Scorpio: North America and Europe are separated by the Atlantic Ocean and a great distance, so not many people here know SILENT EXILE. Please tell us your history — how did you meet and decide to form a band?
Cedric Rioux: I met Fabrice and Sylvain at a jam session in a bar in the Montreal suburbs in 1996. I was playing in a blues-rock combo called THE SMACKS at the time. The guys were in a slightly more hard rock-ish group called SECRET TEARS, made up of longtime friends. Both bands were doing covers, and at the end of the evening, we discussed (Fabrice, Sylvain and me) the idea they had to start a progressive metal project. A couple of weeks later, after hearing their first drafts, I decided to join them. The drummer we had at the time then quit. Denis came two or three months later, shortly after we placed an ad in a local newspaper. We then changed our name to SILENT EXILE and composed most of the material that you can hear on "Dancing With Death" while we were looking for an appropriate singer. Chriss was the last one to join us in 1998. Before that, he was playing guitar and singing for a heavy metal band called CHROMATIC SHADES. We entered the studio in the summer of 1999 and released our first album, "Dancing With Death," in January 2000. We then worked very hard on promoting the album. DWD was reviewed in about eighty magazines, webzines and fanzines, and won CD of the Month awards in many of them. The excellent reviews helped us get distribution deals in many countries.
S.: What's the latest news? What about a new album?
CR.: We are currently dedicating all our free time to working on our second album. We really hope to get into the studio in late 2003 to begin recording.
S.: How many songs do you plan to include on SILENT EXILE's second release?
CR.: Well, there are now 9 completed drafts and a few others that aren't totally finished. We haven't yet decided which ones will make it onto the album, but we plan to include approximately 60 minutes of music.
S.: Is it already titled?
CR.: Not yet.
S.: Are there differences between "Dancing With Death" and your new work?
CR.: To my ears, it sounds a little bit heavier and also a little more explorative in terms of chording, soloing and rhythms. But don't worry! It will be a logical follow-up to the first album. We've certainly evolved a bit since DWD, but we're still SILENT EXILE. So people can expect a lot of melodies, rich orchestrations and atmosphere.
S.: You made a video for "Broken Dreams." Why did you choose that particular song? Because it's a great ballad, or because it's the shortest one on "Dancing With Death"?
CR.: In fact, we have live video footage of all our songs, but we chose to put only this one on the internet because it's the shortest and takes up less space on our website.
S.: Will you make a video for the new album?
CR.: We still don't know if we'll release a commercial video, but we'll surely film some live events. So later we could have the possibility of releasing a live video or DVD.
S.: Some bands include media sections on their CDs with video materials. Will you ever do something like that?
CR.: Maybe. That's a possibility we've already discussed for the second album.
S.: What about your live shows? When will fans see you at Prog Power festivals in the USA? :)
CR.: Obviously, not now. We're currently concentrating on pre-production only. We want to release our second album before doing more gigs. In the past, though, we did opening shows for NIGHTWISH, SYMPHONY X, PLANET X and UNDER THE SUN.
S.: I've read the questionnaires on your website and saw that you, Chriss and Sylvain all named IRON MAIDEN as their favorite band, but there's no MAIDEN song in their best playlists. Why? :)
CR.: Well, the playlists we have on each member's page show what we're listening to at the present time. It's not a best-ever playlist. You can have a favorite band and still listen to something else at a given time. By the way, those playlists are periodically updated.
S.: All your favorite bands are prog, power, heavy. What about other metal styles?
CR.: We grew up listening to prog, power and heavy, so these styles hold a big place in our hearts and minds. We are, of course, open to other genres, and we actually listen to a wide variety of music.
S.: How do you feel about interviews that consist only of standard questions like "Tell us about the history of the band," "How would you describe your style?", "Who are your musical influences?", "Are you in contact with record labels?" Do you use the copy/paste method when answering them? :)
CR.: I guess those "standard questions" are inevitable because we're quite underground, and a lot of people don't know us. We don't think there are bad interviews. We feel very happy each time we have the opportunity to speak publicly about what we've done, and we try to give the most detailed answers we can. We're also aware that interviewers have a tremendous amount of work to do, and they're doing it in their free time. We feel grateful to these people because they're kind enough to promote our music. We don't really use the copy/paste method, but I must admit that some answers may look very similar from one interview to another, especially when the question is exactly the same.
