A Chat With: Canyon City

The multi-talented singer songwriter, producer, and musician Paul Johnson is gearing up to release his second album, Constellation, under the moniker Canyon City. Based in Nashville, Johnson stands out with his smooth, flowing vocals, which he weaves with indie-folk acoustic melodies. Out in October, Canyon City's new album will showcase a more layered and developed sound from Johnson. To celebrate the release of the newest single "Midnight Flight" and the onset of the sophomore album from Canyon City, we chatted with Johnson about his writing process, pushing his limits in recording, the story behind his viral cover, and what's next for him. Get to know Canyon City now!

Photo Credit: Jordan Merrigan

ANCHR Magazine: When did you very first decide to start writing songs and make music as a full time profession?

Canyon City: I think the first time I decidedly went for it was probably about halfway through high school. Music has really been around most of my life...both my parents played in a folk trio when they were in their 20’s. I guess folk stuff was around growing up. I picked up the guitar when I was a really, really young kid, and did what I could to learn it. It probably was about halfway through high school that I started writing. I think that was the turning point, and I kind of started to find an early voice in that. Sort of a new level of expression and satisfaction of doing it. At that point I was sort of addicted. I kept that going, and then moved to Nashville when I was 18, kind of using the excuse of college to do it, but then dropped out of college after a year to play music. I’ve been here ever since.

AM: Nice, do you still remember the very first song you wrote?

CC: Sort of. I remember a handful of the first songs, neither of which do I have much desire to relisten to, but you gotta start somewhere!

AM: For sure. Now you’re gearing up to release the sophomore album. What have you noticed as some of the differences with the songwriting and recording process between this album and the debut?

CC: Well with this one, it expands a bit. I think part of the reason I went out into some new sonic territory and some new instrumentation experimentation is because the first record was right after I built up my studio, and I’d done a couple EPs. I was still kind of learning the ropes. The first album Midnight Waves was pretty folky, pretty acoustic...partially because I was just learning the ropes of my setup here, and also because I knew when it comes time to play that live, I wanted to be able to play solo sets in addition to full band sets. With this one, I felt a lot more confident in the studio and in the production. I felt like I had a workflow down. So things that might have taken me awhile to figure out with Midnight Waves, I already had down for this one. It sort of allowed me to find things that I didn’t know how to do again. In this case, there’s a lot of percussion in a way that I hadn’t before for Canyon City. I also opened up the opportunity to hash out some instrumentals so that I could bring a band on the road should there be the opportunity for it. I really...with feeling a little bit more confident in the work flow, I sought out challenges and things that would expand the sound further. Production wise, I think this album just experiments a bit more. It still has the same heart and soul; songs that can survive with just an instrument and a voice. I always want to make sure it’s not something where I couldn’t play it to a room of people with my guitar if I wanted to. There’s a little more room for it to blossom and grow outside of that.

AM: Very cool! Is there anybody musically or even non-musical influences that might have inspired you when you were writing?

CC: Yeah, I’m always pretty steep in folk and alt-folk guys. Jason Isbell is an incredible writer. David Ramirez... I really love his stuff. I also listen to a lot of stuff that’s totally out of my wheelhouse... I think people would be surprised. My recently played on Spotify is sort of all over the place. It was a lot of relationships that end up getting jumbled up in the writing process, a lot of what’s going on in life.

AM: Is there a common theme that threads through the album that you could pinpoint?

CC: For Constellation, the reason why it’s called Constellation is something that was a conscious and subconscious theme. Just sort of the contention of the life in your head and the life that you’re living in reality. As a musician, as a writer, you can feel that if you’re producing good work in your studio, that sort of counts as enough living, but you think 'I really need to get out of these four walls and engage with the world and write that story.' I think a lot of it is you take a look at yourself and the world, both being in your 20s and the world being in its current state, and you sort of see a lot of---I’m trying to find the right way to articulate it, but there’s a few points of light that you’re searching for. You sort of try to create a shape of what you’re hoping to make out of it, but most of the time, you spend in between those points of light. Those are the times, and sort of that unknown thing, which is where the constellation metaphor comes from. That’s the central metaphor, and every song goes into a mini story of that. There are songs like “Like I Did,” where that’s kind of like what a raw, real honest chunk of life looks like, and then there are other songs like “Satellite,” that talk all about the distance and being a little bit lost in the darkness between those points of light. If anything, that’s probably the most central theme across the record.

AM: Very cool, it’s sounds really relatable! So you mentioned a little bit when talking the recording process that you want to be able to strip the songs down or build them up for a full band, so do you have any plans for tour? I know you have two shows announced in October, in LA and NYC.

CC: Those are definitely the quickest coming up. I’m gonna do one in Nashville too with some friends, as sort of a release show. After that, the next route of touring will probably be early 2018, although I do want to tour this one out quite a bit. We’ll do those handful of shows...we just got back from an East Coast run that was kind of similar. It was a run of three shows up along the east coast, and also a stop to make a music video in Rhode Island. We’re trying out these first few runs, and once we have it down, we’ll hit it harder in 2018.

AM: What’s the current live setup with the band?

CC: There’s a couple configurations. One is it can just be me. When I’m out in LA in October at the Hotel Cafe, that will probably just be a solo show with me. Then when we’re doing full band stuff, it’s usually a three or four piece depending on who’s available. Usually drums and percussion and someone on keys. If we can, we’d like to get bass in there too, and me on guitar, switching back and forth between electric and acoustic. This fall will be sort of interesting, every show will be a version of one of those three shows. LA will be solo acoustic, New York will be a percussion and guitar thing, and Nashville will be full band.

AM: So being based in Nashville, what have been some of your favorite parts of the scene? What are the pros and cons of being a musician in a music city that can be saturated at times?

CC: Saturated is definitely a good word for it, but it’s something that I think a lot of musicians go through when they come here. It’s both exciting and seems weird to wherever people grew up or came from that doing music or pursuing music professionally is kind of commonplace here. I think pretty quickly people feel overwhelmed in just the sea of talent that is here. Inevitably, it’s a good thing cause it sort of forces everyone to get better. I definitely had to learn how to rise up and do this on a higher level. Nashville sort of forces you to do that. There’s also a lot of saturation, and music is everywhere. I think something I’ve come to peace with is that Nashville, although it’s my base and where all my friends are, I realize that musically, my audience is elsewhere. There’s definitely people in Nashville that follow Canyon City, but I find that the concentration of Canyon City’s audience tend to be other places. I live here, but I feel like an average Joe in the city. I think that’s the reason a lot of musicians like living here is because it doesn’t matter if you’re a musician or an accountant...you’re treated the same way.

AM: Any Nashville based musicians that you would recommend to your listeners?

CC: There’s a group The Ten out of Tenn group. It’s been a minute since they put something out, but it’s a revolving group of Nashville artists. There’s some really good people, like Matthew Perryman Jones is a really solid dude that I’ve learned from in that group. Jason Isbell being out of Nashville too, I really love his stuff.

AM: Cool, any particular new music or new bands elsewhere that might not be a similar genre? Like you said, your recently listened to on Spotify might surprise some people…

CC: Weirdly, I go on--especially when I’m producing a Canyon City record...I’m not really trying to be folky, but it just sort of comes out. But because I spend so much time in it, I sometimes seek out stuff that’s totally different. Like I’ll drill out the new Jon Bellion record into the ground to get out of my sonic headspace and comfort zone. It’s kind a reset for me. I’ll go all over the place, regardless of genre.

AM: Yeah, totally! So the cover that you did of “Fix You” by Coldplay went pretty viral on Spotify. What was it about that song that drew you to create your own version of it? Any fun story behind it?

CC: It’s a great song, and it’s also a song that’s been around for a minute. When I thought of doing a cover, I didn’t want to do something that was just a flavor of the week thing. I thought that was an incredible tune. It wasn’t too premeditated...I was just writing one day and I think I was just taking a break. It initially was just for fun, and I decided to take a break and record someone else’s song. The funny thing about it was that I tried to take it down...not because I didn’t enjoy the song or the cover...I really enjoyed both, but I was afraid people were going to think of me as a cover artist because it was right before Midnight Waves came out. I always have and always will love that song, and I think I was overthinking it, but I was afraid people would peg me as a cover guy and I’m about to put out a new record. So I reached out to see if it was possible to at the very least temporarily take it down, and then two months later is when it started to go viral and pick up. It ended up being a huge boost to my original content, and that’s something I’m very grateful for. “Fix You” has been an entryway into Canyon City, and then people will actually explore the original content afterwards. I totally almost self-sabotaged, but I had a blast making the song.

AM: Anything else that you’re looking forward to this year besides potentially touring and the album coming out?

CC: Yeah, the album coming out, and there’s gonna be some videos that come with it too, which I’m really looking forward to. We don’t have a ton of video content, so I’m really excited that’s gonna be coming along with this record. Then next year, I’ll be putting together some plans for tour and even more new music and more writing. Because I have this home studio, I never stop, but I think I’m gonna be building a separate facility in the next six months or so, which I’m really looking forward to. But mainly just releasing music, playing some shows, and really getting face to face with the people that let me do this as my job, which is still kind of dumbfounding. I really enjoy that in-room interaction and being in the moment.

---

Keep up with Canyon City by liking the official Facebook page, and listen to the new single "Midnight Flight" below.

A Chat With: Marika Hackman

There's a point in almost every great artist's career where they reinvent their sound, branching out into unfamiliar territory and pushing past boundaries in the name of creativity. For Marika Hackman, that turning point came early on when she revamped and built up her songs for her sophomore album I'm Not Your Man, released June 2nd on Subpop Records. Teased by the lead single "Boyfriend," Hackman made it clear early on that this new record wouldn't be the same flowing folk tunes from her first record. With the backing of The Big Moon and its honest and direct lyrics, "Boyfriend" boosts a fuller and more candid attitude that set the tone for the whole album. Bolder and braver lyrics cut through on tracks like "My Lover Cindy" and "Violet," where Hackman maintains her direct focus, but the songs still drip with beautiful, metaphoric language. 

This past month, Marika Hackman has been on the road in America with The Big Moon, bringing the songs they recorded to life onstage each night. Before the supergroup took the stage at Schubas Tavern on Friday night, Hackman talked about the challenges she faced while creating this record, while also recognizing the joy she got from embracing that fear of the unknown. Also revealing the origin of her budding relationship with The Big Moon, Hackman discusses the tour, other influences, and even The Spice Girls. Get to know this evolving singer-songwriter now, in our chat with Marika Hackman. 

Photo Credit: Steve Gullick

ANCHR Magazine:  So I first wanted to talk more about your album I’m Not Your Man. It’s quite a departure, and you’ve talked about that a bit before, saying you should be a bit afraid when creating art because otherwise you’re not growing and not challenging yourself. Can you elaborate on that process? 

Marika Hackman: Yeah, totally! Well, I knew I wanted to change the genre. It wasn’t that I was bored or fed up by writing kind of more sombre songs, I just felt like I was in a very different place mentally, and also the songs I really enjoyed playing live were the kind of like heavier stuff. So I was thinking a lot of the live show, and my recording process up until that point had always been sort of controlled. Sort of taking each layer and manipulating that each time and doing take after take after take. I thought recording something live and capturing the energy of something rather than trying to control it all the time would be a real challenge for me, personally. Cause I’ve never done that before. That’s kind of where the challenge lay. Being more honest and frank with my lyrics. That was kind of a scary thing to kind of process for me. There was moments of doubt, there was moments of fear during the process. Like you said, I embraced that. I think it’s a healthy thing. It ended up being so much fun. By the time we were actually in the studio recording it, it was so much more fun than being on my own.

AM: I love how it starts off with the laugh in “Boyfriend” and it goes right into that. You can just tell you’re having fun with the recording!

MH: Yeah, all of those 8 tracks with The Big Moon...they’re live tracks that we did. All of us playing at the same time, and adding little bits on that. The rest of it, I’d lost 4 musicians so I had to layer a bit, but stuff like “Round We Go,” me and Charlie still did the bass and the drums live together.

AM: I always like the live albums better. It’s more organic. I know you also said you avoid listening to new music when you’re writing. Do you find anything else that you can specifically pinpoint as inspiration for the album? Whether that be a movie, a friend, or anything else? 

MH: I don’t know what I was doing with my time- I think being stressed about recording, but I normally read a lot. I love reading books. I didn’t read any books for the whole of it, for that year. I find it really bad, but my concentration span was awful. There’s a direct influence from a friend on there, I have a friend called Gina, she’s one of my best friends. “Gina’s World” is about her and our friendship, how we’d kind of do anything for each other. So that was a direct influence. And entering into a new relationship, which I’ve now been in for like 2 and a half years, that was the beginning of that. Kind of falling in love, and like lust and exploring all that as well. It was kind of more like people around me and my life...I’ve been living in London now for like four years. I think that kind of fed into it. It was more of a media record, a lot less references to nature. 

AM: Cool, and then you obviously just mentioned recording with The Big Moon and they’re on tour with you now. How did that relationship first come around and what’s your favorite part of working with them?

MH: Oh it’s just so great! Me and my girlfriend went to one of their shows. It was November, maybe like a year and a half ago? Coming up on two years now. We watched them play and they had this amazing energy on stage. It was really exciting to watch. Me and my girlfriend were like, I wanna be their friend! We hung out with them that night after the show...went and got drunk and the pub, and kind of just became friends overnight. We saw each other like four times in the next week...it was one of those friend crush little moments. So then cut maybe 6 months later...maybe less even...I was talking with my label and my management about how I had said that I wanted this live sound, but I didn’t have any way to facilitate that because I didn’t have a band. We were throwing some ideas around and they said how do you feel about approaching The Big Moon cause your friends with them? It was one of those things where I wanted that, but I was too scared to kind of say it. When you have a friendship relationship with someone, it’s hard to bring work into that, like maybe they might feel like they have to. Anyways, I was like yeah that’s perfect. So I asked them over a pint one night, and I was really bright red and terrified. I was like don’t answer now, go away, talk about it, and thank god they said yes! We started like a month after that. Rehearsing and recording. It’s just nice, and this tour as well has just been...I don’t know what it is...Just being on the road with your friends. And playing music that you all really enjoy playing. It’s just so nice. This tour could have been horrendous because we haven’t had a day off. Our days off are considered 15 hour drives. So we’ve been in the van, and we’ve been playing shows. We haven’t been able to explore like any cities. That could be so horrendous and draining and shit if you’re on the road with people that you just don’t feel that you connect with. But actually, and I’m speaking for myself, but it feels like we’re having a nice time. We’ve only got like a week left now.

AM: So are they backing your set too?

MH: Yeah they’re doing a double shift every night! They’re playing their set and then we all play together. The fact that they’re playing two shows every night blows my mind. They’ve got stamina.

AM: So what have been some highlights overall of the tour? Any favorite cities, even though you haven’t seen much of the outside world?

MH: Last night in Milwaukee we had a really funny show. We all lost our minds onstage. Jules had a giggling fit, and we were all just going completely mad. It was really strange, but hilarious. Even just the views from the van. Seeing the landscape change. We’ve driven across the whole of America. That’s been incredible, and I think something not a lot of people actually get to do. Which is really cool. I just love hanging out, playing xbox, watching The OC in the back of the van. It’s kind of just felt like a sleepover during the day and then just hanging out and playing shows.

AM: What have been some favorite songs to translate into the live sense? I know it was tracked live so that must have been easier to carry over. 

MH: We’ve got the 8 that they played on in the record. Then we’ve got “BlahBlahBlah” which is one where I did everything myself cause they’d all gone off by that point. That’s been really fun playing that with them and the big wigout rock section at the end is really fun. Then we’ve also got “Ophelia” and “Cinnamon,” the two much older tracks we’ve rejigged to fit the set, and they’re kind of a lot heavier.

AM: Speaking of “BlahBlahBlah,” that’s the song you’ve mentioned kind of has an ode to The Spice Girls, right? So which Spice Girl do you identify with the most?

MH: Oh, that’s interesting! When I was a kid, I had bright blonde hair and everyone used to say I’d be Baby Spice, but I think I was a bit of a Sporty. I always just wanted to wear the tracksuit!

AM: What are your thoughts on a Spice Girls reunion?

MH: I think it’s maybe better if they just left it. It’s such a fond memory...at the time in my life, it was so iconic. I think if they tried to do it again, it might ruin that. 

AM: Tracking back to The Big Moon and the album, I interviewed Alex Lahey a little while ago, and she recommended “Boyfriend” when I asked what new songs she was listening to. She brought up the Pitchfork article that said something like "Marika Hackman is Out to Steal Your Boyfriend." So what’s another crazy interpretation you’ve heard of one of your songs?

