Even though he traded his previous life as a therapist to shred his vocal chords on the road, Silent Planet frontman Garrett Russell remains a no-bullshit, bona fide intellectual. That he’s also vocal about his faith in Christianity only speaks further to the complexity behind a band like Silent Planet.
As the band prepares for their upcoming U.S. tours, Garrett allowed Kerrang! to pick his refreshingly idiosyncratic brain about his journey as the vocalist of Silent Planet and as an individual.
How was the idea of blending academia-infused lyrics with such a heavy sound conceived?
I started the band nine years ago when I was in college. I was a philosophy and literature major, and I was pretty impacted by a lot of the stuff I was learning. I loved metal, so I thought it’d be cool to make a band that makes footnotes and references historical and literary stuff. Of course, bands have already done that. I didn’t know that at the time, but now I do.
Wait, what other bands use footnotes? I found that pretty unique to you guys.
No one does footnotes, I should say. I just know other bands reference stuff, especially guys like mewithoutYou and Every Time I Die. As far as actual footnotes go, I think we might be alone. It’s a cool way to promote learning and encourage people to dig deeper. I don’t see the footnotes as answers as much as like, ‘If you have a question, you can go to this source and probably find a better question.’ The goal isn’t for me to have all of the answers. It’s to ask questions and to encourage people to ask better questions, because I usually think a good question is better than an answer, if that makes sense.