Silent Hearts combines driving grooves, heavy breakdowns to catchy hooks and upbeat anthems, with an accomplished and instrumentally astute honing of influences from across the alternative scene.

Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.

Dylan Kendrick: Lead Guitar

David Gast: Rhythm Guitar

Ben Pusateri: Vocals

David Dixon: Bass Guitar

Mike Drum: Drums

For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to Silent Hearts? How long has the band been around?

Silent Hearts began in January of 2017 when Mike, Ben, and David Gast began recording the first EP Love||War. Our first single Love Is War was actually written in the RV behind the studio while we were recording the other songs on the EP. We went back to the studio a month later to record it. Several of the members were in previous bands prior to Silent Hearts.

Dylan Kendrick: Darkhorse, Moments Forever Faded, Atrius..etc

David Gast: Unlabeled

Ben Pusateri: Unlabeled

David Dixon: Merchandise Manager for Unlabeled

Mike Drum: Neon Black, Neon White, Drummer vs. Emulator, Unlabeled, currently in Fate’s Got A Driver and has a Solo Loop Show

What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?

The name “Silent Hearts” was created to symbolize a group of people who collectively have fallen silent. It is to symbolize the dreamers, the idealists, the hopeful that have had their voice taken away from them by greater society. We are many, we are strong. As a band we attempt to be the voice, be the heartbeat, for those who have lost theirs. We want to connect to them by showing that we share similar opinions, thoughts, and dreams. Ultimately, Silent Hearts wants to be a positive support system by being an avenue to speak your mind and a reminder to follow your dreams.

Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?

We all write and come up with ideas individually and bring them to the table and collaborate to turn it into the “Silent Hearts” sound that we love creating so much. The topics of our songs follow the idea of the band’s name. With Stranger we have found a style that we love and it seems our fans love too. You can expect to hear more songs like Stranger very soon.  

What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?

David Gast: The majority of rock music that I listen to comes from Linkin Park, Starset, Bring Me The Horizon, Asking Alexandria, Thrice, FEVER 333, Architects, etc. Recently I’ve been listening to a lot of electronic music to expose myself to new things like Yellow Claw, Audien, Alesso, The Chainsmokers, Kygo, Avicii, Martin Garrix, etc.

Dylan: Thrice, Nothing More, Ohgr, Deadmau5, Linkin Park, Prince, Taylor Swift

Ben: Bring Me The Horizon, Starset, Thrice, Beartooth, FEVER 333, Asking Alexandria, Hands Like Houses, Nothing More, Papa Roach.

David Dixon: Some favorites/influences include Linkin Park, Bring Me The Horizon, Hands Like Houses, The Amity Affliction, Beartooth, We Came As Romans, some heavier stuff like Architects, The Ghost Inside and Oceans Ate Alaska, among many others, and a couple off the board like Post Malone. Recently I’ve been studying Megadeth’s bassist David Ellefson and others in various genres that have cool/catchy bass lines.

Mike Drum: Incubus, Thrice, Opeth, Deftones, and just about anything Post Hardcore ;)

Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?

Dylan: My dad always played music as I was growing up so it really must have started there. I fell in love with bands like Black Sabbath and Ozzy at a young age and had to figure out how they made all of those crazy sounds, and that was it. Thrice was a band in their younger years that really clicked with me and inspired me to really start writing for myself.

David Gast: When I was a young kid my dad would always play Led Zeppelin on his acoustic guitar for me. The first concert I went to as a kid was actually Robert Plant in 2009. My dad was the main reason I started playing guitar. I’m not sure what age I was but before I actually learned how to play guitar he taught me the beginning of Stairway To Heaven. But I think the final inspiration for me to start a band came from watching my cousins play in their band The CocobeanOs.

Mike: My father is a guitar player/singer who has always been in and out of bands and my mother has a beautiful voice. She was responsible for kick-starting my musical career by entering me in local and regional talent shows by the age of 4. I used to fall asleep in front of my dads stereo system at full blast listening to Pantera records. My grandma had 12 brothers who all used to get together and play acoustic guitars, maracas, and sing mexican music at the top of their lungs in a cloud of cigarette smoke until the sun came up. 