MH: Oh, I’m trying to think... That was one that really pissed me off. That’s quite fresh, so that’s right at the front of my mind. With such a big publication as well! It really feels like there should be stuff with this record. My stuff before was so open to interpretation that I just didn’t mind. I kind of let that happen... It’s always funny seeing what people think the lyrics are. Particularly for older stuff, it’s so wrong. My mum always sends me stuff.

AM: On this record then, were you aiming to have a more specific interpretation of each song?

MH: Yeah! I don’t know if I felt that beforehand, but certainly when I was writing I was aware that I was being a bit more frank and a bit more direct. Sort of speaking normal language a bit more rather than like pushing the more poetic side, and doing metaphors and all that. I didn’t sit down and say I’m gonna be like this, but I think it started happening, and I thought it suits this music a lot more. If you’ve got like guitar lines that are punching, and heavy drums, you need to have lyrics that are gonna cut through that and just hit. Rather than floating above.

AM: So last month you released a video for your song with Toothless, and you've collaborated with The Big Moon a lot. Anybody else you’d love to work with?

MH: Yeah, I’d love to work with Kevin Parker. I’d love to work with Stella [Mozgawa] from Warpaint. Or any of Warpaint, but particularly Stella because her drumming style...everyone I know thinks she’s like the best drummer ever. And I think it’d be really interesting what would happen with that.

AM: Yeah I’d love to see that! Any other songs or bands that you’re really into at the moment that you’d recommend to your listeners?

MH: Yeah, there’s MUNA from LA which I love. I’ve been smashing that album since it came out. Constantly on!

AM: You had said you’re an avid reader, so any books you would recommend?

MH: I’m a huge Donna Tartt fan, and The Secret History and The Goldfinch are like two of favorite books. For this tour, I just bought The Little Friend. I finished it two days ago, and it’s fucking awesome. I just think she’s such an incredible novelist, and the way she writes-- the way she describes things is really beautiful and inspiring and dark.

AM: Nice, I’ll check that out! Anything else you’re looking forward to this year?

MH: I’m looking forward to getting the first batch of songs done for the new record. And feeling like I’m making headway with it.

---

Keep up with all of the updates from Marika Hackman by liking her Facebook page, and listening to I'm Not Your Man in full below. 

Can't get enough Marika? Read our review of her show at Schuba's Tavern here. 

A Chat With: Public

Public just wants to get to know you. In fact, even on their Facebook page, under the category "band interests," the only thing listed is "You." If you attended one of the trio's recent tour dates on their Sweet Lemonade Tour or follow them on other social media, you'll be quick to find out that's a genuine statement from them. 

As an unsigned band, Public have still managed to put out top quality recordings of their indie pop tunes over the years, full of sticky, sing-a-long choruses and upbeat melodies. They just have to work a lot harder to get those radio-ready songs out to their fans, old and new, but don't underestimate them. John Vaughn, Ben Lapps, and Matt Alvarado have never been more ready to roll up their sleeves and build their foundation from the ground up. After already opening for fellow Ohioans Twenty One Pilots and racking up more than a million Spotify plays on their song "Pretty Face," the band have already reaped some reward from their hard work, but their momentum only continues to grow. 

If you're looking for great music made by authentic musicians and even more genuine people, look no further than Public. In our chat with them last month, Vaughn, Lapps, and Alvarado have some fun revealing interesting facts about each other, but they also clearly communicate the message behind their music. In this interview, you'll not only find out Public's pet peeves and their last Google search, but you'll get an insider's perspective of their vision and their mission as a band. Get to know your new favorite band, Public, now. 

Public at Schubas Tavern last month

---

ANCHR Magazine: Let's start things off with some tour talk then. Since being in the van with each other, what have you learned are each others’ biggest pet peeves?

Matt Alvarado: Ben hates dabbing.

Ben Lapps: I don’t dab.

MA: So I dab just to bug him.

BL: Now it’s more of like a game between us. Matt dabs cause he knows I’ll roll my eyes, and then I roll my eyes cause he dabbed!

MA: I know for me, I hate when people put away my stuff.

John Vaughn: No, we’re supposed to say something for you!

Matt: Oh, you say for me?

JV: Matt hates when people move his stuff. Matt hates when something that he organized gets arranged a different way.

MA: Usually I’m very odd about where I put things. I could put my phone inside a refrigerator and I’d know exactly where it is. Someone could be like oh, this is Matt’s phone. In the fridge. I should give this to him, and then I’ll go back and be like where’s my phone?

BL: John identifies every single smell that he comes into contact with.

MA: That’s not a pet peeve!

BL: This is a very interesting thing.

MA: What annoys John?

BL: Smells, I think! 

JV: I’m very very descriptive. I really, really dissect a smell. I shout it to the band...

AM: You guys just did a tour diary video, part one. John you had said in it that you want people to come to the show and find something of value in the live show that you don’t have on the record. How do you arrange the songs then, or format the set? Is there anything you consciously do to add that value?

JV: I think from my perspective, we have a lot of little moments either in the beginning of a song, or in the middle of a song, or after the song where there’s space to add something that we think will highlight that song. I think it’s cool when someone does like a weird intro and then it goes into that song that you know. I think this is one of the first times where we’re crafting and building a set where we’ve tried to do a lot of that. We’ve got some instrumental jamming that we do that we haven’t done since we started. We kind of brought that back. Personally I love when a band can sound like their record, but I also like to go to a show and be surprised by the things they do. That’s the way I would describe it.

AM: Is there an artist that you think can do that really well? Like a show you’ve been to recently where you could pinpoint that?

BL: In my experience lately, the guy who’s doing that best is Jon Bellion. His live show is SO different than what’s on the record, just in like the most fun way. Have you seen his live show?

AM: Yes!

BL: His band is like just this incredible group of musicians and they just play, and they kill it. That’s my vote!

MA: I was just gonna say about the live set...a lot of the people who initially started liking us and our music is because we had fun onstage. I think that’s something that we can like really, really do onstage. We’re musicians first and foremost. A lot of what’s on the record is kind of compressed into a more pop format, where everything sounds a certain way and has a certain space. When we’re doing it live, John is a great guitarist, Ben is a great drummer, I’m a very okay bass player--

BL: He’s very good!

MA: We just have so much fun playing our instruments the way we want to play them. People resonate with that. They see we’re having fun and they wanna have fun too!

JV: Not to get too in depth on this one question, but just to add on what [Matt's] saying….On this tour, we’re musicians first. That’s how we were trained. We get a lot of joy from jamming and feeding off each other. Now what we’re really adding to this set is just engaging with the crowd a lot more. Even just these first few shows, it’s been a blast. That’s something you maybe get from our album, but it’s a nice change. It feels like the whole event is just collaborative with everybody. It’s like if we’re gonna have fun, we gotta all have fun! We’re gonna force you to have fun.

AM: Ok so shifting gears a little bit...If you could be stuck in a elevator with anybody, they could be famous, dead or alive, who would you pick?

MA: How long are you stuck?

AM: A couple hours, maybe. 

BL: Are you stuck just to have a conversation and then we get out, or do we want someone that can help us get out?

JV: I would say the guy who invented the elevator cause he’d probably know how to get out.

MA: Maybe Tom Cruise cause he’s in a lot of action movies.

AM: It could be someone you’d just want to have a conversation with too!

J: I might have a different answer later, but probably J. R. R. Tolkien. I just watched all of the Lord of the Rings movies again. All of them, they’re amazing. I hadn’t watched them in a while, and being older I think I took a lot more from them this time. I read into them a lot more. So I would love to just talk to the person who wrote all of that, and pick his brain.

MA: I think I’d pick my brother.

BL: I was gonna say my mom!

MA: We’ve been calling back and forth every two, three weeks, but it’d be nice to sit down and just talk. He’s also small so he wouldn’t take up a lot of space.

AM: So you guys are working hard as an unsigned band. I know a lot of bands now are gearing more towards being independent so they can have more control over their artistry. What do you guys see the pros and cons of being an unsigned artists, and the struggles and rewards come with it?

MA: I think our mindset has changed drastically from when we were first starting as a band. We just started working with new management. We have a new team. A lot of the cons I saw being an unsigned band are kind of pros. Just the organic growth that we’re going through now seems so much more up our alley as ways we want to grow as a band, than if we just got signed to a label and got funneled money. This tour that we’re doing is a perfect example, we’re doing all these stops that we haven’t hit or we haven’t hit in three years. We’re just seeing who enjoys our music, who’s heard of us before from maybe radio or Spotify. Then just growing through them instead of just having a song on a radio promotion. It just feels so much more genuine. To see these people face to face.

JV: I agree. Early on, I think with every band, the Golden Carrot is to get signed. When you’re young, sure whatever. You don’t even know what that means... You’re like heck yeah! I think Matt’s right. The past 6 months we’ve had a rebirth of the band. Building a completely new team that we’re super happy with, and the new music as well... it’s really given us a respect and a hunger to get to know the people that like our music. It’s not many people right now. So grinding like we are on the Sweet Lemonade Tour...it’s really fun cause like every person that comes out it’s like man, that person said yes tonight. They like that one song that they like however much to pay $10 to come see us in Chicago. That’s huge! It’s an opportunity now to let them know that. We make it a point to thank them. Also to what Matt said, if we had gotten signed early, and I’m not saying there’s only one way to do things once you get signed...but if we had been given an advance early, and they just shoved our songs on the radio, and we didn’t have to go through that trial by fire… it’d be like oh you have a song on radio, people are gonna hear you just because they’re in their cars. We didn’t get that. So we kind of had to find different and interesting ways to do that. It’s kind of like it builds character. It’s almost like when you’re a kid and your parents make you do a job or chores...there’s a reason you do that. I feel like that’s what it’s like.

AM: Yeah that’s exactly what I like about having my own blog! So on the same track of new music, Ben I saw on Twitter you had asked fans for new music recommendations. What are some of the favorite recommendations from your followers, or just songs you guys are already into at the moment?

BL: We listened to the new Sir Sly record. Especially like the first few tracks. That was really dope. Let me check what else…

MA: Someone brought up Skott!

JV: I’ve had a music crush on her for a while!

BL: Who’s the British guy everyone brought up?

JV: Simon Cowell?

BL: Young guy!

JV: Declan McKenna! It’s cool to see him doing well.

BL: Besides that...who else? I tried to listen to at least one song from everyone that recommended something.

AM: Yeah, that’s great you guys are open to that!

BL: Absolutely, I love swapping music recommendations. Everyone’s got a little bit of different taste, but odds are if you like our music, we’re gonna overlap at some point. You probably like the same things as us.

AM: While you have your phones out, what’s the last thing you Googled?

JV: I usually have weird stuff!

BL: “Video Juegos”-- Video Games in Spanish! Matt and I were talking about it, we couldn’t remember what the Spanish word for video games was!

JV: How did you do it so fast?

BL: I have the Google app!

JV: Oh- what the word “SKRT” means in Urban Dictionary...SKRT.

MA: Mine is Quincy Jones! It goes Rashida Jones...Rashida Jones' Dad...Quincy Jones.

BL: Really? They’re related? I didn’t know that!

AM: So if you guys formed a cover band, which band would you exclusively cover and what would you call it?

JV: I bet we could actually---and I don’t want to bring this up because I think it’s such an oversaturated thing with musicians to bring this up and laugh about it, but I think we could actually kill as a Nickelback cover band. I mean that seriously.

BL: He does a really funny-- it’s funny cause it’s so accurate-- Chad Kroeger impression.

JV: I think we would actually kill it

MA: What would our name be?

AM: Some pun on nickels or change?

JV: Pennyfront?

BL & MA (in unison): Pennyfront!

AM: Forget Nickelback, it’s all about Pennyfront! So if you weren’t making music, what would your dream job be?

BL: Baseball player.

JV: Acting!

BL: No wait, chef! Baseball chef. The chef for the Cincinnati Reds, and sometimes they’d let me play!

MA: I don’t know… I haven’t really thought about that. It used to be the other way around. I went to school for engineering and I wanted to be a musician. Now I’m a musician and I want to to go back to school for engineering. I’ve never thought about that! Probably some sort of athlete, but my body is broken so that dream died a long time ago.

AM: So what else are you guys looking forward to this year?

JV: I’m just excited to do more of exactly what we’re doing tonight. I just wanna keep touring. Because every show, there’s just something different--this is our first headlining tour, maybe that’s it. Maybe it’s just that simple, but it just really feels like we’re playing for keeps now. We’re really going for it and it’s really cool. I’m excited to literally keep going. I want to release new music and go tour off it again. I’m not looking for any shortcuts, or like a song to go viral. I just want to go meet the people that listen to us.

BL: And make like friend fans.

JV: Yeah, like make them feel like they want to really get behind what’s happening. We want to recognize that we can’t do it without them.

MA: I’m excited to see what comes out of the rest of these shows. Who comes to what shows...how many people. How many we’ve seen before, how many people are new. Stay off, recuperate for a month, then go right back on and see if the same people come out. See if anything grows, if anybody resonates with it. I think that’s gonna be our new route for a while now. Just headline a bunch of shows. I could not be more excited.

JV: It’s just like an adventure. It hasn’t necessarily felt like that in the past. There’s just something in the air.

---

Public still has one more date of their Sweet Lemonade Tour, but keep up with all future tour dates here, and listen to their EP Sweet Lemonade in full below!

Can't get enough of Public? Check out our review and photo gallery of their show at Schuba's last month here. 

A Chat With: Bunny

In what seems like such a short amount of time, Chicago’s own Bunny has already become a local legend of sorts. The project came around when frontwoman Jessica Viscius decided to pick up a guitar, start writing songs, and basically never stopped. After enlisting the help of her twin sister Alexa and friends Shane Prewitt and Tim Makowski, the full band formed and began playing shows around town. From shows they curated themselves, like the inaugural Scrapyard Fest, to shows at Coles and Hideout, Bunny have already checked off some of the best venues for discovering music in Chicago...and that’s just in their first year. This Friday, the band will join another set of siblings, Brian D’Addario and Michael D’Addario, who are better known as The Lemon Twigs, for their official Lollapalooza aftershow at Schubas Tavern. Before the show, we chatted with Viscius about everything from her first musical memories to breakup advice and more!

Photo by Alexa Viscius

---

ANCHR Magazine: What was your first musical memory growing up? Either the first concert you went to, the first band you fell in love with, or something that sticks out as being monumental to your love for music.

Jessica Viscius: My parents are deadheads so I'm lucky to have grown up listening to pretty good music. It's corny but the first band I fell in love with was probably The Beatles. I have a vivid memory of being like 11 years listening to "Let It Be" on my bright pink walkman laying in bunk bed quietly crying because John was dead and I'd never be able to see The Beatles live.

AM: With Bunny being such a new project, you’ve already gained a lot of (much deserved) attention from listeners. Songwriting seems to come so naturally to you, so what’s your advice for anyone wanting to venture into writing and creating their own music?

JV: When I write songs I just focus on the vocal melody. Everything falls into place after that.

AM: What are some of your favorite parts of the Chicago music scene, from the overall community to favorite fellow bands and favorite venues

JV: I've met a lot of people in the last year who are not just great musicians but artists in general. There is a lot of collaboration in the scene, people offering to make flyers, take photos, make a music video, do liquid lights, or musicians jumping on other projects, filling in on shows, laying down a track for a recording, whatever! 

AM: Your band is very DIY with your visuals. Not only do you make your own graphics and posters, but Alexa even filmed the music video for “Promises.” How did you come up with the concept for that music video?

JV: I came up with the idea for the music video when I was walking around Logan Square one day on my lunch break feeling hung over and manic.  I was listening to “Promises” on my headphones and thinking of all these different unrelated brief scenes filled with tension that were all sort of manic in and of themselves. I went to work and scribbled a story board and we filmed it that weekend. My sister Alexa, who plays bass in the band shot it and I edited it. The whole thing took about 5 hours. It was really fast and kinda sloppy, just like the song.

AM: Along those lines, you recently posted on Instagram about changing your icon to reflect the band entering the “blue period.” Do you have a usual creative process for the visual work that you produce alongside your music?

JV: No not usually. I was just really sick of the pink color we were using at first. Every millennial brand is using it right now. The "Blue Period" is a little nod to Picasso for sure though.

AM: In your Stereogum premiere (congrats on that by the way) for “Not Even You,” you mentioned you wrote it when you and Alexa were both going through breakups. Besides writing a song about it, what’s your best breakup advice?

JV: I'm probably the last person you should ask about breakup advice but I'd say a good tip is never memorize a partner's phone number-- it makes breakups much easier.

AM: On the same subject of new music, your EP Sucker will be out later this summer. What can you tell us about the songs on the EP and the mind-frame you were in when you wrote the rest of it?

