Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevan Kiely-Gilden.
Kevan, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Growing up, all I ever focused on was sports. I played almost every sport you could think of and, being from Massachusetts, quickly fell in love with all the Boston sports teams. I’d dream about being a professional athlete when I grew up and I didn’t think that would ever change. Music was always in the background for me. I loved listening to music and singing songs in my head, but that was about as far as it went, I never thought that it would be my one true calling. My very first concert experience was seeing KISS at around 8 or 9 years old and it’s still one of the memorable times of my life. Still, though, it took moving all the way across the country for me to realize what I was meant to do. After moving to California, when I was 11, I joined the choir program at Meadowbrook Middle School my 6th-grade year.
From there, my love of music blossomed and by my junior year of high school, my passion had changed from swinging a baseball bat to singing and performing. My main focus became improving my voice and my understanding of the techniques of great singers during my four years at Mt. Carmel. From taking three years of voice lessons to joining the Southern California Men’s Honor Choir in my junior year, I became obsessed with the power of music and the effect that it had on me. Midway through junior year, I reconnected with an old friend from middle school, Doug Shaw (Guitar), who introduced me to Alex Vizcarra (Drums), and said they were looking for a singer for their Tool cover band. Having never been in a band before, I was skeptical at first, but my mind was quickly changed after the first time we jammed. There were a connection and energy I felt during that practice that I knew, even though we were kids, was something special. Once we knew we were going to continue to play together, a band name had to be decided on, we became Silent Vice.
Over the next ten years, we strayed away from playing covers to writing our own material, each one of us gradually improving at our craft to a point where we felt we were creating something that would impact more than just ourselves. We began playing shows as Silent Vice to introduce people to the creations that we’d been working on over the years and we then realized what it meant to be in a band. Writing your own music and hearing your ideas come to life is something special of course, but for us, playing these songs in front of a crowd of people where you feel their energy and see their reactions is the single most satisfying feeling we could have as musicians. Fast forward to today, four album releases and countless live shows played, and we are still getting better, still looking for that next edge, and still as passionate as ever about what we do.
With the addition of a permanent bass player in J.T. Heidrich, our band has been on a complete roll as of late. We released our best sounding album thus far in “Ultraviolet,” which was featured as the soundtrack for the full-length documentary film Tomcat Tales. We also started getting a lot of recognition for our live shows, often headlining and attracting more and more new fans to the experience of Silent Vice. Even with 2020 being what it is, we have found a way to self-produce high-quality music that we anticipate being released next year. Once concert venues reopen their doors, we will be ready to come back stronger than ever. I feel fortunate every day to have found three people who share the same passion for music as myself. Whether Silent Vice makes it big time or not, I can confidently say that playing and performing music is something that I’ll be doing until the very end.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Definitely not, The biggest struggle we faced was finding a full-time bassist. We had been through three bass players from 2009-2013, not including the few weeks of auditioning other bass players that just didn’t workout. There was about a two year period where the band went on hiatus because we couldn’t find a permanent solution and paying rent at our studio for an incomplete band just wasn’t worth it.
Also, becoming adults while being in this band created more struggles because we had to find a way to balance work and life responsibilities with our desire to be playing music. Scheduling and availability is and always will be a struggle but it’s something we’ve learned to manage pretty well.
We’d love to hear more about your band.
Silent Vice is a hard rock band that is dedicated to creating and evolving a new wave of heavy music. We call it groovy, heavy, sexy. Nothing leaves the cutting room floor without checking off those three boxes. I am the lead singer of the band and my main responsibility is creating melodies that fit the vibe of each song and writing lyrics that are memorable and original.
What I’m most proud of is our dedication to improving and evolving. I think we all work so well together and allow ourselves to always be free and creative, which gives each of us the confidence to try new things and take influences from places that aren’t specific to our own genre of music.
What sets us apart is that all four of us write the songs cohesively, it’s not just one person writing everything. Anyone can have an idea and present it and if the rest of the band likes the idea, we can all write around it. It’s a unique process for me specifically because I never write lyrics or melodies before the music is written, I go off of the vibe of the entire song and let that naturally inspire what I write.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I was lucky enough to find three like-minded people with similar influences and aspirations of creating great music. We’ve also been lucky enough to have a great core fan base that’s supported us since day one who continuously comes to shows, buys our shirts, and share our music.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://silentvicemusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/silentviceband
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/silentviceband
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