A Silent Film is a 4 piece alternative rock band from Oxford England. The band consists of Robert Stevenson (vocals/piano), Karl Bareham (guitar), Ali Hussain (bass) and Spencer Walker (drums). Their first album, 'A City That Sleeps', was released on October 6, 2008. With reviewers describing it as 'a surefire winner'. Critics have compared A Silent Film to Coldplay, Snow Patrol and The Killers.

The band formed in 2005. Two of the four members (Robert Stevenson & Spencer Walker) had been members of another band named Shouting Myke, which formed in early 2000. In 2005 two members (Benn Clarke and Steve Meyer-Rassow) left the band and were replaced by Ali Hussain. The newly-formed band chose the name 'A Silent Film' after the lead singer, Robert Stevenson, wrote a song using the melody from a song from a Charlie Chaplin film; the band agreed they liked the style and chose the name as a reference to Charlie Chaplin's many silent films. The band released their first single in 2007, an EP titled 'The Projectionist'. They performed on the BBC Introducing Stage at Glastonbury in 2007 and their first album, The City That Sleeps, was released in October 2008. The band cites its influences as 'Love, sex and death, and everything in between'.

The original UK version of the album, produced by Sam Williams, contains 11 tracks, including the single 'You Will Leave a Mark'. This single was number one in the Sunday Times Culture magazine's 'Hottest Downloads' chart. The album was compared to the music of bands such as Coldplay and reviewers described it as 'catchy and accessible. After the album's release the band toured the UK and then Portugal where they quickly became popular. After a matter of weeks their song 'You Will Leave A Mark' reached top of the Portuguese download singles charts, followed by the album soon after. The band have played and toured with OneRepublic, Scouting for Girls, The Smashing Pumpkins, Temper Trap, Sleigh Bells, Biffy Clyro, Fitz & The Tantrums, Civil Twilight and Athlete. The song 'You Will Leave A Mark' was featured as an iTunes Discovery Download as has so far been downloaded over 110,000 times. In 2009, the song You Will Leave A Mark' was nominated for the XFM New Music Award. In 2010 'The City That Sleeps' was re-released with the addition of two new tracks, Driven By Their Beating Hearts and Firefly In My Window. In 2010 'Aurora' was featured on Linkin Park's iTunes celebrity playlist podcast. 'You Will Leave A Mark' topped national radio most requested playlists, picking up first place at the Sirius Alt Nation awards for 'Best In Studio Performance' & No. 4 'Song of the Year' only behind Mumford & Sons, The Black Keys & Vampire Weekend. The band performed at SXSW in March 2011. As one of the festivals 'buzz bands' they successfully performed to a capacity room. Multiple syncs on MTV's The Hills, The Hard Times of R J Berger, Investigation Discovery and an appearance on the Rockband video game have all helped raise the awareness of the band in the United States.

Source : www.wikipedia.org