Silent Scream were born in the north east of England in 1980. The lineup was: Steve Bell – drums (1980-81), Bobby Greenland – drums (1981-82), Steven Miller (Stesh) – Vocals, Dave Miller – Synths (live only), Steve Newton – Bass, Bill Newton – Guitars.
The band had this idea of wanting to be elusive and mysterious so they only played a small handful of gigs between 1980-81. Their debut was at Newcastle University and the band admits to not remembering much about this apart from being really nervous.
“Bauhaus had just played a storming gig at the same venue and we were thinking, “”how the f*** are we supposed to follow that?””
Silent Scream’s live performances got better at each gig they played and they travelled to London to play at the renowned Moonlight Club in Hampstead as part of a north east band showcase with Zap! and Red Performance. There was talk of Silent Scream supporting The Psychedelic Furs at Newcastle Mayfair on their 1980 debut album tour but this fell through unfortunately.
The band was managed by Dave Baird who was a guiding influence and arranged gigs, promotion, studio time and photo shoots. Dave negotiated with the brilliant Viz Comics who produced the band’s artwork for gig posters. He is still in the business, producing new music.
Silent Scream attracted a solid local following as they were very much part of the developing new romantic / futurist scene. People came to see the band to hang out, pose and be seen themselves. The audience was an intrinsic part of the movement and was as important as the bands at that time!
Stesh was very sadly lost to us some years ago. He was such a creative talent. He could turn his hand to anything and was acclaimed as an influential DJ in Newcastle after Silent Scream split.
Silent Scream were very much influenced by what was going on around them. There was so much fantastic music in the late 70’s / early 80’s: punk, post-punk, new wave, futurism, new romanticism, Bowie’s Berlin stuff and really fresh sounding early hip-hop and disco-pop such as Grandmaster Flash and Was (Not Was).
Silent Scream recorded two demos. The first at Impulse Studios, Wallsend, in 1980 with Steve Bell on drums. The track list of the first demo is: Deadline, Fate, All The Promise, Thin Ice, Trapped and Pantomime. Copies have mysteriously disappeared over the years and they haven’t been heard by existing band members for ages. Maybe someone reading this will have a copy!
The band’s second demo was recorded at Guardian Studios in Pity Me, Co. Durham in October 1981 with Terry Gavaghan as producer. Bobby was drumming at this point. Three songs were recorded and became known as simply “EP” or “1981 EP”. The tracks are: The Maze, Drown and Join Together.
Silent Scream’s recorded material and their handful of gigs were well reviewed in the local press and the band was featured in an early edition of I-D magazine. The demo was sent to various record labels and attracted interest from people including Chas Chandler and Beggars Banquet. Sadly, the band went their separate ways before any kind of deal could be negotiated.
Post-Silent Scream, Bill continues to write and is currently recording under the name Psykobilly. A third studio album, called Fin, was released on the Rock Gardens Production label in 2024, with musician and producer extraordinaire, Phil Sorrell, and his daughter, Isabelle, at the helm. All the Psykobilly releases are available on the usual digital platforms.
BANDS FEATURES
