since the beginning with our “Love is War” video. He is an extremely talented director and videographer that really know how to bring our concepts to life. It is always a great, fun, and light shooting experience with him. We definitely recommend working with him. The studio’s owner was there and she brought her dog, Duck. Duck is a sweet, friendly pup that kept making “cameos” on the set, that just wanted to check out our instruments and the scary masked “Strangers”. Duck unfortunately had to go in timeout in a separate room eventually.

Last but not least, would you mind sharing with us your upcoming projects for the rest of the year? Thanks for your time! We very recently released our first single of the new year in “Ghost”. And the only thing we can really say at this point is we already have some new music videos and songs lined up, some are even in the final stages of production. We want to thank our fans for the awesome support so far, and we look forward to sharing a lot more with you in the rest of 2019 and beyond!

Band picture by John Fleischmann Media