Canadian duo, Silk is comprised of Hubert Gonthier-Blouin & Julien Watine, the two are about to released a Live EP early this year, and have unveiled a video for their single, “Tones”. Check out the video below and find out more about Silk via our Five Questions With segment.
Care to introduce yourself to our readers?
Silk is a duo comprised of Hubert Gonthier-Blouin & Julien Watine. We met in Québec City some 10 odd years ago and the idea of the two of us making music together had been brewing since the year 2011. Things started coming together in 2014 and haven’t really stopped since. We’ve released 2 studio albums (Hiraeth in 2017 and Eclipse in 2019) and we are set to release a 4 songs/videos Live EP (Dawn) in the first couple of months of 2020.
Tell us a bit about your music and writing style.
Our music is very dynamic. It ranges from Simon & Garfunkel-esque beauty and melodies to Meshuggah-esque heaviness. We find these contrasting dynamics emphasize the characteristics of their opposite. This wide palette of sounds and free-form exploration in songwriting is a key component of Silk. I do believe we’ve nailed that a few times on Eclipse. So there you go, beautiful and intricate.
The songs are written on guitar and we usually put tons of layers to create soundscapes of intricate beauty. Our records are an invitation to mysterious journeys. William Berger from the Metropolitan Opera in New York described us as: “transcendentally diaphanous and distinctly heavy at the same time”.
Our first two records had very clear narratives. Having a story really helped knowing from the get-go what the music needed to convey, where it needed to go. There’s a story in both Hiraeth and Eclipse and they overlap in some places but we’ve made sure the words were obscure enough for the listener to make them their own.
When we write, we always have a computer nearby and ready to roll. Our process is very methodical but also quite spontaneous. The idea is to get in that creative space and track ideas as they manifest. Once we get there, the music usually writes itself rather quickly. We live in different cities (Québec and Potton) and it actually helps us be more focused and efficient. Once our time is up, we go home, let these sketches brew, take notes and tweak them as needed on our next meeting.
Do you have any upcoming shows? For someone who has yet to see you live, how would you explain your live performance?
We have a few performances scheduled in early 2020 and are working hard on booking more gigs around the province. Despite the fact that our records are very layered, we’ve stripped the arrangements down to be able to perform as a duo. It was a gamble as we’re unsure if the songs would stand without all the studio gimmicks, but in the end, it worked great! The music speaks volumes through its sonic fragility and soulful honesty. We are in the process of incorporating more musicians to our live performances though. After recording our live EP, we really fell in love with the idea of adding more souls to the equation.
If you were asked to suggest only one of your songs for someone to hear, which would it be?
I’d have to go with the song “Tones”. It’s the first song we wrote for Eclipse and we both we feel it encompasses the full spectrum of what Silk represents on an artistic and spiritual level.
Canadian Beats is all about Canadian music, so who are your current favourite Canadian bands/ artists?
We’re both massive fans of Devin Townsend from Vancouver. But I’ll also give a shout out to my friends from $keleton Club, Juicebox and Brain Flower, all terrific bands!