(((((OPENmind/SATURATEDbrain))))): ***ANODES exclusive interview***

Monday 22 May 2017

ANODES exclusive interview

Band: ANODES

Genres: Punk / Rock / Post-Rock / Hardcore / Screamo / Post-Metal
Related artists: Orion Pax, One/Cycle//Occur, Ankou, Iron Hills and Coliver.
Country: St. Louis, Missouri USA
Years Active: 2011-present
Song: "Enkindle"
Album: "Cathodes"
Year: 2017
For fans of: Envy, Heaven In Her Arms, Welcome the Plague Year, June Paik, Buried Inside, Dolcim, Corea, Swan of Tuonela, Truman, Love Lost But Not Forgotten, Eyelet, Altar Of Complaints, The Tragedy, City Of Caterpillar, The Black Heart Rebellion and Circle Takes The Square aka PROPER SCREAMO.

Label(s): Static Circuit Records / Pissfork Anticulture / Skeletal Lightning / Middle Man Records / The Ghost Is Clear Records
This post's artist is from the May 2017 Mix. This is track #8.

You can download: the May 2017 Mix#5 right here or get the new June 2017 Mix#6 here.

Review by JESSE MOWERY:

I’m going to just start this off by saying I loooooooove ANODES. Maybe I’m biased because I love them equally as people, but from the first time I saw them on Halloween in 2012, when they were dressed as Adventure Time characters, I immediately became a fan because their music is so good. Super melodic guitars, quiet/loud dynamics, constant harsh vocals, groovy rhythm section, bleak lyrics…. Pretty much everything I want in a band. I guess the best way to describe it is mid era Envy+Love Lost But Not Forgotten. Their sound is pretty consistent, yet each song is unique. Just give their discography a listen, and continue reading to see and interview I did with guitarist/vocalist AJ Hofstetter.

Exclusive Interview w/AJ Hofstetter

Hey A.J.! Thanks for doing this interview! Anodes has a been around for a bit now, how did you start playing with each other?

Well Casey and I were in Orion Pax together and that project had come to a bit of a standstill so we decided to start another band. We knew Sean because we had been playing shows with his old band Iron Hills and we thought he was a cool guy and asked him to jam with us. While we were trying to get a couple different people to play bass for us it seemed no one wanted to and Katie, who was Sean’s girlfriend at the time, told me we should just let her play. I asked her if she was being serious and she said yes and that was that.

Awesome. You just put out a new 7", it looks gorgeous! Was the writing process for this any different from the past? It seems a bit more consistently heavy and frantic than some of your previous releases to me.

There’s sort of a concept that ties it together with our first ep and the lp that is going to follow it. Our intent was for it to be more abrasive than we have been in the past.

Sweet! I noticed you released this yourselves, and you all and Laika did the same with your split together. Were there any reasons you didn't work with a label?

Well we asked a couple labels if they'd be down to help and there was some interest, but they said it was going to have to wait awhile before they'd do it, and we honestly didn't wanna wait around because it already takes awhile to get records pressed. If I remember correctly both of those releases took a year or more to come out from the first day of recording all the way up to the day the record came out.

Damn, yeah I don't blame you for not wanting to wait any longer than possible. I know that you have been in the "screamo/emotional hardcore/whatever you want to call it" scene for a while now, how did you get into it, and what keeps you driven to keep making music like this?

Well I saw Love Lost But Not Forgotten when I was 19 and I've been kinda hooked ever since. There are so many bands to get lumped into it. So many different styles. I guess I just love how so many bands involved in it stretch the box they are supposed to be fitting in.

How's the scene in St. Louis right now? What are some of your favorite current local bands?

I might be the wrong person to ask about this one. I don't make it out to many shows these days. I recently saw Handsaw for the first time and thought they were awesome.

I gotcha. Are there any plans for Anodes in the near future, like recording or touring?

We have been working on an lp for awhile now that we are hoping to record this year. There's still a lot up in the air with it. There are no plans to tour currently.

Cool, well I can't wait to hear the new stuff. I guess I'll just have to try and come through STL if I want to see you play again 😉 Any last thoughts or anything like that you want to say?

I'm definitely excited to share it with you. Thanks for hitting me up to do this.

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DISCOGRAPHY

2012 - Anodes cassette/12"EP (stream/donate/download/buy here)

2014 - Enta split 10" (stream/donate/download/buy here) [buy from ZBR here]
2014 - Altar Of Complaints cover digital single (stream/donate/download/buy here)
2014 - Sordid Ways 6-way split 7"EP (stream/donate/download/buy here) [buy from ZBR here]

2015 - Laika split 12"LP (stream/donate/download/buy here)

2015 - Blacklights 12"LP compilation [contributed "You Make the Bed You Sleep In"] (stream/donate/download/buy here)

2017 - Cathodes 7"EP (stream/donate/download/buy here)

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(2017) ANODES - "Doused" (from 'Cathodes')