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Formed on March 21, 2005 the band “Anodyne” was originally known as “Exordium.” The band only had 4 members at the time; Kip Allan [drums], Veronica Tverbakk[lead vocals], Karina Tverbakk[lead guitar], and Jared Broussard. [bass] From 2005 to 2006 “Exordium” was a cover band. In between that time Jared Broussard quit the band & Erica Strohmeir[guitar] joined. & then once again Exordium lost another member- Erica had left. A few months passed by until Fadwa Ward[guitar/backup vocals] joined the band in December of 2006. “I had felt a connection when I first met the band, I knew I’d love them,” says guitarist, Fadwa Ward. Right before Fadwa had joined, Exordium had stopped doing covers & began writing originals. Early 2007 came around & a bassist still hadn’t been found until Max Mercer[Bass] joined us in March 2007. At the end of May the band found a new name: “Anodyne.”

More and more original songs had been written by Veronica and Karina Tverbakk and many had been thrown away. The first original song being “Transparent” had a slow and steady feel to it. The writers had changed their perspective on what kind of music they should be making and started writing more songs that dealed with real life situations and that had faster beats. “We wanted something more 'hardcore',” laughs lead vocalist, Veronica Tverbakk. “It just didn’t feel right making songs about things that we didn’t know about or hadn’t experienced.” It changed the band in many different ways; from writing lyrics to the actual music. “It’s been quoted before but I think the music should be allowed to define the name rather than the name to define the music, it’s just the way it is,” states lead guitarist, Karina Tverbakk.

When the song, “Smile, It’s What You’re Good At” came into the picture, Anodyne had realized that this was the music they wanted to play. Guitar riffs and darker melodies had shown through their music. Having completed almost 8 songs total, half had been thrown out the window.

“We remember trying to find a name that appealed to us; lists were made with names such as ‘5th Column, Burn It To The Ground, Mishap On 15th Street, and X Marks The Spot.’ None of them seemed good enough until we reached Anodyne, and then all the band members were satisfied,” says Veronica and Karina Tverbakk. Anodyne stands for a lot of things. The dictionary definition being ‘anything that relieves distress or pain.’ Bassist, Max Mercer, explains, “I guess it’s cool, you know, if you think about it. I mean, God saves us from eternal pain, right?” To Max Mercer, God is his Anodyne.

In early June, the band’s manager/coach, Trey Willis, had found his place in a university, leaving the band behind. “We didn’t know what we would do without him, he was our support structure that was holding us up,” says Karina Tverbakk. “All we could think of doing for him as a goodbye present was to write him a song.” And that’s what they did; Veronica and Karina set to work on writing lyrics and chords for their “Last Goodbyes.” According to Anodyne, the meaning of their songs is very important to them. “Last Goodbyes” was written in approximately 30 minutes and the singer and lead guitarist were pleased with their acoustic song. The day had come to show Trey their thanks for getting the band this far. The song explained how devastated they were but thanking him for guiding them in the right path.

“Some bands don’t usually interact straightforward with their own fans, and we wanted to show that we’re not one of them. That’s what separates us all those mainstream bands, we appreciate our fans and thank them for being there for us,” clarifies Karina. “We like to talk to our fans and hear what they have to say, it’s really important to us that we get to know who’s supporting us.” Anodyne personally talks to their fans and lets them know what will be happening in the near future. Guitarist, Fadwa, speaks her mind, “Fans, they inspire us to keep writing.”

The song “Smile, It’s What You’re Good At” was such a success that the band decided to take it further. Music videos have always been discussed between the members.

At the end of 2007, Anodyne decided to change the name once more due to the fact that fans could not spell or pronounce the band name correctly. “It wasn’t very catchy,” says lead guitarist, Karina Tverbakk. The name was originally brought up by bassist, Max Mercer after discussing the issue with the whole band. Minus the Silence was the first thing that Max thought was appealing to change it to. The rest of the band members immediately agreed.

In the future, Minus the Silence desires to continue recording and writing songs as good as their current ones. They don’t expect to make it big but enjoy the thought of making and appreciating music with their fans.