JV: I was pretty depressed when I wrote this EP. It's a breakup album for sure. I was just learning to play guitar when I wrote it. It was nice not having to feel self conscious about my lyrics or about writing a two chord song because the only ones listening back then were my dog and cat. I wrote it alone in my apartment before I could ever really imagine myself playing shows or releasing an album.

AM: Your Lolla aftershow with The Lemon Twigs is just around the corner! Are you planning anything special for the set since it’s a big show?

JV: We're bringing in our friend Paul Cherry to play keys and probably a sax player. I want to trick at least one of the members into wearing a bunny costume or something.

AM: Speaking of Lollapalooza, who are some of your favorite acts on the line up this year?

JV: The Lemon Twigs, that's probably it. Lollapalooza is scary.

AM: Circling back to being DIY and the Chicago music scene, you guys also put on Scrapyard Fest earlier this summer, which featured a killer line up (so bummed I miss that- I was out of town). Any plans to put on more shows like this in the near future?

JV: We might make it an annual thing. It was too much fun not to do again.

AM: Besides the EP, anything else this year you’re looking forward to?

JV: We're playing with our friends Deeper at The Whistler on August 23rd, The Hideout with Dent May on September 2nd and a show with Hoops at The Bishop in Bloomington on September 15th, really looking forward to those shows.

---

Keep up with Bunny on their Soundcloud and go see them at the shows coming up in August and September!

A Chat With: RÓSA

The indie pop group RÓSA have been turning heads left and right lately, including that of another ANCHR favorite, Bishop Briggs. Based in Orange County, the trio have just released their sophomore EP in June, following their debut EP Gypsy Queen. For fans of LANY, MUNA, and Nightly, the Wasteful EP is full of guitar riffs and synth melodies that will be sure to get you grooving. We got to know more about the band by chatting with frontman Will Winters, including their dream collaboration and what's to come for them in the next year. Tune in and get to know your new favorite band now!

Photo Courtesy of RÓSA

---

ANCHR Magazine: When did you first get into writing and making music individually, and then how did the band form and start working together?

RÓSA:  I started writing in High School when I began learning the guitar. I was never interested in learning other people's songs, so instead I started writing my own. The band got together after meeting at a religious conference in college and we immediately connected and decided to work on stuff together. 

AM: I’m loving the new EP, Wasteful! I know it was recorded at HUM Studios in Santa Monica (which funnily enough, I’ve been there even though I live in Chicago!), but can you talk a little bit more about the songwriting and recording process?

RÓSA: Well, as it turns out, HUM doesn't exist anymore! Our producer has a studio in Malibu now. Working with Thrice Noble was very fun--we love him. I wrote our first EP on an acoustic guitar, but this time I wrote on tracks the guys sent me, as well as stuff I did independently. It was a very different process. Noble is also extremely meticulous, which only helped us learn more from working with him.

AM: Last year you guys also had a residency at the Wayfarer in Costa Mesa. How did that opportunity come around, and what were some highlights of the residency?

RÓSA: That came about after we showed Eric, the talent buyer, our music. We opened one show so he would be sure we didn't suck or something, and then we did it. The residency was a great way to introduce the band to our community. We had all our friends play with us on the bill show to show. That was the highlight, for sure. As we move forward with our music and business, looking back at the residency at The Wayfarer will always feel like our "start".

AM: What do you consider to be some of the pros and cons of being a band on the rise in such a saturated city like Los Angeles? Any advice for new musicians trying to stand out?

RÓSA: That's a hard question. The main pro is that there is always another band to be challenged by. But that's also a con, I suppose. I think LA is incredibly inspiring and we feel lucky to be here. My advice is to do and be exactly who you want to be. You will want to be like this band or that band and everyone will try to make money off you, telling you to sound like whatever is hitting at the time. Or they will ask you for songs that sound more like "singles". Bottom line: Just make whatever you want and act and dress however you want and hope a large enough number of people connect with it to make you rich. 

AM: Who are some of your favorite new bands coming out of LA at the moment?

RÓSA: That's hard, too. I don't know anything new. But there's a band called Ruby Haunt that is amazing. A band called Midnight Faces put out an amazing record called Blue Haze recently. We have friends in a band called LA Qoolside and they are the future. Our pals in Roah Summit are absolutely amazing and their writing inspires and pushes us to be better. That's all I got. 

AM: What’s another hobby or hidden talent that each of you have?

RÓSA:  We have no hidden talents. I'm sorry to disappoint on this question. We all love basketball? I think it would surprise some people how much game we got. But I think people with game don't refer to it as "game" anymore, so you can't trust me. 

AM: Bishop Briggs just tweeted about you guys which is amazing! What was your reaction to seeing that tweet?

RÓSA:  She's incredible. It was very nice of her. She's gunna be the biggest pop star out there in a few years, so it was validating. 

AM: If you could collaborate with any artist, who would you like to work with?

RÓSA:  There are so many! Probably an older artist like Paul McCartney or Stevie Nicks or Neil Finn of Crowded House. But if forced to choose someone recent, we'd choose Devonté Hynes, Frank Ocean, or Bon Iver or something. Are we cliché enough? 

AM: What else is RÓSA looking forward to this year? Any plans for a tour?

RÓSA: We are going to release more music within the next few months so that's the most immediate thing! But yes, we will be touring in 2018 and are hoping to have a full length record for everyone by then! 

---

While you patiently wait for a RÓSA tour and more music from the trio, listen to their latest EP Wasteful below, and keep up with them on Facebook!

Get To Know: Sedgewick

The three members of Chicago's own Sedgewick have been through quite the journey since they first released their debut EP Gardens in 2015. First off, the group expanded when Jake Hawrylak joined founding members Sam Brownson and Oliver Horton. Secondly, the group has worked to broaden and reinvent their style of music. Cumulating influences from all different corners of R&B, Hip Hop, Rock, and Alternative genres and sub-genres, the trio have built a sound that's completely their own. With this distinct new sound comes a rebirth of sorts and a fresh slate for the group to take their music to different venues around their hometown and on tour. 

Last month before Brownson, Hawrylak, and Horton took the stage at SPACE in Evanston to support Family and Friends, I met up with them to talk not only about their new album, but the journey leading up to it. Find out which groundbreaking albums inspired them, what challenges they faced, what they love about the Chicago scene and more in our talk with Sedgewick. 

Sedgewick backstage at SPACE

---

The New Album Hasn't Gone According To Plan...

But not in a bad way, the band say. While the album that the three members of Sedgwick set out to make may have been left behind long ago, the band are all extremely proud and happy with how their finished product has come out, even though it's far from what they first envisioned. Oliver Horton shared his take on the recording process saying, "It’s been really exhausting. It’s a lot of hard work. But it’s gratifying work. It feels really good to get these in some sort of place where we can send them off to people and be really proud about it. I’m super proud of it. I really think it’s gonna accomplish what we want it to. A lot of planning for this has just all sort of fallen by the wayside. What we planned to do with it." Horton continued on to reflect about the effect on the band that this change in route had, saying, "That alone has created a bond between the three of us that we’ve never had before. Sort of dealing with that, dealing with that totally unexpected has caused us to grow deeper together. I think that’s really starting to show up in the record. It’s been really interesting. Just rolling with the punches and seeing what we can come up with."

Jake Hawrylak echoed that sentiment on the recording process, adding, "It’s been very eye opening. It’s been very enlightening in a lot of ways. Hands down the biggest thing any of us have been a part of, not just in terms of budget, but in terms of scope. In terms of sounds… I think where we’re at on a personal level too." Sam Brownson weighed in on the biggest challenges of the process, saying for him the mixing proved to be the most difficult. "The hardest thing is to draw the line for yourself and as a group and saying this expresses what we want it to. And also being ok with saying if it doesn’t we can’t control how it’s gonna affect someone that listens to it. It’s a lot of trusting instincts. I’ve learned how to sit down over the course of recording and just do what feels good," Brownson said. 

Their Influences Range From Bon Iver to Frank Ocean 

In addition to the departure from Plan A, the band have also had a departure from the strictly folk sound of their EP. Their live set opening up for Family and Friends incorporated so many layers and took so many twists and turns. Before they performed, the band gave a little bit of insight as to where that influence stems from. 

Brownson shared his influences, saying, "When the Dirty Projectors record came out, I....that changed how I thought about mixing. I’ve also been listening to a lot of hip hop music lately... Like SZA and Kendrick Lamar’s new record. From a mixing perspective, the space that those records create are very influential."

Hawrylak also found some specific influence from Kendrick Lamar and other artists. He shared his insight on specific records that made his year, adding, "It’s been interesting to me to watch a lot of the bands we play with and a lot of Chicago industry people who keep talking about how the record’s dead. That everybody just needs to start releasing singles or songs. Then something like Damn. comes along. Or A Seat at the Table or Blond and they’re very much---[they] needed to be records. There’s a very specific narrative. Or on the non-hip hop side, the new Fleet Foxes that just came out is very much a record. The songs exist in their own framework, or one thing at a time. But there’s this specific arc that I think it captures. Which is so much of what was enjoyable when I really started to get into music. The records and getting lost in the world it creates. 22, A Million, the Bon Iver record, huge one for me last year." 

Brownson interjected to say that they listened to that Bon Iver record a lot while making their record. Hawrylak continues, "'Creeks' was one of the more frustrating songs I’ve ever heard. That was a sound that we wanted on the record. Then that came out and we were like that’s exactly what we were trying to do." Tying back into the change in path for the album, Brownson says, "It’s also a credit to how much space this record has spanned for us. Cause we were in the studio when 22 A Million came out. Since then, Dirty Projectors. Damn. I just remember seeing like all that stuff came out and saying wow, this has been a journey."

Hawrylak says the band are also able to measure their own personal growth through these records and how they've evolved for him as a listener. "Blond is a great example. That record meant something very different to me when it came out to like a year later. Particularly to that album, half of the songs I loved and half of them were like ah whatever. Then in that year, I’ve come around to see what was brilliant about those other songs," he said. Brownson echoed that, saying, "I think that over the course of the year...the advantage of making a record over the course of a long time is that you internalize what’s going on around you. You can’t help but be influenced by the trends, or the energy and culture going around. I feel like that was very--initially you think you want to get it out right away. Which, I think there’s merit to that, but I also think there’s something about sitting and letting it marinate and you as a creator, listen and try to understand its relevance. So that’s been very cool."

They Consider Chicago's Music Scene Eclectic and Collaborative

Although Hawrylak disagrees with some fellow Chicago musicians who think the record is dead, the band are all very appreciative of the collaborative scene that Chicago is known for. As far as his favorite musicians, he says, " Astro Samurai is like one of the coolest bands I’ve seen. They call themselves 'Third Eye R&B.' They’re working on something special." After Brownson interjected to show his appreciation for NoName, who they don't know personally but very much admire, Hawrylak eagerly agreed that the Chicago poet and rapper is one of his favorites as well. 

Hawrylak continued on to say, "Saba is another one. We did a Sofar Sounds with David Ashley. He was the MC. He was really cool. For me so much of what’s cool is it’s rooted in poetry in a very particular way. NoName came up in the local After School Matters program. There’s a very distinct cadence to her flow that comes from that. It’s casual and maybe that’s what I like about the Chicago scene. It’s casual and eclectic. Like NoName is casually rattling off this fucking rapid fire, weird twist of images, then she starts singing and then she goes back. Jamila Woods is another one! Good god!"

Brownson then called attention to the spirit behind so many of these up and coming artists in Chicago, saying, "I think for me, the collaborative spirit and friendship. From what I read about NoName, she’s got a lot of people and this music community where they all look out for each other and help each other out. That’s just not the way I was brought up to think about the music industry. Just a group of friends getting together making good music? It was always like, sell your soul so you can continue to do this. Instead of saying no I want to have deep relationships with people. That’s part of the reason why I connect so deeply with her music, and Chance and Saba and all those people because they invite you in. It’s just this spirit of friendship."

Horton concurred with his bandmates observations on the city's spirit, saying, "It’s a small city! Especially considering the music scene." Bouncing off that small city sentiment, Hawrylak said, "Look at like the people on Acid Rap. It’s all Chicago people. It’s the whole record. That was my first exposure to the scene. I was playing bass with a guy named Brendan Forrest, he goes by B. Forrest. He’s friends with a lot of the Sidewalk Chalk people, who connected me to Jude [Shuma]. When I met Brendan, he needed a bass player, and we got connected. He started showing me his tunes and first record he came out with, was every other track was with somebody. Now he’s working on a new one, and every track is about collaboration."

Brownson wrapped up his take on the Chicago scene saying, "If you just are a good person, it pays off. Even if you don’t make big bucks, you’re gonna be happy with your relationships. If you decide I just want to make good art for the right reasons... I want people to hear it, but I’m not gonna fight and shove it down people's throats to make a dollar."

Horton chimed in with an influence of his who holds similar values, saying, "Another musician for me, is Jamie Chamberlin. He’s been a huge mentor to me. He has exemplified exactly what an old guy on the scene needs to be doing. I’ve seen a lot of musicians treat each other really poorly. It’s amazing to see a dog as old as him and how frequent he’s been on the scene, how lovely he is to be around. You can tell he’s an amazing human being. He honestly cares about you when you show up to a gig. Seeing that has made me realize what’s so amazing about music. Treating people with respect. Giving them integrity when you speak to them. Making sure everybody is held accountable for what needs to be said. I feel like that has really taken a ramp up at least in our band, as far as accountability and integrity. Seeing that roll around all these really cool scenes in Chicago is really interesting to me."

They Describe Their Live Show as Intentional Disorientation

At the Friends and Family show, the band performed the entirety of the new album to the crowd. Talking more about the set, Hawrylak said, "We’re kind of doing the whole record backwards, which is funny. I think. I’m really liking the ones that sound bigger than they should. I like the ones that take people by surprise when we have a lot of other loops and stuff going on. We were just on tour back home where I’m from, in New Mexico. One of the cooler things that one of my friends said was that she didn’t know where anything was coming from after a while. It was hard to tell who was creating what sound. I think I like getting in that space of intentional disorientation." 

Although they managed to create this layered and intense live set now, Hawrylak admits it's quite challenging to get there at times. "The way we play the songs live is a little different.  For better or for worse. We’ve been running into a lot of problems with sound guys when we pull out this upright, these synthesizers, all this gear...they’re like what the hell? And they’re immediately mad. Then after check, they start to kind of get that it’s supposed to be a little different. With the record we’re kind of trying to balance how do we make it it’s own thing that’s still a faithful representation in the live set. Cause we have strings and a choir and all this other stuff on the record. Live, it’s just the three of us," he said.

Brownson mentions some highlights of their recent live shows. Talking about their recent tour, he said, "We got to see Jake’s hometown. The music was incredible. The shows were incredible. But I think we all kind of had time to just spend time together as people and talk more about what and why we do music. Why we love and respect ourselves. Why it’s important to do that. In the process getting to know Jake and also Oliver who was going through some stuff. We were all going through stuff together. That relationship is a huge part of why this record feels so good and it’s a huge part of why the show is how it is because of this energy."

“Industry people keep talking about how the record’s dead. That everybody just needs to start releasing singles or songs. Then something like ‘Damn.’ comes along. Or ‘A Seat at the Table’ or ‘Blond’ and they’re very much—-needed to be records. There’s a very specific narrative.”

— Jake Hawrylak on making a proper record

There's a Lot More to Come in 2017 for Sedgewick 

The band is obviously ready to get the record out to listeners, but they're also ready for what goes along with a proper album release. Hawrylak elaborates, saying, "I am excited about putting out the record. It’s been a long time coming and it’ll be good to have it out in whatever form. I’m most excited about the new perception we can give people of ourselves. A lot of the songs on the EP were just completely different from where we are going with the record. I wasn’t in this band for the EP, so I can’t say much more than I like the songs. But I’m really proud of what this record has become. I’m really proud of a lot of the journey that became of it. I want to share it! We did three different tours to wet our feelers in the name of this record. I’m kind of ready to start going out and bringing it to people."

Horton reveals what he's most excited for with the upcoming release, and even afterwards saying, "I’m really psyched for scheduling and doing the PR and making sure we’re really super ready to have a huge release show. We’re really looking forward to cultivating something that nobody has ever seen before. Maybe more importantly, I’m getting super stoked to get back in the creative process with these people. Whenever that is, I think the next whatever it is, it’s gonna be much more webbed together. It’s gonna feel really good to create something again. These songs at this point are like...we’ve recreated them so many times. One of the tunes is four or five years old. We’re ready to just wipe the slate and start over." 

The band continue on to say they're currently performing songs that have been around for over three years, but they still feel fresh thanks to arrangements they're worked out. They also admit they're at peace with the process taking as long as they need, saying, "We’re no longer at the point where we just want to put out the record when it’s done. We kind of want to raise some interest. And do it right. Put it in the right hands."