David Dixon: My love of music really all started when I was little. My dad put the Back in Black album by AC/DC at full blast in the living room and showed me how to do the Angus Young stage moves. It wasn’t really until high school that I discovered my love for playing instruments, and I was in a short-lived band that played in some talent shows. A couple years later, My friend Sam introduced me to the band he was trying out for named Unlabeled. I quickly became good friends with them and wanted to help them, so I became merch manager. I loved being a merch manager, but going to shows and watching them really inspired me to want to actually be in a band, so I tried to start a couple to no avail. When Unlabeled had creative differences, I moved on to help manage other bands. When David, Ben, and Mike’s new project were working on finding a bassist, David called me and offered me the spot. I am very grateful that he believed in me to give me an opportunity and I have loved every minute of being a part of this band!

Ben: I was always drawn to music. My mom has told me stories of walking around to house singing as a small child. And there are pictures of me with toy instruments to support. I had always dreamed of what it would be like to be on a stage, performing, speaking to thousands of people. I thought how uplifting and enlightening that must be. So much so that my brother and I would set up little “concerts” in our living room as kids. Which just amounted to us singing Good Charlotte songs to the stereo at the top of our lungs. Good Charlotte, Green Day, and the pop punk scene of the early 2000s, is what really got me into rock music. A Day to Remember was my favorite band during my late teen years. Since then my taste has evolved to include bands like Bring Me the Horizon, Linkin Park, Beartooth, Starset, etc.

I played in the band throughout my school years, including a year on the drumline in college, and I loved performing in musical productions and theater. After high school, I was hoping to be able to get back into performing. Fortunately David Gast asked me to join the band he was starting with my brother, and their friend. That was the birth of me becoming an actual rock musician, but I guess music has always been a part of my life.

What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, etc …

David Gast: I like to hang with the guys and watch the other bands play. Right before we go on I run through some riffs to loosen up.

Dylan Kendrick:  I usually find a place to get my head in the right space, and then spend some time doing some finger exercises I’ve made up myself to serve my needs.

Mike: Find Dylan for a “Safety Meeting”. (In David’s trailer)

David Dixon: I manage the merch table for a while, then go out to watch the last couple songs of the band before us, I then go to find somewhere to stretch a little and center myself, then jump around and things like that to pump myself up.

Ben: I like to find a quiet place backstage to do some vocal warm ups, stretching, and mental relaxation before going on stage.

What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?

David Gast on behalf of the band: December 2018 was a huge month for us as a band. To start the month off we released our most recent single Stranger. Shortly after the release we played our first show as a band at Hard Rock Cafe in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as part of the Happy To Be Sad Tour with Fate’s Got A Driver, featuring Eddie Reyes, founding member of Taking Back Sunday. Since then Stranger has become our most popular song. We are very excited to show our fans what we have been working on already in 2019.

If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?

David Gast: Some of my favorite live shows were performed by Metallica, Nothing More, FEVER 333, Beartooth, Bring Me The Horizon, Starset, Skillet, Three Days Grace, Asking Alexandria, I could go on and on….. If one day we could share the stage with any of those bands, I would be in heaven. I’ve learned most of what I know about live production from watching these bands live, so to tour with them would kind of feel like full circle for me.

Dylan Kendrick: Bring Me The Horizon, Thrice, Black Sabbath, all for selfish reasons haha!

Mike: I’m the old man in the band so I would tour with Incubus as the Front of House Engineer.

David Dixon: I would love to tour with Beartooth. I have been to 5 or 6 of their shows and always have the time of my life because the crowd always has such high energy. I want to be part of that on the other side of the spectrum, plus the Ohioan connection is cool, too. Others would  be Bring me the Horizon because I love their music and it would be sick to listen to it live every night. Also FEVER 333, because their performance is so over the top entertaining and wild, plus they seem like super cool dudes when I was able to talk to them for a minute at Rock on the Range. 

Ben: I would like to tour with bands like Bring Me The Horizon, Beartooth, A Day to Remember, Starset, etc. Going back to my roots, I would have liked to tour with Good Charlotte and Green Day at the height of their popularity. I also would have liked to tour with Linkin Park before Chester’s passing.

Is there anything you would like to add

David Gast on behalf of the band: We would like to thank all of our fans for their amazing support in 2018! As we move into 2019 we are very excited to share with you what we have been working on for the last months of 2018 and what we are currently working on now. We will be announcing some new release dates very, very soon! There’s some very exciting things happening this year. See you all soon <3<3<3.

“We just want to write honest, relatable music”. - Dylan

“Stay gnar, dudes.” - Dixon

“Safety meeting!” - Mike

“Get back to work!” - Ben

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