S.: What was the most interesting question somebody asked you in an interview?
CR.: I don't know. So many interesting questions have been asked. Maybe: "If you could have worked on the movie soundtrack of any movie (past, present, or upcoming), which movie(s) would it be?"
S.: What language do you speak in everyday life — English or French?
CR.: I personally have to speak English every day at work. But otherwise, the language we normally use is French.
S.: Quebec could be called the metal province of Canada. There are many bands in your region... But most are financially independent, and that's the biggest problem. Are there no metal labels in Canada?
CR.: Yes, there are some metal labels: Warfare, Indica, MPV and many others. The problem in Quebec was that when we released DWD, the metal scene almost exclusively consisted of thrash, death or black metal bands (like MARTYR, ANONYMUS, CRYPTOPSY...) or more mainstream-sounding groups (GROOVY AARDVARK, GRIM SKUNK...). There wasn't much room for prog-metal, and nobody wanted to finance our project. We didn't want to compromise on our sound, so we decided to cover all the costs ourselves. That's the great thing about being financially independent: you can record whatever you like.
S.: Two months ago I contacted LAST BREATH from Montreal. They play heavy/thrash, and even though they were founded in the late '80s, they've released only one album, "Ashes To Ashes" (1994), and two demos because of financial problems. Nobody wanted to release their work, and now LAST BREATH have enough material for almost two albums. Do you know them?
CR.: Not personally. I know that Fabrice (our guitarist) met Patrice Moore once because they were both teachers at the time. Of course we've heard of the band, but we thought they had split up long ago.
S.: Are you going to continue self-producing, or will you also contact big labels?
CR.: We'll do both. The second album will surely be self-produced, but we'll also contact labels in case they have something interesting to offer us for future recordings.
S.: What can you say about your contacts with people from the CIS?
CR.: Yes, recently we've received a lot of emails from people in russia and Ukraine. It looks like people there are just beginning to discover DWD.
S.: Have you contacted distributors and labels in russia and Ukraine?
CR.: We're currently in contact with some of them. I can't tell you more because, at the moment, no deal has been made.
S.: Do you know anything about Ukraine and the CIS states?
CR.: The CIS was born from the ashes of the USSR in 1991. Ukraine (capital: Kyiv) is one of the eleven (?) states that make it up. The fact that you ask this question at this specific time is quite interesting because here in Canada, the Senate just voted on a motion to recognize the famine of 1932–1933 as a genocide against the Ukrainian people. The motion still has to pass the House of Commons. If it does, the fourth Saturday of November will be dedicated to the people who died in this genocide.
S.: And what about the metal scene in our region?
CR.: Well, unfortunately we don't know much about it. I guess distance is the main reason. However, if you have some recommendations, we'd be happy to hear them.
S.: A message to your fans and our readers. First in French, then the English translation.
CR.: Nous voudrions remercier nos fans d'avoir ouvert leurs c?urs a notre musique. C'est un honneur pour nous d'etre entres dans leurs vies. Nous voudrions aussi saluer les lecteurs de MetalList. Vous etes tous cordialement invites a visiter notre site internet (qui contient des photos, des extraits sonores et plus…) au www.silentexile.com. Finalement, nous souhaiterions remercier M. Scorpio pour l'entrevue et aussi pour son precieux support.
We would first like to thank our fans for opening their hearts to our music. It is an honor for us to be part of their lives. We also want to salute the MetalList readers. You are all invited to visit our website (featuring pictures, sound clips and more…) at www.silentexile.com. Last but not least, we would like to thank you, Mr. Scorpio, for the interview and for your precious support.
S.: Thanks! It's a pleasure to hear such words. Good luck!