The trio don't have a definite release date, but they're just enjoying the process. "That’s really important. I’m looking forward to having a fresh ear for new things and I feel like this record has been--what’s great about it is, this whole thing is a process. [The record] reflects the process. The process has led us to some really cool things for the next project as well. That’s what this record is-- it encapsulates an evolution in itself. I’m excited to share that," Brownson concluded. 

---

Photo Gallery of Sedgewick at SPACE

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

Sedgewick will performing at The Beat Kitchen this Sunday, August 6th to celebrate the release of their single "To Fold" from the upcoming album. Tickets start at $10 and you can grab them here. 

A Chat With: Izzy Bizu

The London based singer-songwriter Izzy Bizu may have toured and collaborated with some of your favorite bands, but one listen to her songs like "White Tiger" or "Lost Paradise" and there's no doubt she's got the vocal chops and the writing talent to stand out completely on her own. Influenced by a broad range of artists, from James Brown to Amy Winehouse, Bizu fuses together soulful pop music with a touch of the blues and funk to craft fresh and irresistible tunes. Bizu has continuously picked up steam and gained a following after supporting artists such as Sam Smith and Rudimental, some hype from Zane Lowe and Annie Mac, and performances at festivals like Glastonbury. Bizu also sings on the duet "Someone That Loves You" with HONNE, which has racked up over six million Spotify streams.

Before she hits the road with Coldplay for their massive stadium tour next month, Bizu took some time to talk about her plans for the tour, from stage set ups to skateboarding, as well as new music, from her writing process to her collaborations. Find out all that and more in our chat with Izzy Bizu! 

Photo Courtesy of No Big Deal PR

---

ANCHR Magazine: I last saw you when you toured with Spring King and Sundara Karma in the States and played The Bottom Lounge. It was a really cool show, and I liked how it kind of mixed the different genres. So what were some highlights for you from that tour?

Izzy Bizu: I loved New York so much! Where did we end up? We ended up in Chicago! That was really fun. We had a really fun night. We actually got to know the bands really properly and really personally. We sort of went out together and had a bit of a dance, and that was really funny. That was really cool. It was so long ago!

AM: Yeah, it was ages ago now!

IB: It was a really cool experience, and I loved the music as well.

AM: Nice! So now you’re gearing up to tour with Coldplay on a massive stadium tour! What are you looking forward to on this tour coming up?

IB: I’m looking forward to meeting them all first of all! I’m looking forward to just getting to know everyone on tour. Just having the most amazing time onstage and losing ourselves. I’m really nervous as well. It’s such a big audience, but I think it’ll be okay.

AM: I’m sure you’ll do great!

IB: Yeah, hope so! I think it’ll be fine. It’s definitely going to be a new experience for me, but I think that everyone on the tour seems very loving and kind. I’ve got a few nice texts from people that are going and it’s really like chilled me out. I’m really looking forward to that!

AM: Are you planning any changes in your production then to fill such a big stage? Any new additions to the set? Or will it be just your same incredible show that you always put on?

IB: Thank you! That's so sweet! It’s actually gonna be a lot different. It’s gonna be smaller because the slot that we were given was an acoustic set. It’s gonna be quite electronic. It’s gonna be semi-acoustic and semi-electronic. I’ve got somebody doing beats and bass, and I’ve got my guitarist. I’m singing and sometimes I’ll be playing piano, and we swap around the instruments. It’s a little different, but it’s cool because I’ve been doing it the same for a couple years. It’s gonna be really exciting to do it in a different way. The songs have got a new spin on them now, which could be interesting.

AM: Oh that’ll be fun to see! It’s cool that you’ll be mixing electronic and acoustic settings. Are there any cities in particular that you’re looking forward to seeing? I’m sure there’s a lot more dates on this run than the tour last year in America [with Spring King and Sundara Karma].

IB: Yeah, absolutely! I can’t wait to go to obviously-- I can’t wait for New York! Canada! Oh my god, I can’t wait for that. I’ve never been to Canada in my life, ever. Miami should be funny. Where else? We’re going to Minneapolis as well. I haven’t really been to half these places so I don’t really know what to look forward to.

AM: New York you’re actually headlining your own show there. What’s the setup for that show then, and do you have anything special planned?

IB: That’s the same as well! There’s just three of us on stage. If you come, I guess you’ll see the setup, but it’ll be cool!

AM: Well I also heard that you love to skateboard in your free time whenever you have any. When did you get into that?

IB: I got into that when I was 17. Then I haven’t really stopped since. Me and my guitarist both skate, and we’re going to go in New York. The roads are so much better than our roads--our roads are so shit!

AM: Cool, so you’ll skate on tour. Anything else you do to stay entertained on the road?

IB: Probably read a book, play cards, make some music!

AM: So are you writing for the next record then already?

IB: Yeah, certainly finding some new sounds, that sort of thing.

AM: So for the new material do you have any plans to release anything soon?

IB: Not soon. Probably next year! Early next year. I’m gonna get back in September and sort of chill out and start writing before Christmas. That’s my plan.

AM: Nice! Well speaking of new music, I know you recently did that new collaboration with Milky Chance and I also love your collaboration with HONNE. Do you have any plans to collaborate with anybody else soon, or anyone else on your bucket list to work with?

IB: Yeah, I’d love to collaborate with Tyler, The Creator. I mean, it’d be nice to work with Drake one day but you know...it’s a big world!

AM: Manifest it into reality, right? Just keep talking about it and maybe one day it’ll happen!

IB: Yeah, maybe!

AM: Then you actually performed the collaboration with Milky Chance live at a festival, so how was that experience?

IB: That was super fun! I had the weekend off and they were like do you want to come? I was like yep! As simple as that. Yeah, it was really sweet. They’re so fun to hang out with. I’ve known them for a few years now.  I met them four years ago. I supported them on one of their headlines randomly. Then we kept in contact and we started writing together...They’re really, really sweet.

AM: Very cool! So what new music have you been listening to lately that you can recommend to your fans?

IB: I just listened to Mahalia. She’s great. I’ve just listened to... oh I love Glass Animals! They’re so good! I saw them live, and I was like AHHH why haven’t I heard this before? I love them so much! I also love Tyler, The Creator. He dropped his new album, it’s brilliant!

AM: Anything else you’re looking forward to this year, besides the tour with Coldplay?

IB: I’m looking forward to writing new music. I’m moving soon and I can’t wait to be in a cocoon and write some new music. I’m traveling abroad for some other shows. We’re going to Thailand, which I’m so excited about! It’s gonna be a fun period of writing and doing some gigs abroad.

---

Izzy Bizu will be performing her headline show at Baby's All Right in NYC tomorrow night. Grab tickets here. For her tour with Coldplay, see all of the tour dates on her Facebook page, and grab tickets to the show at Soldier Field in Chicago here. 

To get ready for the shows, listen to Izzy Bizu's debut album A Moment of Madness in full below!

A Chat With: Middle Kids

With its relatable narrative-style lyrics and addictive, blaring dance-around-your-room guitar riffs, it's no wonder Middle Kids' song "Edge of Town" has racked up over 8 million Spotify plays. Fronted by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Hannah Joy, the Sydney based trio has been steadily picking up steam with their equally as catchy and relatable self-titled EP. Joy sings her stories with a sense of conviction and a hint of a twang, blurring the edges of the genres tagged to their music. In the middle of recording their debut full length album, which will undoubtedly expand on these existing themes, Joy and her bandmates Tim Fitz and Harry Day are taking a break to tour America, playing festivals and shows across the country. Before they hit Chicago next week, we talked to Joy about Elton John recommending their song, incorporating a banjo into their music, jet lag, and so much more! Tune in and get to know Middle Kids now. 

Credit: Maclay Heriot

---

ANCHR Magazine: You’re in the middle of recording your debut album, and you’ve posted a bit on social media... that it will be all new material from the EP and you’re even putting banjo on some tracks! What else can you tell us about the new songs, and where did you find yourself drawing inspiration from?

Hannah Joy: Ha, yes the banjo does get a feature! It’s small but mighty. I’m really excited about the new songs, they are mostly quite intense. Sometimes I think I should chill out a bit, and I am trying, but I’m not sure how. There are some ballady, reflective moments though, so hopefully that will allow it to breathe some. A lot of the inspiration comes from my own experiences and stories I hear from friends. Musically though, many lines came actually from being on the tour and recording little sound bites on my phone.

AM: How has the recording process been so far? Any fun studio stories?

HJ: The process has been pretty intense, we’ve built this album in a really piecemeal kind of way. We recorded drums up at this country house so we could play away into the night. And so much was recorded in Tim's and my home, so for the last few months I have been living snaked in microphone chords and an endless stream of scraps of paper all through the house.

AM: You’ll be taking a break from recording to come tour the states this summer, including some major festivals like Lollapalooza and Osheaga Music Festival. Which cities are you most excited to visit and play in?

HJ: We are so very keen to hit the road. I’m excited to be in Chicago in the summer because it’s so beautiful, but we were there in the winter last time. Super keen for ACL because we consistently have extremely good times in Texas. AND Atlanta because we are playing at a venue called Purgatory and that intrigues me.

AM: Do you prefer playing festivals or smaller gigs, and why?

HJ: The smaller gigs are very special because it allows for a collective experience with us and the audience. But it is friggin fun to run around like a madman at a festival. But not really sure as to preference, they are both so good.

AM: Have you gotten a chance to check out the lineups for the festivals you’re playing? Are there any acts that are on the top of your list to try to watch during the festivals?

HJ: YES. Broken Social Scene and Liam Gallagher at Osheaga, Chance and The Lemon Twigs at Lolla, gosh so many, can’t breathe.  

AM: Since you’re coming all the way from Sydney for this summer tour, what are some of your tips for staying entertained on long haul flights and how do you deal with jetlag?

HJ: OK I have learned to equip myself with many activities for entertainment. Some are: Yahtzee, crochet, cards (we like to play 500, black maria and go fish), UNO. I also got a Kindle, which I was resisting for a long time, but now I have embraced it and it is rocking my world.

AM: Elton John added your music to his Beats 1 playlist, which I’m sure has got to be a career highlight, but what have been some other highlights since you released your debut single, “Edge of Town”?

HJ: I think touring has been the biggest highlight, I mean getting to travel to different parts of the world and connect with all different kinds of people is seriously amazing. Playing on Conan was very cool too because we don’t have television like that in Australia. We were wide eyed the whole time.

AM: You recently covered “Don’t Dream It’s Over” by Crowded House and “Fill In The Blank” by Car Seat Headrest. What was it about these songs that made you want to create your own version of them?

HJ: I liked these songs for different reasons - I love the melody of "Don’t Dream It’s Over", it has sung to me for a very long time. "Fill in the Blank" is a special song in the way that it conveys existential angst, something I am very familiar with.

AM: Any ideas on what your next cover song will be?

HJ: We cover songs all the time because why only play our songs when there are thousands better out there to play. But not sure what we will release next.

AM: You’re one of our favorite new bands. Who are some of your favorite new acts?

HJ: Heh thank you. Some of my new favorites are a punk band from Ballarat called Good Boy, Andy Shauf is amazing...maybe not so new but still pretty fresh, The Lemon Twigs are tres cool.

---

Chicago, you have several chances to catch Middle Kids in August. In addition to a sold-out after show with Mac DeMarco at Concord Music Hall on August 5th, the trio will be performing in WKQX's Sound Lounge on August 1st. Finally, they'll also be playing twice at Lollapalooza-- once at the Pepsi Stage at 2:50 PM and again in the Toyota Music Den at 6PM on Thursday, August 3rd. 

See all of Middle Kid's upcoming tour dates here, and listen to their self-titled EP in full below!

A Chat With SHAED

Last week, we caught an incredible live performance from the DC trio SHAED at The Bottom Lounge. Prior to their lively and energetic performance that evening, we caught up with Chelsea Lee and her bandmates, twin brothers Max and Spencer Ernst. Together, the three craft catchy pop melodies that blend with Lee's soulful, powerful vocals and the clean production work of the Ernsts. After touring with acts like Bishop Briggs, Marian Hill, and playing festivals like Chicago's own Mamby on the Beach, Lee and the Ernst brothers are now back on the road with Sir Sly. Talking everything from Lee's go-to karaoke jam to new music and their favorite spots to eat on tour, get to know SHAED now!

SHAED for ANCHR Magazine 

---

ANCHR Magazine: So I wanted start off by talking a little bit about how you guys each individually got into writing music and eventually started producing it and making it together. 

Max Ernst: Two of us are twins, my brother and I. We got started playing music pretty young. Our mom got us taking piano lessons at a young age. From there we just fell in love with music and writing songs. We just kept doing it until now.

Chelsea Lee: For me, I kind of was always listening to music my parents love..alternative 80's. So I always jammed out to that. When I was in elementary school, I got a karaoke machine, so that became like my best friend. I would do that for hours and hours.

AM: What’s your go to karaoke song?

CL: The Carpenters were always a go to for me. I also loved doing the Christmas karaoke CD.

Spencer Ernst: Chelsea’s obsessed with Christmas to this day, so not surprised.

AM: So that started it all! So you guys have played a ton of live shows, even though you’re still working on the debut album. I saw you at Mamby on the Beach, you’ve toured with Marian Hill, Bishop Briggs....what is the biggest lesson you’ve learned about each other being a band on the road so much?

ME: I’ve got one. When Chelsea’s asleep in the van, you don’t want to wake her up.

CL: Always make sure that I’m fed because I get hangry. We’ve learned that we don’t want to kill each other, which is amazing. It takes a special type of person to be stuck in a van for a really long time with each other.

ME: And we live together when we’re not on tour.

CL: It’s 100 percent.

AM: Nice! So what have been some of your favorite songs to play live then?

CL: We just released “Too Much” last week. That’s been really fun to play live. We actually started playing that live during the Bishop Briggs tour, which was a couple months ago. Everyone loved it so much and it got a really good response, and we decided that would be our next single. So that’s my favorite song to play out right now.

AM: I saw you did that cover of “Starboy,” too. What was it about that particular song that made you decide to cover it?

CL: Well we did Spotify sessions, and we needed a cover. We did one original and one cover. We were trying to think of a cool cover, and we immediately thought of “Starboy” cause that was such a jam.

AM: How is the debut album process going? Are you still working on writing it or is it mostly written and just needs to be recorded?

ME: I’d say that it’s going really well. We’ve got a lot of songs in the works right now. We’ve got a couple in the chamber that are closed to being released, but we’re still in the writing process right now. It’s definitely not totally done. We have a pretty good idea of where it’s going, and we have some singles ready to be released soon.

AM: How is it writing on the road then? Do you find that you get inspired?

CL: Yeah, these guys are constantly working on sessions in the car. I don’t know how they do it because I would barf if I looked at a computer screen for too long in a moving car. For them, they work on sessions in Ableton. We always want to be writing, honestly.

ME: There’s different ways that we write. When we’re in the van, it’s hard to like write as a collective group because of all the noise and people are doing different things. We work a lot on our own, just on beats and music on our laptops in the car. We also, when we have time...we’ll get a guitar out or piano and write stuff together too.

AM: So you guys are from DC, and the only thing I really know about the music scene there is 930 Club, which is a legendary venue. What are some of the best kept secrets from your hometown music scene?

ME: DC is definitely known for punk and rock, but there’s definitely a lot of really good R&B andd soul happening there. Marvin Gaye is from DC. There’s just a ton of really good soul music there too. The venues are really supportive, but there’s a really strong artist community. And really good house shows too. Some of the best shows are being put on by like a collective, that kind of thing.

AM: Do you have any particular DC bands you’re really into?

CL: Yeah we love...there’s a really cool band called April + Vista. There’s also a band called Dawkins. They’re also really cool, kind of experimental.

AM: What about in general, any bands you’re vibing with or you're influenced by?

CL: Right now we’re listening to Active Child a lot. Sigrid. We just got into this girl Chloe Howl, she just released a really awesome song. We always try to listen to new music, and each week, it’s kind of a different thing.

AM: Cool, how else do you guy stay entertained on tour besides making music and listening to it?

CL: We love to eat, so we’re always trying to find a good spot to get some grub. We also really like this game called Cribbage.

AM: Oh, what is that?

CL: It’s like an old sailor game, it’s a card game and it’s got a wood board. Love that game, so we play it a lot.

AM: Nice, keeping it old fashioned. So what’s been your favorite city to go to as far as the food goes then?

ME: Everything is kind of a blur.

CL: We have a special place in our heart when it comes to Wisconsin just because of the cheese.

