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Let me start by asking about the name The Anderson Tapes. Where did this name come from? The name is from a 1973 film starring Sean Connery. A review of it referred to it as "dark and grimy", which sums us up very well. None of us have actually seen it. We can't remember why we named ourselves after it.
Who would you say the bands biggest influences are? Throwing Muses, Breeders, For Against, Sonic Youth, The Stooges, Pixies, Velvet Underground, Jesus and Mary Chain, Wire, Joy Division.
You recently released your single Sirens. Can you tell us about about this song and how the response has been to it’s releases? Even though it was recorded before lockdown Sirens captures the feelings of isolation, wanting to be left alone in your own space, trying to shut off the outside world. Sirens are the red flags, the warning signs others can see but often choose to ignore because it is easier to do so as everyone is going through their own shit, and I guess you gotta get on with it at your own pace. Sirens also encompasses the feeling of perhaps doing worse than your peer group, the immediate reference point for success in life.
We are part of MAS Records, a non-profit music development programme supported by Robert Plant, Ricky Wilson (Kaiser Chiefs) and Karl Hyde (Underworld) amongst others. This is completely free for bands, and we get rehearsal and recording time, advice with planning releases, and lots of other support. They gave us advice and support with planning the release of Sirens, which has worked extremely well. As a result, Sirens has got much more attention than our previous releases, with a lot of radio play, reviews on blogs, etc. We still use Bandcamp, which we love as it is very fair to artists, but we felt that we had to bite the bullet and put Sirens on Spotify, as that seems to be where most people listen to music now. So the response to Sirens has been brilliant, much better than we could have hope for.
Do you have any plans for any future releases? We are going to be releasing a EP on CD with a brilliant label called Golden Believers, who are based in Manchester. They also have a great radio show on Monday nights.
Over the past year with lockdowns how have yas been keeping busy creatively? It has been difficult, as it has been for everyone. We are fortunate that we're not depending on music to survive, as it has been awful for people in that position - all the bands of course, but also all the people who work in jobs or run businesses that make music happen, such as venues and their staff. Hopefully there is some light at the end of the tunnel now. For us, we have rehearsed a few times when it has been possible, we mixed and mastered Sirens, and we have planned its release and spent a lot of time sending it out to radio shows and blogs. MAS have also provided some online workshops about various aspects of the music industry, which have been great.
How would you describe your live shows and what to expect when you can perform them again? It's kind of like that mentos dropped in cola experiment, all about breaking surface tension, organized chaos locked in under 4-minute songs. We hope that people will have an extra incentive to come out and check out bands they might have discovered in lockdown. We are also looking forward to when music shops open again and we can check out some new equipment!
If you could recommend five different act now would would you pick?
Pillow Queens
Cross Wires
The Happy Somethings
Nervous Twitch
Thee Rakevines
Links
Photos
Top - Viktor Vrab
Middle and Bottom - Mark Saunders