ANCHOR: interview with Mattias about new album “Distance & Devotion” – [english only]
Anchor has quickly become one of the most important bands in the hardcore scene of the last few years. Hailing from Sweden, these five guys have played shows all over the world. They are now working on a new album titled “Distance & Devotion”, to be out in 2014.
We’ve had a chat with our friend Mattias, drummer of Painted Wolves and guitarist in Anchor. We really want to know what’s going on with this new record… and we guess so do you!
1) Anchor is hitting the studio… and this is definitely not the first record of yours! What’s different this time?
Our state of mind more than anything. “Recovery” was written and recorded during a very short period of time. We loved it but decided early on to not rush anything this time. We started jamming one year ago and have been taking our time. It’s been a very comfortable process.
2) We’ve seen on your Facebook page that you guys have been using an acoustic guitar during this session. I am sure you want to save this for your fans… but a hint for the readers would be nice! What’s going on?
There’s nothing crazy going on. We all love the sound of acoustic guitar and thought we’d spice some songs up a bit.
3) Is there anything special to influence this new album’s music and lyrics?
Musically I feel like I’ve gone back to some of my roots. Back to the bands I grew up listening to, or the general vibe back then. But more than anything I’ve tried to improve as a song writer and not just pile riffs and parts ontop of eachother this time. Lyrically I can’t really say. I’ve written the lyrics for one song this time and it’s the same old pretty much. I write about parts of my life and experiences. Being a misfit, being a punk, feeling lost, finding home.
4) A step back: are you satisfied with what you reached with your previous album “Recovery”? Is there anything on that album that you don’t like anymore?
Very satisfied of course. Our music has taken us all around the planet. I’m a smalltown working class boy and I’ve seen places most kids from my block haven’t even heard of. All of that thanks to my involvement with punk. It blows my mind every day.
I’m very proud of all of our releases. But I constantly grow and evolve as a human being and therefor also as a musician. I need to keep moving and making progress to feel good about myself. There might be songs on our early records that I don’t feel anymore, but the reason for that is I’m growing. So it’s really not that much of a bad thing after all. If I was perfectly happy with everything I’ve done I probably wouldn’t keep writing music.
5) Anchor is a vegan straight edge band, but I would say that also a lot of people outside of the vegan straight edge community listen to your music and follows the band. How do you see this?
We have no target audience. We play to whoever listens. We write music to make ourselves happy and proud. If what we do makes sense to anyone at all out there that’s awesome, but more than anything that’s a bonus.
6) You guys are also involved in other bands and projects. Mattias also plays drums in Painted Wolves (which are proudly released by Epidemic Records!), but also The Way They Run (Claes’ side project) and Carl’s new band Iron. Is there any other project that we don’t know that you want to suggest to our readers?
We do what we can to stay busy yeah. Ulf and I are in NERVE and I’m also in CORRECTION and BLESSINGS.
Check out blessingsgbg.bandcamp.com, nervehghc.bandcamp.com and flophouserecordsandtapes.bandcamp.com/album/correction-demo.
7) We’ve read today that Carl, drummer for Anchor since 2010, is no longer in the band. Can we know the reasons? How this affects the recordings and the next months for Anchor?
Calle had a great time doing this but he came to a point where he just couldn’t keep it up. We love him, respect his decision and wish him all the best. It’s been beautiful! Him leaving the band did however not change anything for ANCHOR. We’re a band with a mission. We’re passionate about this and have tons of dreams we wanna realize. This record being one of them.
8) Last question: we want to know something exclusive about this new album, something that only people reading this interview will know, something that makes us feel special!
We have all worked hard and our producer Fred has done an amazing job. He’s one of the most amazing and dedicated individuals I’ve met. Can’t wait to let everyone hear this.
Contacts:
http://www.facebook.com/anchorofficial
http://www.xanchorx.bandcamp.com