SE: Actually, the last time we were in Chicago, we stayed in Chinatown, and we got some incredible dumplings there. We also had some Sake there.

CL: What was that place called?

SE: Imperial something-- After we had the food, we went to this little dive karaoke bar. It was actually a Korean karaoke bar right around the corner from Chinatown. We got our own private room and just like-

CL: Wailed for an hour!

SE: It was really fun!

AM: Then what else are you guys looking forward to this year? Besides touring a bunch...any particular shows you’re looking forward to?

CL: We’re doing the billboard hot 100 Festival in New York, which is gonna be fun. Plus we’re excited for new places on this tour. There’s a lot of places we haven’t been, like Colorado Springs. There’s a couple new spots we’re really excited to see!

---

Keep up with all of SHAED's updates, including any upcoming tour dates, by liking their Facebook page. 

Can't get enough SHAED? Also check out our review and photo gallery of their show last week. 

A Chat With: Upright Man

Blending elements of 1960's rock and roll and more modern alternative music, NYC rockers and college buddies Upright Man name everyone from Pink Floyd to Radiohead as influences. Listening to both the first and the newest singles "Upright Man" and "Animals," you can pinpoint snapshots of these influences threaded throughout their songs. Prior to the release of their self-titled debut album, the New York City trio chatted with us about the inspiration behind their creativity, their new music, and the best spots to catch music in NYC. The 10 track album is expected to arrive mid-August, and you can get ready by pre-ordering it and getting to know the upright men Aidan Dolan (guitar/vocals), Nick Katz (bass/vocals) and Max Yassky (percussion/background vocals) now!

Photo Credit: SLOANE MORRISON

ANCHR Magazine: You three actually met while studying classical composition at New York University. How do you feel that your background in classical music has shaped you as a songwriter and musician?

Max Yassky: It mostly helps us know what not to do. Not all classical music does this, but a lot of it focuses on expanding and developing ideas until they couldn’t possibly hold any more water. But in a songwriting context that kind of soundscape can sound cluttered. So we use what we learned to avoid landmines like over-development and brain-masturbation.

Aidan Dolan: I think the biggest influence that studying classical music has had on my and our writing styles is the use of mixed time signatures. I called up Nick and Max my senior year of college to play in my modern classical prog rock fusion trio, which was a result of the studies with my composition teacher at NYU, Ezequiel Vinao. The rhythmic difficulty of the pieces I was writing made us all feel like we could count anything and 7/8 became the new 4/4.

Nick Katz: I’ve been playing in rock bands since I was 11 - the classical thing was more of a formalization of what I’d been doing my whole life. I feel like people have this impression that we came to rock from classical music. That’s not really what happened, we all play rock and jazz and whatever else and have played that music, then we went to classical music as a bit of extra study and, yeah, it affected us as musicians, but it’s not our sole foundation.

ANCHR: Before meeting, what first got you into studying music in general? Was it a certain band or a family member/friend that inspired you?

MY: I wanted to go to Boca Raton to be a private investigator / high value transporter but my mother said she’d break my legs if I got shot in Florida so I went to music school instead.

AD: Music was always a hobby for my dad when I was a kid, so there were guitars lying around and a basic home studio to mess around in. My brother ended forming a band called TAUK with his three friends that is still around and doing well today. I always wanted to try playing, but when I finally heard The Beatles at age 11, I became obsessed. After taking an educational journey from The Beatles and classic rock to blues and jazz, I ended up at NYU for classical composition and sort of came full circle back to my roots with Upright Man.

NK: My father is a professional bassist with a list of credits longer and more prestigious than I could ever hope to come remotely close to. I’ve been studying music since I was four. It’s my life.

ANCHR: What can you tell us about Upright Man’s debut album due out August 18th? How did the writing and recording process for the record go?

MY: Well we didn’t have to threaten each other with Sarin gas so I’d say it went alright.

AD: We just kept on playing, writing and recording over 2 years until we felt like we had the right songs. Our most recent recording sessions leading up to the album release were a lot more focused and we felt a stronger sense of identity in our sound as a band.

NK: I don’t have much to add there, Aidan really hit the nail on the head with that one.

ANCHR: Which songs are you most looking forward to transcribing into the live setting?

MY: “Animals" is a lot of fun to play live; I’ve just got to work on my impression of a cockatoo.

AD: “Upright" Man”, the song, is probably the most fun song to play. We always play it at the end of our set and it can make you want to smash things.

NK: "Say What You Mean" is a real challenge. I like a good challenge.

ANCHR: Who are some artists that you’d love to share the stage with once you hit the road?

MY:  Robert Randolph and The Family Band and NRBQ were awesome stage-mates. It was a blast playing with them. In a perfect world I’d love to open for a late 90’s Beck at Sessions At West 54th.

AD: Though it could be a stretch to put us on the same bill, I’d love to share the stage with TAUK. My brother is the bassist and I’ve known those dudes a long time, so it’s somewhat of a guilty desire to share some road time with those dudes.

NK: I would do terrible things to get an opening slot with Dr. Dog.

ANCHR: Are there any up and coming NYC bands that we should all know about?

MY: I heard this dink band Upright Man is pretty alright. Not too Berny but not too savage either.

AD: Nick plays in another band called Dirty Bird that has some great songs and vocal harmonies.

NK: JIL, Uni, The World All Around - all great friends and great musicians. Well worth a listen.

ANCHR: Where are some of your favorite spots in NYC to see live music?

MY: You can’t go wrong with Rockwood. Goldsounds in Brooklyn is also rad.

AD: Irving Plaza was awesome last time I went. I’ve enjoyed a lot of shows at Rockwood Music Hall. There are so many great venues in the city.

NK: I really like Rough Trade in Brooklyn. Also Mercury Lounge is a really great room.

ANCHR: What else is Upright Man looking forward to in 2017?

AD: I’m really looking forward to releasing the music video for our unreleased song, “Ecstasy”. All I can say is we built a giant spaceship set in an old barn and Nick and Max were inhaling a whole lot of silver face paint and hairspray fumes.

NK: Yeah, I definitely lost some brain cells on that one. Art necessitates sacrifice.

---

See all of Upright Man's upcoming tour dates below, and keep up with them on Facebook here. 

7/22 Boston, MA @Cabot Theatre (w/ The Fabulous Thunderbirds)

7/23 Long Island, NY @Amityville Music (w/ Bad Rabbits)

8/17 Ocean City, MD @Fager’s Island

8/23 New York, NY @Bowery Electric

8/24 Sellersville, PA @Sellersville Theater (w/ The Fabulous Thunderbirds)

Get to Know: DEM YUUT

It's a Friday night in July, and Chicago's trademark humidity hangs in the air as Minneapolis band Now, Now are set to take the stage in Chicago for one of their first performances in over three years. Supporting the duo, fellow Minnesotans DEM YUUT will take the stage first to perform their experimental, alt-electronic tunes. Although the members of the quartet are each seasoned veterans in the music business, the DEM YUUT project only kicked off last year.  "We’ve all been in a lot of bands," says lead singer and songwriter Danny O'Brien. Elaborating on the band's formation, O'Brien continues, "We’ve all been friends for a long time. It was just kind of--I had this thing that I was gonna do as a solo project. I wrote a bunch of songs while my kids were napping, and showed them to everybody. They were like yeah you should make a band out of this thing, so that’s the gist of it." O'Brien also reveals that the origin of his musical inclination dates all the way back to young age of eleven years old, remembering that his song-writing father gave him a guitar and a chord book for his birthday. The rest is history. 

Bandmate Jef Sundquist interjects with his memories of the band's creation, saying, "My favorite thing is [Danny was] like 'I don’t wanna play guitar', and I was like 'I don’t wanna play bass', and that kind of changed the organization of the band. To where he was just singing, and I was playing samples and synth." Sundquist and O'Brien further demonstrated their adaptability as musicians when they later took the stage again to back Now, Now after their support slot. 

DEM YUUT is Danny O'Brien, Don House, Jeremy Hanson, and Jef Sundquist 

Photo courtesy of Middle West Management

Although the band have traded hats so to speak for the DEM YUUT project, their years of experience came into the play when the band recorded their debut album, tracking a lot of it live. With only one song "Dawn/Sea" officially released, the band express their itch to release more of it, but they don't have a definite timeline in place. "It's done, done. Recorded and mastered," O'Brien confirms. Talking more about the recording process and live tracking, O'Brien says, "We did some of it at my place. I have a studio in my house. We live tracked a bunch of the record, which is pretty sweet, for this genre of music cause it’s not all sequenced. We kind of went about it as if we were still a rock band, as far as tracking goes. We were all in the room together, making it happen. So the only overdubs were a couple acoustic guitar parts and my vocals. Everything else was cut together." By playing the songs out live, rather than focusing on overdubs and splitting up their parts, the group managed to save some time. "It was pretty much 9 songs in 10 days. A song a day to kind of get the vibe," Sundquist recalls. 

The recording process that the band settled on has made for an easy transition when it comes to performing their songs live, O'Brien says. Sundquist agrees, adding, "A couple of them were tricky, but it was always just like 'make it work'. It doesn’t have to be like the demo. The demo is just the idea....we get to make it work in a live setting." Speaking of playing live, DEM YUUT recently got the chance to perform at a concert that kicked off Eaux Claires Festival at The Oxbow Hotel, headlined by The Shouting Matches (You can revisit our recap of the show here). Guitarist Don House says the opportunity popped up because their manager is good friends with festival curator Justin Vernon. Remembering their time at the festival, House says Sylvan Esso's set sticks out as a highlight, while Sundquist favors the John Prine Tribute that featured countless artists from Vernon to Jenny Lewis, This Is The Kit, and Prine himself. 

It's no secret that Eaux Claires Festival evokes a strong sense of collaboration and improvisation every year, and DEM YUUT fit in perfectly with that common thread, having recently remixed The Staves. A staple of the Eaux Claires lineup, The Staves also fit right into DEM YUUT's circle. "I guitar tech for them. They kind of lived at my house last summer, and we became friends. Through that, they asked us to remix it," House explains. "That whole remix thing was just to kill time cause the record was done and we were not doing anything," O'Brien adds. As far as potential future collaborations, O'Brien says he's open to working with anyone, while Sundquist throws out Twigs, Kendrick, and Sza as suggestions. 

DEM YUUT and Now, Now's tour wraps up this weekend in San Francisco on July 16th, but O'Brien and Sundquist seemed set out to make the most of our while we chatted--both from an artistic standpoint and a personal level. Artistically, the band reveal they are able to stay creative and working on new material, even while they are still mastering their current live roster of songs. "I feel like I can write kind of anywhere," O'Brien says, while Sundquist adds in that they were both writing in the van that afternoon. The Chicago show was only the second show of the tour, followed up by a hometown performance for both bands on the bill. Despite the hiccups that any "first of the tour" show usually contains, Sundquist says, "There was a great sports movie comeback moment, where a song fell apart and we had to get it back together. It came back together and it was amazing." On a personal level, O'Brien says, "We’ve got a day off in New York City that’s gonna be pretty fun. Then like a half day off in LA. We should be able to do some fun stuff. I wanna go to a beach, I don’t care which coast. I love the ocean," also revealing that he won't get caught swimming in Lake Michigan, though.

---

The remainder of 2017 is still a bit up in the air for this rookie project composed of music veterans, but hopefully a new tour announcement and new music releases are just around the corner. Stay up to date with DEM YUUT by following their Facebook page, and get ready for the new music by listening to their single "Dawn/Sea" below!

Can't get enough DEM YUUT? Also check out of photo galleries of their show in Chicago on 7/7 here. 

A Chat With: NAWAS

It's pretty rare for a band without even an EP to their name to get placed onto major festival lineups like Hangout Fest and Firefly. But that's exactly what the Nashville based NAWAS have done this summer, in between working on their debut EP for Harvest Records. Composed of singer Jake Nawas, guitarist Ben McDaniel, and drummer Joey Gonzales, the trio have been turning heads with their addictive, unique tones and cross-genre sound that blends indie pop with R&B. We recently chatted with frontman and namesake of the band Jake Nawas to discuss their recent show at Firefly, their upcoming EP, and his unique vocal style, among other topics. Tune in now and get to know NAWAS!

Photo Courtesy of NAWAS

---

ANCHR Magazine: Let's start off by hearing a little bit about what first inspired you to get into singing and making your own music. Was it a certain band that inspired you, or maybe someone in your family?

Jake Nawas: I was in college and I was having trouble finding direction, but I was always paying a lot more attention to music than anything else. Then myself and my guitarist Ben eventually got around to making music. We just got around to getting the laptop out and figuring out how to smash out something. When that started that was it...it was like that click moment of this is what I want to do, and I hope I have the ability to do it.

AM: Oh wow, so you only started music in college?

JN: Yeah, we basically started making music in college. We played a little bit in high school, and we had fun with it, but we weren’t focused on it. We loved it, but we weren’t quite where we were when we turned this page and decided to do this for a living...or to make a go of it at least.

AM: You’re originally from Louisiana and now you’re based in Nashville. How do you think that move has influenced your writing and your music career in general then?

JN: What Nashville offered us as far as...the impact that it had on our sound, we’ve had a very individual experience here. We found our way, and this is not what I consider the right way or wrong way, but we’ve found a couple people who really got into what we were trying to do, and wanted to go there with us. Which was kind of a different sound and different things that aren’t just different from Nashville; our sound was developed to be different from anywhere. But the biggest thing Nashville gave us was this sense of community. This sense of people rooting for you and sometimes you need that. You don’t always need it. It’s unhealthy to focus on that, but sometimes you need that community and that tight-knit group. You know people are in here trying to get through the food chain too, but no one’s stepping on each other’s heads here for the most part. It’s a lot of fun to make music here.

AM: Cool, that’s a really good outlook to have with that community vibe. Speaking of standing out though, your voice is super unique. When did you kind of tap into that? Was it when you started writing or have you always known that you had that special quality to your voice?

JN: I think I trained it to be weird. I figured, you gotta pop! My pop is weird so I just embrace it and go in those weird nooks and crannies of my voice where it’s not so comfortable for the ears, but it’s fun and it’s interesting. So I don’t think that by any means it was like this-- I didn’t really have this moment where it was like oh my god. It just sort of slowly developed, you know? It wasn’t really just one moment. It also took time, and it’s taking time for me to get stronger. I want my voice to get stronger over the years because I’m late into this and I’m not classically trained. I do aspire to continue to find things with the voice that I don’t have right now in my arsenal or that I recognize that I want, but I haven’t quite gotten to that point.

AM: Very cool. So I know you’re working on the debut EP for Harvest Records. How’s that process going and what can you tell me about the songs that are going to be on there?

JN: It is quite a process. It’s a process of patience, which I’m not very good at. It’s always paying off, though. I’m learning at the end after I’ve bitched and moaned about it, things come together in a way that I envisioned without cutting corners. So it’s good. We’re taking time writing and we’re putting it together. I always want to try to have more ready than we need. So we are putting an EP together, but we’re putting more than that together. We have a lot of songs, and there will be ways to release that in this day and age. With streaming, you can put a little out here and a little out there. We’re writing a record and we’ll release it whichever way puts us in the best position. It’s been a lot of fun, and we’ve done some things in LA too. Which have been great. We’ve worked with Tim Anderson...John Hill...a couple different people who have really been great for seeing what we’re trying to do and saying add this, take away this, see how that works…

AM: How was the process of working with Tim Anderson in his studio?

JN: It’s a nice spot, it makes me feel spoiled when I’m in LA and I get to work there. One of the coolest things about recording with Tim as a writer and as a person who likes to be on the ground level of my songs, is he’s done a lot of stuff that would give him the right to kind of impede...not impede, but to run shit, basically. He allows you to do your thing, and he kind of accents that in ways. The last song we released was done by Tim, Tim and this wonderful woman MoZella who wrote on the song. Whatever instinct I had, they allowed me to get out. Then we sharpened it. I’m 23 and I’m a baby in this, basically because of my experience, and I’m trying to soak in as much as I can. When people do that, it shows you like oh, these people at the high level, they’re not what you may think they are. They are just as open and as artistically inclined as anyone.

AM: Very cool. So then you just talked a little bit about working with Tim Anderson and MoZella, so you’ve collaborated a bit on the songwriting level. Is there anyone else you’d love to do a collaboration with, either singing on a song with them, songwriting again, or having them do the production?

JN: First off, my life goal is to write a Britney Spears song. I did just see that Clams Casino just put out an instrumental mixtape. So I was like, I better record some stuff over that and put it out there to see if he can hear it, cause I like Clams Casino a lot. He’s a really cool producer. A producer I just met not too long ago, he’s a great guy...Mikky Ekko. Mikky had no reason to meet me, I’m just some kid, and he really sat down and chopped it up with me for a long time. So I’m appreciative of the conversation we had and what he shared with me. He’s an artist who’s been through different situations and prevailed.

