Recent Spectra Records signing Anison release their debut studio album Memory Flashes this April in UK and USA.
The Kingston four piece have caught the attention of XFM with the band’s last 3 releases playlisted on the station alongside support from BBC 6 music and NME TV. Reflective and considerate, Anison’s music is a rush of melancholy that engrosses through its many layers, ignited by the delicate intro that comes as a calm before the proverbial emotional and sonic storm.
01 How did the band get together?
Rocky and Dan from the band met at school and were part of the same band. The pair met Rory at college (while studying music) and this evolved in to Anison as we know it. After some initial drumming on recordings from Dan and a string of temporary drummers, Jerome joined later – who was a friend of a friend.
02 Where did your name come from?
Anison is a genre of music, specifically associated with Japanese Anime films.
03 Who were your major influences and inspirations and who do you despise?
Varied per band-member… but mutual bands we have loved growing up include: Radiohead/Bloc Party/Pearl Jam/Incubus/Blur/Beatles/John Lennon/Led Zeppelin/Jeff Buckley. Huge inspirations have been some of our contemporaries – bands such as Apartment and Ex Libras.
Who we despise? Wishy-washy indie pop such as The Feeling… and mindless nonsense with people who can barely sing/play – such as The Cribs… Sure they’re all lovely chaps though!
04 What drove you to make music together?
Obsession with music as teenagers. The compelling desire to recreate our own music that made others feel the same way as we did for those bands.
05 What can someone who has never seen you live before expect from your live shows then & possibly even now?
I think people can expect a powerful and emotive performance from us; we concentrate on playing our tracks very well as we have always been very ‘song’ focussed. We spend alot of time working out the order in our set and merging songs together. The difference in recent times is that you will see our trademark selection of lights on stage (we love ambient lights and fairy lights)… and also as our musical palette grows you will find us playing more instruments. In addition to the good old guitars/bass/drums/vocals, you will see a selection of: Drum pads/pianos and samplers.
06 Who writes your songs? What types of themes and subjects do you deal with?
We all write music. Different variations to the final result. The prominent theme on the album is the passing of time. It’s a fairly reflective album. There are also a couple of songs that reference the UK in the recession… and a couple based on more hedonistic experiences in the capital.
07 How did your music evolved since you first began playing together?
When we first started out we were quite lunge based. We have had a few incarnations… We were heavily influenced by bands such as Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins in the early days. Since then, our sound has evolved in to an epic/atmospheric place… drawing more influence from the radioed palette… but keeping in touch with the pop/chorus side of it in a way that they have often strayed from. Drums have become more and more important too…. Jerome has a very distinctive playing style and this has become more prominent. Influence beats-wise include Bloc Party and The Police.
08 What has been your biggest challenge as a band? Were you been able to overcome this? If so, how?
Being at a cross-roads a few years ago after trying to ‘get a record deal’ and going through various management companies etc… Trying to motivate ourselves to carry on was the challenge.
We decided we would try to release a single ourselves, not reliant on any other parties but ourselves. This ultimately led us to the release of Spatial Awareness and we learned how to do everything ourselves, from getting the song distributed to choosing a PR company to help us promote it etc.
09 Do you play covers? If you could pick any song, which would you like to cover most and why?
We do occasionally play a cover. At Christmas we have played a version of East 17’s ‘Stay Another Day’ for a laugh… Choosing one song to cover and why is a very hard question! I’m going to speak for the group here… right here, right now – gonna plump with David Bowie. An incredible musician… hard to choose a song… but I reckon we do a pretty good job with Ashes to Ashes… a very intricate song with lots of parts and varied vocals.
10 Where did you envisage the band being in five year’s time?
Hopefully a well-respected band who have released a string of excellent albums – with a distinctive sound. Either that… or writing Christmas songs that can rival East 17!
11 Who would you most like to record with?
Another hard one… Would be very keen to work with producer Rick Ruben… think he would get a lot out of our sound. Likewise Liam Howlett from The Prodigy would be high on the list.
12 What should we be expecting from the band in the near future?
The album Memory Flashes is released on 30th April. And the first single is Fluidity. We have just made the video for Fluidity, which is a ‘murder mystery’ loosely inspired by Japanese Horror films… so look out for that soon! We are launching the Album with a special gig at The Tooting Tram & Social on April 20th with XFM’s John Kennedy.
Band Website: Anison.co.uk
Facebook: facebook.com/anisonuk
