Billie Bends is an Alternative Rock project founded by guitar player & songwriter Jake Warren.
Silence, the first single to be released, was recorded in May 2021 at Park Sound in North Vancouver. The song was produced by Andy Schichter, who also contributed the bass and organ pieces, and features brilliant drumming by the talented Ian Cardona.
Jake began writing Silence during his senior year of high school after mashing together some lyrics from an A.E. Housman poem “To an Athlete Dying Young" with the chorus of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers song "Slow Cheetah." 10 years later, Jake found a more personal vision for the song after he received a stage II cancer diagnosis during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. While he contemplated whether to accept chemotherapy or let go of life, he couldn’t stop thinking of an old friend from High School who died by suicide in 2018. The song captures what we experience after someone passes - the guilt and tears that accompany a numbing silence - and how we often wish to hear that person's voice one more time.
While the themes may be heavy and dark, it’s the literal act of creation that changes these sensations from overwhelming sadness into something beautiful. It is the mission of Billie Bends to remind everyone that we are capable of transforming our lives by practicing a creative process.