AM: So talking about playing some of these songs live then, I know you just played at Firefly, which is pretty cool considering this is all new to you and you’re still working on the debut EP and album. How was that to be able to play at such a major festival?

JN: It was great! I mean we played--we’ve been really lucky to meet some really genuine people and surround ourselves, as far as our team goes, with a lot of great people who have put us in situations that maybe….I don’t want to say we didn’t deserve to be there, because you can’t get there without earning the right. But it definitely was early in the process. We played ACL, we played Firefly, we played a bunch of shows at South By and Hangout. Those are just so incredible...the people are just...you can’t imagine. We’ve played every type of gig now. We haven’t gone on tour, but we’ve played a bunch of shows. We’ve played smaller gigs in weird rooms, and you just can’t imagine at these festivals, even though it’s a big production, and it’s worth millions of dollars….you can’t imagine how open those people are to anything...to us. We’re so strange sometimes. To hear after someone who’s not in our world, and people are so open to it, and I’m really appreciative of that. We need that! I love those festivals. I can’t wait to bear down and get back to those. The workers are great at those too.

“The biggest thing Nashville gave us was this sense of community. This sense of people rooting for you and sometimes you need that. You don’t always need it. It’s unhealthy to focus on that, but sometimes you need that community and that tight-knit group.”

— NAWAS on working in Nashville

AM: So what else are you looking forward to for 2017? I know you said you’re writing a bunch more than the EP, but will their potentially be a tour?

JN: Yeah, well we signed early and we did all this, and it was kind of overwhelming. Now I’m seeing like there’s tons of things to look forward to. But really what I’m looking forward to is getting on a tour and some club rooms, and getting to play these [songs] and see what people say. I’m really excited for tour, whether it’s a….it does not have to be glamorous. We don’t have very high standards right now. We’re ready to get out there and play. We’re hungry. We’re hungry to hear what the people have to say. This is a tight knit group, the band...it’s me, Ben, Joey. We write a lot together and we work with producers we’re really close with. It means a lot to us to bring people a product that we think is up to par. I can’t wait to get out there and see if it is up to par. I don’t have any breaking announcements about a tour, but it will be coming. I’m really excited to get out there and get our shot basically.

AM: For sure, let us know when you eventually come to Chicago!

Keep up with all the NAWAS updates on their Facebook page, and listen to their latest single, "Who Are You," below. 

Allday's Guide To Being Vegan on Tour

Hailing from Adelaide, Australia, the rapper Allday is gearing to up to tour The States next month, including a stop at The Subterranean in Chicago. During this tour, Allday will be performing songs from his sophomore album, Speeding, which features Japanese Wallpaper and Mallrat as collaborators. While he gets ready for tour, Allday put together a vegan tour guide to show his fans how he manages to keep up with his meat-free and cruelty-free diet on the road. 

Allday. Photo courtesy of No Big Deal PR

---

To be vegan on tour is slightly harder than to be vegan not on tour. Because sometimes you end up in places where the concept of not eating animal stuff completely foreign and even offensive (blame meat & dairy industry propaganda). Truck stops in the middle of nowhere and small towns can be vegan heartbreakers. But there's always SOMETHING to eat. And if there is something vegan, we will sniff it out. You may end up eating something not delicious, but you will never go hungry.

DISCLAIMER: I haven't toured that much in the U.S.A yet, but I've done it a lot in Australia so I'm hoping some of these things are universal.

First things first:

Before you get in your tour vehicle, go to a damn supermarket and buy some nuts. Nuts are perfect for long drives because they kinda suck so you need to be very hungry to enjoy them. Maybe also buy... some fruit? "But Allday I don't like fruit!" Yes you do. Eat some fucking fruit. Fruit and nuts can last you at least 8 or 10 hours, by that time you'll be in another city and you can eat some actual food. Don't complain, some people are really starving. Don't buy any Gatorade or any of that poison, you're not a 12 year old Xbox player. 

Now your first day of driving is over.

You're in a "buttfuck nowhere" town. There is nowhere vegan to eat (this rarely happens but it is possible). What type of kitchen do you have in your hotel room? Is there a stove or a microwave? If yes, go to option 1. If no go to option 2. 

1. We have a kitchen! How grand. Now we find a supermarket or a convenience store. If a supermarket is open you can go Gordon Ramsay on 'em and make something gour-met. But it's probably late and there's only a convenience store open. Go to the freezer at the back. There should be some spring rolls or wedges or something. I don't need to tell you to read the labels carefully because companies are addicted to putting "Milk Solids" and "Fish Sauce" in things. Your meal is going to suck. Sorry. Open a window in your room so it doesn't smell like soy sauce.

2. Your hotel room doesn't have a kitchen. What the fuck. You should trash this place. But you're too hungry. Use your last iota of strength to crawl down to the nearest strip of take out restaurants. Ignore McDonalds and all that poison. Your best bet is somewhere Asian or Indian. Yes I realize India is in Asia. Go in there and question them heavily about vegan options. "What is vegan?" "Vegan means no animal products at all, so no dairy, egg, no fish sauce or anything like that." "Our Eggplant Curry would be vegan." "Can you check with the chef?" "Sure." 

5 minutes passes, the man waiting for his Butter Chicken will is judging you but he's not woke like you, so it doesn't matter. The cashier returns with good news "It is vegan." 

"I'll have one of those please!!!"

You made it through day 1 on tour, you beautiful compassionate vegan angel. 

(P.S never feel bad about questioning people about vegan options, once someone does it, it makes it easier for the next person, you are a pioneer.)

Day 2:

Wow it's your lucky day, tonight we are arriving in a big city with lots of vegan restaurants (because I'm making this tour route up so why not). But before that, go to a supermarket again. Nuts, fruit, water. Avocado and tortilla chips? Hummus and carrots? "No that's too healthy." Ok fine.

Here's an idea, buy:

- Hotdog rolls

- Bananas

- Peanut Butter

- Jam (Americans you call it Jelly)

- You should have stolen a butter knife from your hotel, but if not, buy one

Method: Spread PB&J on the hotdog rolls, then peel your bananas and insert them into the rolls. PB&J + Banana Hot Dogs.

By the time you get hungry again after your hotdogs, you will arrive in a city with lots of vegetarian/vegan restaurants. A good app/website to find these places is Happy Cow. Go out to dinner with your touring party and eat some nourishing food, then blow the audience's socks off with your gig later. "Wow *insert your name here* really had a beautiful glow up on stage tonight!" 

Day 3:

Basically repeat all the things I've been saying so far until your music is no longer profitable and you have to go be a janitor. 

P.S For when you're stoned/self loathing/lazy, lots of truck stop junk food is accidentally vegan, things like:

- Oreos

- Some pop tarts

- Skittles

- Mostly all original chips and some funky flavours too

- Certain dark chocolates

- Skittles

If you're already vegan, this is probably the most inane thing you've ever read. But if you're just starting, maybe it will help.

Yours always in animal-leaving-alone,

Allday

---

Chicago, Allday will be in town on August 7th at the SubT. Grab your tickets here, and make a night out of it by supporting veganism and grabbing your pre-show meal at The Chicago Diner. You can get tickets to all of the upcoming shows here. Last step to prepping for the show? Listen to Speeding in full below!

A Chat With: Michigander

Hailing from (you guessed it) Michigan, the outfit Michigander is fronted by lead singer and songwriter Jason Singer. Much like the literal band name and frontman’s surname, the handful of singles that have come out of the Michigander project possess a certain quality of straightforwardness. Narratives told in Singer’s soothing vocals hook listeners in; relatable stories and layered melodies keeping them enthralled. Following the streaming success of his debut single “Ninties,” Singer and his band have toured with other acclaimed Michigan acts like Flint Eastwood, and performed live sessions at studios like Daytrotter in Davenport and Audiotree in Chicago. After being introduced to them at Daytrotter Downs Festival in March, we couldn’t wait to catch up with Singer during Michigander’s show at Township on Friday, June 23rd. During our chat, Singer talked about being inspired by Coldplay, why he dislikes albums, their upcoming tour schedule, and more. Get to know Michigander now!

Credit: Adam Podboy

---

ANCHR Magazine: What first got you interested in making music? When did you go from being a fan of music to actually writing your own?

Jason Singer: I think 2009 I saw Coldplay play a massive show in Detroit. I think that was like, holy crap, I wanna do that. That’s what I’ve been thinking lately has sparked it. I’ve always been kind of fascinated with stages and sound systems and all that. It was always just really exciting to be around.

AM: So talking about new music from you, I saw you were recently asking your Twitter followers if you should keep releasing singles or an EP. I think EP won...are you going to end up doing that?

JS: I don’t know, the producer I’m working with wants me to do an EP. I kind of agree with him, but the singles kind of like take a life of their own. I think that is cool because you spend money making the stuff. So putting it together [in a EP], something might get looked over. I think putting singles out helps solidify each song. Gives them a life of their own. Getting a lot of plays on individual songs is cooler to me.

AM: So you mentioned you’re working with a producer now Is that who you always work with?

JS: I just started working with him, so we just did the last single “Fears” with him. I have another one that’s recorded that’ll probably be out in September. Then probably two more early next year.

AM: Nice, so how’s the recording process with him?

JS: It’s awesome. I just go there and he really knows his system. That’s the coolest part, just going and everything is set up. Everything is already mic’d and he’s like play, anything you want. Right now. So it’s just me and him. I can play everything except the drums, so we have a drummer come in. Everything else on the record I usually play.

AM: As far as playing live, you just did Audiotree today--

JS: Yeah, that was really cool! That was a total bucket list dream come true. They were great, they were super nice. Same with Daytrotter! Those sessions are what I thrive for. Since we only have a few live songs, the session helps us have stuff. Then we have the shows. Having people show up to shows is awesome for having one or two songs.

AM: Yeah, and then you’re doing Mo Pop this summer. Who else are you looking forward to seeing there?

JS: I’m a really big Alt-J fan, and Foster The People. I love both those bands. Also, the Solange record is great. I just listened to them recently for the first time. There’s a band called Middle Kids. They’re from Australia, they’re really small, but their songs are so good. I hope to connect with them.

AM: Are there any surprises or anything special you’re planning since it’s a festival performance?

JS: I wish! I don’t know if I’m allowed to bring friends. What I’d really love to do is a bring a bunch of friends. It’s cool we have the opportunity to play it... Our friend Leo, who’s in Rival Summers, he’s playing tonight. I just have all these guys from around Detroit that I’d love to bring.

AM: Any other bands from around Detroit we should check out?

JS: Flint Eastwood. We just got off tour with her. We played at Subterranean here.

AM: How was that tour, any highlights?

JS: We played her hometown Detroit show to like 1200 people. It was in like an old building lobby in Detroit, like all art deco. It was beautiful. It was the biggest show we’ve played.

AM: Then you’re touring a little bit in the fall right?

JS: Yeah! We’ll hit up Atlanta, Nashville, Lexington, Columbus, Lansing, Kalamazoo, Pittsburgh. So part of it will be solo in like listening rooms. I’m really just looking forward to--the first half is just me going alone on the road, which I’ve never done. I just want to do it. That’s the cool thing behind it. The main thing is I just wanted to see friends, and I also wanted to play shows. So that’s what we did.

AM: Do you do anything special to stay entertained on the road?

JS: I am a podcast person. They have a podcast called Song Exploder. They take the master files from the studio of like The National, and they show each individual part and the bands talk about it. Then they throw it all together. It’s so inspiring and exciting to hear.

AM: Nice! Then just in general, any other bands you’re really into? I see on Twitter you’re always recommending new music.

JS: There’s a band-- Dave Bazon. He was in a band called Pedro The Lion, and he has this new band Lo Tom. They’re amazing. They have like singles out. And The Manchester Orchestra Album. I’m excited for that.

AM: Anything else you’re looking forward to this year?

JS: I think this year is gonna be a really big building year. Everything that’s happening has just been incredible. Tomorrow we do a hometown headliner. Next month we’re playing with Bad Bad Hats and Mo Pop.

Keep up with Jason on his Twitter, and check out the gallery of Michigander's performance on Friday night at Township below. 

---

A Chat With Twinsmith

Omaha-based indie rock band Twinsmith return with stripped back and chilled out tunes for their third record, Stay Cool, out next month. Singles like "Matters" and "You & I" boost infectious and mellow melodies, perfect for driving around with the windows down on a summer day. Originally formed by the duo Matt Regner and Jordan Smith, the band has grown to include Bill Sharp on the bass and drummer Jake Newbold while on tour. Last Thursday, Twinsmith played Chicago as the third show of the Ultrasonic Summer Tour with Rooney and Run River North, following a hometown gig in Omaha. Before they hit the stage at Lincoln Hall, we caught up with the guys to talk about their simplified recording process, Jason Derulo, and Red Roof Inns...among other things. Get to know Twinsmith now! 

Twinsmith at Lincoln Hall on June 22nd, 2017

Left to Right: Jake Newbold, Matt Regner, Bill Sharp, and Jordan Smith.

ANCHR Magazine: Your single “You & I” just came out this week. How does it feel to get your new music out there in advance of the new record?

Matt Regner: It’s always great. Especially in this day and age where that whole process takes forever. Especially if you’re pressing vinyl. Basically you finish the recording, you finish mastering, then you’re just hanging out with the songs by yourself for a few months.

Jordan Smith: Yeah, it definitely feels good. It feels good to play new songs. That’s what we’re most excited for. We were rehearsing these songs as a band. We’d written and recorded them before we started playing them live. So the whole process was just like a long process of being able to start playing these. We’re excited to keep releasing music and keep writing.

AM: How was the recording process for this album then, compared to your past records?

MR: It was awesome. Basically that whole album came together in our house. We recorded it in our dining room. We didn’t really need--for all of these songs we didn’t need a big studio. We didn’t spend a ton of money. We could just find some cool gear and make it happen. Having complete control over everything and not like five people running around the studio, doing this and that, you start forgetting names. It was just for the most part Jordan and I, and then Graham Ulicny who produced it, showing up at 11 a.m. and working. 

AM: So for the first two records, was it similar or you did actually record those in a studio?

MR: Yeah, in the studio you’re just rushed. So we weren’t on a time crunch with this. That’s when you start making mistakes.

AM: I think that comes across in the mood when you’re listening to the new record.

MR: There’s definitely more of a relaxed mood with this album. Maybe that goes back to the actual process, or our moods when we wrote the songs. Not having that studio rush, or worrying about the money, like the hours that you’re putting in…

AM: So I know tour just started a couple nights ago, but how have the new songs been going in the live setting so far?

MR: Great. There’s still just enough rust on them. They’re always fun to play, and we’re still making mistakes on them--

JS: But that’s good! I’d rather have that than be really bored. 

MR: The Alligator [Years] album, we played those songs 100 times over the course of a year. You get burnt out on that. I don’t know how The Rolling Stones do it.

JS: They get millions of dollars.

MR: I’d play “Start Me Up” that much for a million dollars.

AM: What have been some of your favorite new ones then?

JS: I think “Defend Yourself”--

MR: Which actually, we planned on having it as a single, but we didn’t release it. I think that’s just the most fun to play live. It’s a fun groove. We always play it towards the end of the set.

AM: So you guys just had the hometown gig in Omaha last night, but is there anywhere else you’re really looking forward to playing?

JS: I’m interested to see what Davenport is gonna be like, cause I’ve never played in Davenport. I think we’ve played everywhere else. 7th Street Entry’s always fun.

AM: So you guys made a Spotify Playlist that for "songs to crack open a cold one to”--

MR: That’s all Bill!

AM: Then there was the “Stay Cool” one, which had all songs with “Stay” or “Cool” in the title, so how do you guys decide who gets the aux cord on the road?

MR: I’m the only one with a Spotify Premium account, but I have that damn new iPhone that doesn’t have the thing, and the van doesn’t have bluetooth. We’re not there yet as a band.

JS: We were there last week, but now we had to downgrade. Last tour, we listened to a podcast that was like 8 hours long when we drove from Chicago to Omaha.

MR: We listened to the entirety of S-Town. It was mind-blowing.

JS: We wanted the drive to be longer cause there was an episode and a half we still hadn’t listened to . That was the first time ever we were like “man I wish this drive was longer!” For the first five hours today, I don’t think we played a single thing.

MR: We usually just scan for a Top 40 radio station and keep it on a low volume.

JS: Unless it’s Jason Derulo.

MR: Derulo comes up! Everything else stays low.

AM: Do you guys tend to write while you’re on the road?

JS: You were writing [to Jake]--

Jake Newbold:  It was a grocery list.

