Welcome back to our annual Year In Review series - where we invite bands, staff, loyal readers and industry professionals alike to give us a snapshot of their 2023 adventures and the music that helped them get through it all.
Each day throughout December (and into 2024) we'll open our platform and let a different guest take the reigns... and it doesn't get much bigger than our first contributor, the one and only Garrett Russell from Silent Planet! But that's enough from us, hook into Garrett's #WoSYearInReview...
Intro
This year we did some touring, recorded an album, toured some more, then released our fifth LP: SUPERBLOOM.
TOP 5 RELEASES OF 2023?
5 - Polaris - Fatalism4 - Spiritbox - The Fear of Fear3 - Johnny Booth - Moments Elsewhere2 - Invent Animate - Heavener1 - Soulkeeper - Holy Designhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD9sNxjJ1I8
TOP 5 SONGS OF 2023?
5 - Thornhill - 'Viper Room'4 - HEAVENSGATE - 'Violent Joy'3 - Seeing Things - 'Switchblade'2 - Bloom - 'Maybe In Another Life'1 - Vildhjarta - '+ den spanska känslan +'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtV9pcHh8vM
FAV AUSTRALIAN ACT YOU CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF RIGHT NOW?
There are so many... I'll never understand how there's so much good heavy music coming from your side of the sea. Must be something in the water over there. But I'll shout out a lesser-known heavy band called Signv/s. They opened our show in Adelaide last year and put on an insane performance. Super pissed, aggressive stuff. Nice folks to work with - check them out.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsMe1PW6DbU
BEST GIG YOU PLAYED THIS YEAR AND WHY?
Personally, probably on my birthday in Milan, Italy. I couldn't believe how much of the crowd knew our lyrics, then they sang Happy Birthday in Italian which was beautiful. I think I hung from the rafters at some point, and the tour package (Erra, Invent Animate, Sentinels + crew) gave me a tiramisu with candles. Oh yeah, JT gave me some of his underwear because I didn't have any. What a legend.https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp3uM1UuS6Y/?hl=en&img_index=2
TELL US A CORE MEMORY FROM A MUSIC FESTIVAL SET
We played Heart Support Fest in Orlando, which was fun, and Mitch got food poisoning, which wasn't fun. But he ripped the gig anyways because he's a legend.
BIGGEST HOLY SHIT MOMENT FOR YOU THIS YEAR?
Apparently Michael Mando, the gentleman who plays Nacho in Better Call Saul, likes our band... so that was a cool one for us haha. Big fans of that show.
ANY SNEAK PEEKS OF INBOUND PLANS NEXT YEAR?
We will be headlining across North America in Jan-Feb, supported by Thornhill, Aviana, and Johnny Booth. Then we will head over to EU/UK and support the legends in Polaris. Hopefully we get the chance to come back to AUS soon.https://www.instagram.com/p/CzwT--6Obg5/?hl=en
BEST ADVICE GOING INTO 2024?
Use your voice for peace. Get to know your neighbors. Ask yourself tough questions and don't be afraid of the answers. Don't be afraid of your voice.Written by GarrettRussell@silentgarrett
Follow Silent Planet via LinkTree
Stream SUPERBLOOM here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-a-PmFtcwQ