MR: He does all his grocery shopping in Chicago. 

AM: Any other new bands you’re really into at the moment? 

JS: We were talking about Kevin Morby on the way up here.

MR: He’s got a really good new album.

JS: Jake knows what’s hot!

JN: I’ve been listening to Chris Weisman.Tigerwine just put out a new record.

AM: Nice! So was there anyone you pinpointed as influences for the record?

MR: Not super specifically. Actually, yes, super specifically in the sense that there’d be one part in a song where I’d try to get behind the mindset of the guitar licks. Like “what were they thinking when they wrote that?” But there wasn’t like one band you could put an umbrella over the album. Which is definitely a good thing. You never want that to happen. I think all of us, for as long as we’ve been in the band, or been in bands period, we just all listen to stuff that isn’t anything like our music.

AM: Then you can pick up on the moods or certain emotions, or even like you said certain guitar pickings and stylize that to your own music.

MR: Yeah, totally.

AM: Cool, anything else this year you’re really looking forward to besides this tour and the album coming out? Anything planned for the fall?

JS: I think we’re looking forward to kind of just seeing what’s next. We’re just seeing what happens, and I think we’re ready for whatever.

AM: Maybe some bluetooth in the van?

JS: Yeah, get back to that! That’d be awesome.

AM: Oh and did you get a week of free rooms at Red Roof Inn that you Tweeted about? 

MR: That was all [Jordan]

JS: I tried! 

MR: We're big fans of Red Roof Inns.

JS: We stay there a lot.

AM: Any last minute words of advice?

MR: Don’t use Apple Maps to get through Chicago. We just figured that out today. It wasn’t lost, it was just using all these alternate routes. We basically got off the highway in Iowa and took side streets.

---

So, Red Roof Inn, if you’re reading this, help a band out! Everyone else, help yourself out and pre-order Stay Cool here, out July 14th on Saddle Creek records. You can check out  Twinsmith's upcoming tour dates here, and see the gallery from their show at Lincoln Hall below! 

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

Catching Up With The Autumn Defense

It's rare that you'll find a festival that has the same artists perform multiple times in one weekend, while still providing completely unique and once in a lifetime performances. Enter Eaux Claires, Pat Sansone, and John Stirratt. Sansone and Stirratt performed twice on Friday as The Autumn Defense, before closing out Saturday with Wilco's headlining slot. In the early evening on Saturday before Wilco battled the oncoming storm for the final set of TROIX, the Chicago music veterans talked about their Eaux Claires experience, balancing multiple music projects, and working with other artists. Here are five things we learned while catching up with The Autumn Defense. 

Patrick Sansone and John Stirratt of The Autumn Defense at Eaux Claires 2017

They Were Shocked At Their Crowd Turnout

The Autumn Defense got cozy with the crowd in the woods twice during the festival's first day, playing The Oxbeaux Stage, which sits in the middle of the forest as a hidden gem. The pair discuss their favorite part of their two sets. "I enjoyed the fact that there were a lot more people there than I expected. I knew we were gonna be playing on a small stage in the woods. It was very much how I pictured it, but I was pleasantly surprised by how many people came and listened to us. It was a great crowd...a beautiful setting," Pat Sansone reflected. 

John Stirratt adds his praise of the festival in general and how great they've done on setting the scene, saying, "I think they’ve done a better job, much like a lot of the smaller European festivals that seem to be more of the trend now. What they do is they really focus on the spaces where people are and try to make some kind of special...lighting gear or nighttime lighting in the woods. You see that at Green Man in England. I think just really concentrating on the spaces and how it looks in the daytime and the nighttime...There’s a magic quality to that, especially in the woods here." 

Sansone says he 100 percent agrees with Stiratt's observation, adding, "Yeah, curating such a good feeling, it takes care and it takes vision. The immediate feel of those things when you come here..." 

Their Collaboration Wish List is Endless

In addition to the magical and beautiful setting that the team behind Eaux Claires curates, there is a strong focus on collaboration and improvisation between bands on the line up. Wilco alone had multiple spin off groups at Eaux Claires...in addition to Stirratt and Sansone performing as The Autumn Defense, there were also sets from Tweedy and cup, featuring Wilco members. Sansone and Stirratt discuss other possible collaborations between musicians on the lineup and themselves. 

"I’ve never played with Jenny Lewis. That would be fun to do something with her," Stirratt says, mentioning that they're friends so it's weird they have yet to collaborate.  "I just ran into Leslie Feist, and we worked with her on a Wilco song...she sings on Wilco song. It’d be great to do something with her again. So many great people. Justin [Vernon]," Sansone chimes in. Stirratt also suggests playing with Aaron Dessner before Sansone throws out the possibility of working with Chance. "I think Autumn Defense and Chance The Rapper could really find some common ground. I think we could kind of give him the bump that he needs to get out there, on a bigger platform," he joked. Funnily enough, after the interview, I stopped by the merch booth and noticed they had separated headliners Wilco and Chance The Rapper merch from the rest of the artists' and festival merchandise. Maybe that's a sign that something could work out between the Chicago musicians. After all, anything's possible at Eaux Claires. 

Speaking of epic collaborations, Sansone and Stirratt gave their suggestion of a cross between some of the other musicians on the 2017 line up. "It’d be cool to see Paul Simon and John Prine link up. That’d be pretty historic," Sansone says. 

They Rely On Muscle Memory For Their Different Projects

Working in multiple active projects has got to be tough to keep up with, but Stirratt says they've got the routines down. "It’s kind of, at least for me, it’s kind of like we’ve played with both entities for so long, there’s a lot of muscle memory there. We bring in the Autumn Defense guys, and really, we’ve played long enough with them, all it takes is one short jam and they’re right back. It’s really wonderful, and quite economical too. So you can do these things without really dedicated rehearsal days and rehearsal spaces. You can make it kind of informal. Wilco sort of does that as well. It’s definitely great to have that history with all those folks," he says. 

They're "Looking Towards Looking Towards" A New Album

It's been a minute since the 2014 of The Autumn Defense's fifth album, appropriately titled Fifth, but it might not be too long before a sixth LP is in the works.  Sansone talks more about the current status of new music from The Autumn Defense, saying, "We haven’t really started looking towards a new album yet. We’re looking towards looking towards a new album right now. It’s been a busy couple years since we put out our last one. With Wilco, and John and I have other projects that we’ve been consumed with. It’s definitely something that’s close to us, and we’re looking forward to when we can carve out that time." So while the process of the new album isn't really in motion yet, at least it's at the front of Sansone and Stirratt's minds. 

As far as their writing process when inspiration does hit, Stirratt says, "I tend to write really for Autumn Defense only. I used to contribute songs for Wilco over time and I realized it wasn’t the best use of my time. For a long time it’s been for The Autumn Defense. That’s the main writing outlet that I have. I personally can’t delineate where it goes." 

They're Still In On The Chicago Scene

Although Sansone and Stirratt have been touring the world with Wilco, they still manage to keep up with some hometown musicians. While talking about some of their favorite newer or up and coming Chicago artists, Stirratt says, "Well Whitney is way beyond up and coming, but that record [Light Upon the Lake] was a big record for me last year."

Sansone shares his new local favorites, saying, "There’s a guy named, well the project is named Jagged Jaw, and it’s one guy. His name is Bobby Lord, and he had a record that came out last year. He does everything himself. Self released. It’s really great. I produced a record for his previous band which was called Future Monarchs, and he kind of went off in secret and made this record. I was just completely blown away. I hear he’s working on a new record. He’s keeping it very under the radar." 

Although Sansone and Stirratt have been making music professionally for years, they say that newer artists probably have a leg up on them despite all their experience. "It’s a whole new world. I kind of feel like a lot of these musicians and younger bands probably have stuff to teach me," Sansone admits. 

Stirratt agrees, saying, "I feel the same way! I feel like things were way easier. Getting a deal was easier back then. It was just--," he pauses before adding, "There’s people with all these different disciplines, you know. The ability to record and produce and arrange and do it all on a really high level."

---

Keep up with The Autumn Defense here, and listen to their last record Fifth below. 

A Chat With: Elliot Moss

The New York City based singer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Elliot Moss released his stunning new EP Boomerang in April. Layered and complex. the seven song EP takes its listeners on a dynamic journey. There's the seamless flow between the third through sixth song, with their blurred edges, and there's the James Blake-esque tune "99," as well as the rhythmic "Closedloop" which opens the EP. Essentially, Boomerang mimics the actions of its namesake; it keeps moving, but eventually it comes back to the core sound that Moss has developed. Moss will be taking these new songs out on the road this month, starting in DC today and ending in Chicago on July 1st. We'll be covering his hometown performance at the legendary Baby's All Right in Brooklyn this Saturday, June 24th. Before the show, we chatted with the multi-talented Moss about his creative vision, his tips for wearing multiple hats in the studio, and what's next for 2017. Get to know all of that and more in our chat with Elliot Moss!

Photo Courtesy of Elliot Moss

ANCHR Mag: So I wanted to start off by talking a little bit about your new EP Boomerang. Congrats on the release! You’ve mentioned it’s best to listen to straight through, and the transitions are really strong. Did you map it out ahead of time or did it come together once you’d written some of the songs?

Elliot Moss: A bit of both, probably. When I wrote “Closedloop” I didn’t have the idea yet of having it have these sort of seamless moments. There is something nice about something stopping, and then a song coming in. So it has a bit of both of that. It goes in a particular order because it takes you through a certain experience of kind of removing yourself from the world around, and then sort of coming back into it. Dipping your feet in the water and then diving in. So the moments where they didn’t feel like they needed to be jarring, they’re not and they kind of move in a more fluid way. It just sort of seemed like the way to do it. I worked on the three tunes that are seamless all in the same session. It was like 300 tracks. It’s a lot of work to make things move seamlessly like that. To change keys without feeling forced or wrong. But yeah it was an idea that sort of developed after I wrote “Without The Lights.”

AM: So you’re writing your music, you’re playing multiple instruments, and producing your own music, which has got to be challenging. How do you deal with those challenges while you're recording, and were there any particular songs that were more challenging than others?

EM: “Without The Lights,” by far. That was the single hardest--producing it was tricky because there’s so many different parts to it, but the mix for that song, I’ve never worked harder on anything in my life. It was waking up every day for a couple of months and just trying to figure out how to make it feel like nothing was done, but everything is in order and presented to you as clearly and as discreetly as it can be. Cause you know when a song sounds mixed, it can almost take you out of it and sound overproduced. Giving it this maximalist approach, but having it be natural is a really tricky thing. Most of my music is not that dense. It’s hard when you’ve played everything, because every little part is your baby. I’m so grateful for the things here or there that I’d get friends of mine to add to the music. Like the bass lines on “Closedloop” and on “Falling Down and Getting Hurt.” It sort of takes the responsibility out of my hands a little bit and allows me to just enjoy what he played. And it’s somewhere I would have never gone. I think it just adds a dynamic to the song that wasn’t there before, that I couldn’t possibly generate.

AM: Do you have any tips then for managing it all or being able to handle producing and writing?

EM: I guess, just don’t get lazy. Don’t rely on what you’re good at to finish a song, and instead sort take a step back and ask yourself what it really needs and what you should do. Then put in the hours to make that happen.

AM: That’s great advice! So you also have some great music videos to go along with your songs. Are you really involved with the concepts behind the videos, and does that kind of come into play when you’re writing the songs?

EM: Almost too involved. Like standing on a mountain and flying drones involved. Actually for some of the shots in the “Closedloop” video...I’m not built to climb the side of a mountain holding a bunch of gear, so that was very challenging. But worth it in the end. It was freezing cold and you couldn’t find the light up there. We shot it all in Utah where you can just sort of drive into Nowheresville pretty easily. That song, the visual representation is sort of, it echoes a lot the same themes of what I tried to achieve in the production. Where it’s like these two worlds at odds almost, and “Closedloop” is about retreating to a place where you can process things at a safe... at a speed where you’ll be able to assess things and come up with a solution. So the light and the spotlight in “Closedloop” that we shot out of these drones, was just focusing on that piece of the world for the time, rather than everything at once. It also looked really cool.

AM: For sure! So you’re really into putting a deep meaning into your songs and just from talking to you now, it’s clear you’re passionate about the visual concepts in your videos as well. Do you look to other art forms besides music, like film or certain visual art for influence on your own projects and your music videos?

EM: Well sure, yeah. Art can put you in a particular mood and I guess after walking out of a movie or looking at a painting, you can paint in those colors, if that’s not too cheesy. I definitely try to keep my mind open and look at new things as much as I can because it keeps your gears turning. Definitely, I think I draw on all of what I’m consuming. More than just art too. Just lots going on in my life....books I’m reading, etc…

AM: Totally. Do you have a specific book you read or a movie that might have inspired a certain song on the Boomerang EP?

EM: Richard Ayoade directed a movie called The Double with Jesse Eisenberg that I thought was really, really cool. It sort of has this murky, shadowy vibe throughout. It’s coupled almost with this fluorescent blue every now and then. It looks almost electric. “Closedloop” feels that way to me, sort of wading through murky water and then suddenly there’s this fork-in-the-wall voltage right up in your face, which came from this synthesizer that was not processed in any way. It was as direct as I could possibly get it from synth to iPod earbuds.

AM: Taking these songs to the live sense, you’re starting tour this week. Are there any new songs you’re particularly excited to play, or any new arrangements?

EM: Yeah, we did a live in the studio video of the whole EP, that we’re kind of dropping one song at a time. There’s a really interesting arrangement that we did of the three songs that are seamless- “Boomerang,” “My Statue Sinking,” and “Dolly Zoom,” where I stay on the piano the whole time, and we start with my bass player actually on the piano with me. That was a lot of overdubs on that song, but live, there’s only one piano that can fit in the room. So we had to find a way to make that clunky, disjointed rhythm work in a way that it wasn’t weird sounding in a studio setting. We’re taking elements of what we learned from doing that live video to the stage. I get excited about “Falling Down and Getting Hurt” and “Without The Lights” because we didn’t have a lot of big, loud tunes to play. Live, depending on the room, sometimes this big mezzanine and all these seats demand that you play a little bit louder and faster because you want to fill the room with sound. I’m excited to have a few more tunes that do that.

AM: Are there any cities you’re particularly excited for?

EM: I actually like all of the cities that we’re doing this tour! I’ve played them all before and they’re really cool. DC is always really cool. DC9 is right around the corner from 930 club, which is one of my favorite venues we’ve ever played. And Montreal, I feel like I have absolutely no understanding of the layout of that city. I like getting to explore every time we play there.

AM: Yeah, awesome! Then are there any new artists that you’re really into, or new music from an older artist that you’re into?

EM: I could tell you that for sure. I’m probably the last person in the world to listen to it, but up until a couple of weeks ago, I’d never listened to Dummy by Portishead, and I’ve been completely obsessed with it now. It’s one of my favorite records now, it’s just too cool. Speaking of production that sounds natural, it’s exactly what Beth’s voice needed behind her. I think that will be a real source of inspiration in the future. I’m trying to make my music as effortless and as fluid as theirs is.

AM: Nice. When you’re on the road and on tour, what do you do to stay entertained besides listening to music? Any podcasts that you’re into?

EM: I like the Adam Buxton podcast. He interviews some interesting people. I try to make as much music as I can on the road. I have this makeshift desk thing in the van, that I try to stick a keyboard on and at least come up with an idea or two per day. My bass player, Evan, is just so prolific. It's hard to keep up. Just watching him work away on his computer makes me feel like I need to be working too. 

AM: Anything else you're looking forward to this year? Do you think you'll release more new music, with some of the stuff that you're working on on tour?

EM: I hope so, yeah! There's a lot done already. I'm just trying to get my bearings and understand what it means in terms of whether it's an album, or another EP, or some singles. I do want to get an LP2 out there and happening in the near future. I guess I'm really excited to just do some more touring too. Last year was a working year in terms of getting an EP and a lot of new songs done. This year marks the beginning of touring for us. Do the west coast, and some European dates. We get to see the world. 

---

New York, come dance with us on Saturday-- grab tickets to the Baby's All Right performance here! To check out Elliot Moss in a city near you, find all the tour dates here, and listen to Boomerang in full below!

Catching Up With This Is The Kit

It's about half past 5 during the first day of the third annual Eaux Claires, and as I head to the media tent, the sound of Tweedy's set drifts through the main grounds of the festival, still audible as I find the members of This Is The Kit staked out in a corner of the tent. Earlier in the afternoon, the England-born, Paris-based band consisting of Kate Stables, Rozi Plain, and Jamie Whitby-Coles had performed on The Flambeaux Stage, one of the two main stages. Known for having a shifting line up always fronted by Kate Stables, the band played some new tunes from the upcoming record Moonshine Freeze with the help of Eaux Claires curator Aaron Dessner. While I caught up with the trio in the media tent, we chatted more about their live show, their dream collaborations, and folk tales. Learn about all that and more before the release of Moonshine Freeze on July 7th in our chat with This Is The Kit.  

Kate Stables, Rozi Plain, and Jamie Whitby-Coles at Eaux Claires 2017

Frontwoman Kate Stables Isn't Big On Planning

Diving into the story behind the new album, Stables recalls the group's songwriting process as being more organized than their previous records, their latest being Bashed Out in 2015. "Well songwriting happened between the release of our last album in--" Stables pauses, questioning when the last record was released before confirming 2015 as its birth year. "So since the release of Bashed Out and now. It was nice, we went into the studio and all of the songs were written. Some of them even had the arrangements worked out. Which is sort of new for me, cause I’m unorganized and often running late," she continued. Stables also gave recognition to their producer, John Parish, calling his work brilliant. 

The band's live lineup especially is never set in stone, but the band don't seem bothered by that at all, and have managed to sound incredible live with a variety of different setups. "We can’t always do everything that happens on the record, because there’s only--well normally there’s four of us, but today there’s only three of us," Stables muses about the live arrangements of the new material. "I’m not very good at planning," she admitted. Rozi Plain interjects to say that they've managed to remain flexible, adding "Often things get worked out and changed while we’re on tour. Sometimes just trying things out as we’re playing them." One of the best facets of the gem that is Eaux Claires Fest is the improvisation that occurs each day, so This Is The Kit fit perfectly with that sentiment. 

Saxophones and Storytellers Have Shaped The New Record

Kate Stables has stated that Moonshine Freeze focuses on the concept that stories and truths sort of evolve over time, told differently as time moves on. She elaborates more on her inspiration behind the songs and her fascination with storytelling, saying, "I’ve been reading a lot of Ursula Le Guin and she talks a lot about stories changing over time. Also, I listen to a lot--and read to my daughter, a lot of folk tales. And there’s always different versions of those." She continues, "There’s a particular collection of African stories that Hugh Tracey collected, and there’s recordings of him reading them. There’s a story about a rabbit and tortoise where it sort of talks about truth and lying, and I’ve been thinking about that."

While Stables is able to pinpoint a few authors and storytellers as inspiring that notion behind Moonshine Freeze, she ponders for a while about other influences, saying, "I don’t know if they’re ever sort of conscious. You look back and you think, oh, look at that, that matches up with that." She pauses and asks Plain and Whitby-Coles for their input. Plain mentions that they draw inspiration from life experiences as well. 

Stables bounces off of Plain's comment, saying, "Yeah, we’ve been playing a lot with a saxophone section over the past year or so, and so it was great to have them in the recording session. That’s really shaped the album." Speaking of saxophones, Eaux Claires' resident sax choir The Sad Saxes joined This Is The Kit for a lovely Saturday afternoon performance at The Oxbeaux Stage in the woods, which earned a standing ovation at the end. 

Aaron Dessner Acted As a Correspondent Collaborator On Moonshine Freeze

Not only did EXC curator Aaron Dessner join This Is The Kit for the aforementioned Oxbeaux Stage performance and their Friday afternoon performance at the festival, but he also contributed to the recordings on the new record. Stables has been working with Dessner for longer than that, though. Describing their working relationship, she says, "Well, it’s great, we made the last album with him 100%. This one, it was kind of like a correspondence, pen-pal recording project. We sent him some of the songs, and then he recorded some bits of it. Then we sort of sorted out which bits could stay. It happened long distance."

Speaking of arranging parts of the new tunes, Stables and Plain reflect on playing some of the new ones live for the first time at the fest.  "Since we recorded it, we haven’t played many [shows], so it’s just sort of fun to play the new ones," Plain says. Stables echoes that excitement, saying, "Yeah, because a lot of the arrangements weren’t finished, or just were started from scratch in the studio. So now that they’re sort of established, it’s nice to be able to play them when they’re finished."

They'd Like To Work With Tweedy, Francis, and Sam Amidon

Speaking of collaborations, the trio share which of the other acts on the lineup they'd love to collaborate with, since that is the name of the game at Eaux Claires. Pausing to contemplate the abundance of possibilities, Stables suggests they each pick an artist, since it's too difficult to land on only one unanimous decision. "I'm really liking Tweedy...I'm really enjoying this," Whitby-Coles decides, while Tweedy's set continues throughout the interview. Stables takes her pick next, saying, "I’d love to to one day do some singing and banjo playing with Sam Amidon 'cause I think he’s brilliant!" Plain remembers Francis's dance lessons on the Decorum Stage, saying, "There was someone teaching everyone some great dance moves--let’s do a collaboration with Francis!" 

While we didn't get to see Francis's dance moves combined with Stables' banjo playing this time around, there's always next year, and we did get to see Stables join Justin Vernon for a song during The John Prine tribute on Friday evening. 

They'll Be Back In America In October 

The band were recently announced as part of Pitchfork Music Festival's lineup in Paris, but that's not all they're looking forward to later in 2017. "We're coming back to America in October" Whitby-Coles excitedly shared. Stables says those dates are still to be confirmed, but once they have dates in place, they'll be even more excited for the return. Make sure you keep your eyes out for that tour announcement because if you think the recordings from This Is The Kit sound great, just wait til you catch a live performance. Plain and Stables voices blend so well together, and when playing with a sax section they're able to add even more dynamic to their layered and thoughtful songs. 

In addition to the tour, what else is the band setting out to do this year? "Changing the world," Plain enthusiastically suggests. In sync on and off the stage, Stable echoes Plain, saying she's planning on getting more involved in local politics this year. 

---

As our time together comes to end, This Is The Kit left us with their best festival advice: Buy a rubber walnut. Explaining Plain's advice about these walnut erasers, Stables says,"In the local shop [at the festival], they’ve got rubber walnuts and acorns. They look like real ones, but they’re actually meant for rubbing out your drawings." They also suggested drinking enough water and bringing a mac (British slang for a rain jacket)....which was definitely needed during the big storm on Saturday evening. 

Our advice to you? Pre-order Moonshine Freeze by This Is The Kit here, and keep up with all their news, including new tour announcements on their Facebook page. 

---

Can't get enough of This Is The Kit? Read our highlights of Eaux Claires, which feature the band on Day 1 and Day 2. 

Get To Know: The Sometimes Island

In Austin, Texas, there's a manmade lake called Lake Travis, and sometimes, depending on the fluctuating tide, small islands can be seen poking out of the lake. These part-time islands are the inspiration behind the Los-Angeles based (via Austin) multi-instrumentalist and producer Matt Blankenship Jr's moniker. "I thought it was a good metaphor for sometimes it’s just a one-man band, and sometimes I have a bunch of people with me," Blankenship explains about the meaning behind his latest endeavor, an indie electro-pop project, threaded with summer vibes. While we recently chatted with the well-versed musician, we heard about his upcoming EP, his journey as a musician, his tour survival tips, and more. Get to know The Sometimes Island now!

---

Photo Courtesy of The Sometimes Island

He Decided To Do Music As A Profession at 14 Years Old

Blankenship’s musical journey stretches all the way back to the age of 7 or 8, when he says he asked his dad to let him play drums. “My dad was pretty smart. He was like well, I’ll get you this little drum practice pad and as soon as you can do a drum roll, I’ll think about getting you a drum set and getting you drum lessons. I was like 7 or 8 and I had no idea how to do a drum roll,” Blankenship recalls. As the story continues, his dad then offered him piano lessons, which he continued to learn for about seven years. Blankenship reveals that he’s since been dedicated to music 100 percent for more than half his life, saying, “I think I was around 14 when I was like ok, I think I’m just gonna do this for the rest of my life, as a profession. I’m 30 now.”

It's been a winding road since then, with other bands and past projects, but Blankenship describes the formation of The Sometimes Island as a natural progression. "These songs...this project in general has been something that I started working on about three years ago. I was in another group at the time, that was much more electronic leaning. This was my way to have an outlet to make this beachy kind of catchy music. I have bubble gum in my veins. I love a good pop song, so I was writing these [songs] and they weren’t a good fit for the band I was in. It came down to that band breaking up and me focusing on this full time for the last year," he says. 

He's Focused On The Community Around His Music

Having played music in the buzzing scene that is Los Angeles for more than 11 years, Blankenship says he's learned a thing or two about the business side of things. "I spend more time marketing myself than making music. Which to make enough music just means that I do this constantly," he confesses. He continues to share his wisdom, adding, "The biggest lesson I’ve learned is you can make a Facebook event and invite people to a concert, but if you just do stuff that works on a small scale, like calling a friend and saying 'Hey, I have this show. Would you like to come?' That’s the kind of hustle that you have to do to get people to actually go." Blankenship emphasizes the overflowing market in Los Angeles, saying you really have to go above and beyond to create something unique and memorable. "In this town especially there’s no shortage of really talented musicians, and they’re all playing shows and you have to create an environment where people want to go to your show not just because the music but because there’s like a comradery. And the other people who come see you play kind of create a little scene, and that’s how you get something going. Rather than just being like hey this is a really good song, listen to it! People will listen to it and forget about it. But if you create a community, then you have something going," Blankenship advises. 

He Hoards and Repurposes Old Material 

So while Blankenship may have started writing material for The Sometimes Island years ago, it doesn't mean he's released all of it. In fact, Blankenship reveals that he obsessed over the songs on the upcoming EP, called Bad People. He elaborates on the EP songs, saying "I spent way too long on these songs. They’ve been around for so long and I didn’t have anyone to bounce musical feedback off at the time. I obsessed over them, and they’re good for it, but I learned a lot about just writing off the cuff and improvising. Just because I worked on something for 10 hours doesn’t make it better than something that came from maybe 15 minutes. I’m really hard on my music and I’m actually proud of these songs, which is saying a lot for me." 

Blankenship also reveals that he saves the material that he hasn't deemed as ready for release. "There’s also a huge value in tying a bow on something and saying this is done and listening to it objectively. If a song isn’t good, then you don’t have to release it. But if it’s pretty good, you might have worked all the good out of it had you kept going. If you make a crappy song that has a really good part, I’m very into cannibalizing my old material for a new song. There’s some parts of songs where I’ve been like this would work really well, and I never released that old song...," he says.

African Funk Music Is His Jam

Blankenship talks about his influences, saying, "I spend a lot of time looking back on the past. There’s a lot of great music out right now, but The Beach Boys are a huge inspiration to me. I’ve been putting a lot of harmonies and vocal soundscapes into my music. I love the sound of chillwave from around 2009."

As far as his favorite music just to listen to and absorb, Blankenship gives props to the genre of African Funk music. "As far as new stuff that’s coming out...I don’t even really know what’s new anymore with Spotify. If a song is new to me I’m like did it come out a week ago? A year ago? I’ve been really into trying to get out of my pop music space, so I’ve been listening to a lot of African Funk. Which is great music to have on. The songs are extremely long, really jammy. It’s great music to just sort of have on while you’re doing other things, but it’s also great to listen to directly. African Funk, man, that’s been my jam." 

He Stays Tame During Tour

Blankenship will be hitting the road at the end of July and early August, but he admits the tour won't be all that wild. "I’d love to do the whole rock’n’roll party all the time thing, but I gotta make sure I’m not drinking too much, I’m getting enough sleep. Because this tour is particularly packed. It’s one gig after another. And if I’m tired for one, chances are I’ll be tired for the next one. I have all the time in the world to party when I’m not on tour. So I’m very regimented about it." As far as which cities he's most excited to play in, he says, "I’m definitely excited for all of them. I don’t want to sell anyone short. I’m particularly excited for the Seattle gig because I’ll get to play a show with my  good friend Claire George. So I’d say that one I’m particularly excited about."

Blankenship also gives a teaser about some of the songs that will be included in the setlist this tour, saying, "I think 'Bad People' is a lot of fun. That’s gonna come out as a single in a couple weeks, and it’s the namesake of the EP.  It allows me to go off on a bunch of crazy vocal stuff. And I really enjoy playing a quieter song that will come out on the EP that’s called 'Mornings Are The Worst,' that’s just sort of very acoustic. I don’t really believe that mornings are the worst. I wrote it on a morning where I hadn’t slept at all, so the sun rising was a bit of a bummer. That’s a song that just sort of wrote itself. It became sort of a critique of who I was at that time, in retrospect."

---

Keep up with tour updates and new tunes from The Sometimes Island here, and listen to the newest single "Can't Move On" below!

A Chat With: Jillian

Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Jillian Jensen (now known simply as Jillian, after dropping her last name) has released her brand new single and the accompanying music video "Stay" today. No stranger to the spotlight, Jillian has appeared on national television shows such as The X Factor and American Idol, and she's been composing original music of her own since the age of eight. While Jillian gears up for even more new songs, get to know the story behind the deeply personal lyrics in "Stay" and more about her journey. 

Courtesy of Jillian 

---

ANCHR Magazine: You’ve opened up about the new single “Stay” being about your battles with an eating disorder. Has it been a scary process opening up like this, or did you find it more cathartic to be able to address such a serious and personal struggle through music?

Jillian: Talking about and opening up about something this personal that has been and is an ongoing struggle that has been the hardest thing I've genuinely ever done. I remember the day I wrote the song and I just sang what my heart was saying and that was it. I tried so long to explain to those in my life that knew that I didn't feel in control of my actions, almost as though there was someone else taking over my thoughts as I put myself through torture, and I think the song truly embraces that. That almost interpersonal abusive relationship that one can have with their own mind.

AM: What can you tell us about the accompanying music video for “Stay”? How did you work up the concept for it?

Jillian: The music video concept is pretty much a visual representation of my emotions that are expressed in the song. You'll get to see my darker inner most expression. How the demons inside of you just take over your body to the point of self destruction.

AM: What other artists do you look up to for putting powerful messages into their own work?

Jillian: I definitely will ALWAYS look up to Demi Lovato, as she is someone who is very open about all of her struggles, but I also really, really look to Alanis Morrisette and Pink. I feel they were just never scared to be exactly who they were...regardless of image or perception. They left and continue to leave their heart and soul in their music and I find that beyond inspiring.

AM: You’ve made it clear that you’re anti-bullying, speaking out publicly against it. What advice do you have to anyone is suffering from the effects of bullying?

Jillian: The words I live by are that "success will be your greatest revenge". It is my ongoing mantra. I believe that in times of self doubt as a result of others words or actions you must find what it is that you love more than the air you breathe and just put every bit of yourself into it. In the end you will find comfort and gratification in the fact that you pushed forward and made something of yourself versus allowing others to hold the reins of your future.
 

AM: Circling back to your start in music, you started singing as early as two and writing as early as eight years old. Do you remember what first inspired you to start making music?

Jillian: The first song I ever fully wrote and produced was a song entitled "Lost". I wrote it about feeling lost in the world and knowing that I would find comfort in love. How an eight year old was inspired to write something like this is honestly beyond me, but lyric and song was just always a form of expression for me so writing just kind of came naturally.

AM: How was your experience being on The X-Factor, and what’s one of the biggest lessons you took away from the show?

Jillian: I believe the biggest lesson I took away from X Factor and American Idol is that you must give 200% of yourself and focus on your passion and goals. I spent a lot of my time on both shows helping my fellow contestants with songs choices or arrangements and, though I do not regret doing so, I do wish I would've put those same efforts into myself.. which is what I'm finally doing. Giving myself a real fighting chance, for once.

AM: You recently moved from Boston to LA, correct? How has it been transitioning into the music scene in LA, and how does it compare to back home?

Jillian: Yes! I made the move from MA to LA in March and honestly I've never felt more at home. Being surrounded by so many talented individuals with the same drive and passion you possess is so inspiring. I've written more in the past few months living in LA than I have in years...which I never would've believed to have been possible as I write way too many songs!

AM: Where are some places that you’re most excited to play in during upcoming tours?

Jillian: I'm really excited to play at The Viper Room on Sunset Blvd June 29th as it's not only going to be my first time there, but it is also my LA single release show and my first time with a band playing my originals in so long. That night is definitely going to be a moment for me, both emotionally and spiritually.

AM: What can fans expect from the live show? Will you be incorporating a lot of your skills as a multi-instrumentalist or will the set remain more stripped back on the road?

Jillian: I will definitely be playing keys and guitar throughout my sets, but the focus/vision is so much bigger than I can even express. They will just have to wait and see!

AM: What’s next for you as far as new material?

Jillian: The plan is to be releasing a new single every month so be on the look out for some of the most honest and open compositions they will have seen from me yet.

---

There you have it! Keep up with Jillian on social media for all the latest news and watch the video for "Stay" here.