Anti-Hero
First off, I would like to thank you for doing this interview.
Rose:
Thanks for having us.
Now, for the people that are not informed about what and who Anti-Hero is, could you sum up what your band is and what style of music you perform?
We are Anti-Hero, the female fronted grunge rock revivalist band from London, Ontario, Canada. Members include: myself, Rose Perry (lead vox, guitar, bass, songwriter), Nic VanHaverbeke (backing balls, bass, guitar), Jesse Tomes (lead guitar, songwriter), & Matty Cole (drums).
How did you guys all come to form Anti-Hero? Where did the name come from?
Jesse:
I came up with the idea of putting the band together and after very little coaxing Rose was on board almost immediatly, than me and her slowly recruited Nicole and Matty. The name has a long elaborate boring explanation behind it, but the short version is, it basically just means "question authority" in it's own sort of way.
Is it a group effort or is there one member that really fronts the creative process?
Jesse:
More often than not, Rose comes up with the blueprints of the ideas and filters them through myself where I will add things like maybe a bridge or a solo or some leads over what she has already written. We don't really have any band rituals as per writing songs but I think we all have our own personal styles and need to be in specific places mentality to put out good riffs and ideas.
How do you find your music has evolved from the birth of the band until now?
Jesse:
I think when we first started putting the songs together, they were still good, but bland in comparison to what they have become now, but we expected as much. We basically put the basic ideas of the songs into our practice routine along with some covers to give us something to play and we just kept jamming till we found our rhythm together. After we found ourselves as a band, I think we had about 6 originals or so, and after that we just flew through the rest of the album, it started coming together like clockwork, but that initial workload for us was definatly a lot of stress on the whole band. Especially considering we were still trying to find our places with one another in terms of friendships and personal boundaries at the same time.
Rose:
It has definitely gotten heavier with the influence of Nicole and because we've become more comfortable with each other and have developed a process of how to work well as a team. Writing has become a lot quicker and easier, and we've set into what we can truly consider our "sound" because we've defined and established the goals that we are seeking musically.
The band is shooting a video on May 14th, where do you see yourselves going from there; what is next?
Jesse:
Well, after the shoot, we plan on just pulling together for our first major tour, releasing the video and looking forward to new faces and places down the road, and we will just see what kind of things get thrown in our direction and take it one step at a time. We know what we want to do and where we are going so I don't think much can deter us from that, especially at this point.
Rose
After our Cd Release party on June 3rd, we are going across Ontario/Quebec touring and we hope to sell a great deal of records. I guess we are just hoping for the best in terms of success in the music industry -- to grace the cover of Rolling Stone one day.
Anti-Hero is releasing a CD very soon; what can the fans of your band expect from this album?
Jesse:
This album is definatly something that will not go unnoticed by the music world, we have taken a direction that no one has tried before and we've combined everything that's accepted and hailed by the mainstream music scene and mixed it with everything that is experimental and new, ideas that people have never tried before. It's almost like making the perfect meal and than drowning it all in ketchup (Laughs). So it will be very interesting to see how the world reacts to something like this.
Rose:
Very raw, energetic, and not much different from what you could expect at a live show -- minus the constant onstage bickering! The last thing we want to become is one of those bands that sounds amazing on record, but cannot contend with the recorded versions of themselves live.
When performing on the road have there been any experiences that have been memorable, either for being insanely awesome or impossibly bad?
Jesse:
There are just so many things that could be mentioned I would'nt know where to begin. We've gone through everything from horrible preformances, empty venues, stalkers and unimaginable fan responses to sold out crowds and meeting some of the greatest people you could imagine. All you can really take from it in the end is to expect the unexpected, and try not to take things too seriously because in the end you need to have some fun.
Rose:
Probably nearly getting kicked out of venues prior to even playing our set due to play fighting, being electrocuted by improperly grounded equipment, or getting the crowd to cheer for Matty to show off his tits!
What bands would you guys say are your favourites? Did these bands help influence your music style?
Jesse:
My favs are darker more experimental bands like Marilyn Manson, NIN, Tool, bands that push the envelope in terms of what you can and cannot do, and they shape my personal ideas but as the band puts it's music together our personal directions tend to get a little lost in everyone elses coming together.
Rose:
My biggest influence instrumentally of all time is definitely Veruca Salt, yet my band claims that musically, I don't write that way so it's kind of a tough call. Vocally, I definitely admire Alanis and I know for sure that is evident in certain songs with my vocal stylings. One of the things that I love the most about our band is our influences are so diverse from each other's that it truly makes for a unique blend and the best from every genre gets introduced into "our sound".
When you guys aren't on the road or creating music, what do you like to do to relax?
Jesse:
I personally like to read, write other music of my own, I excercise a lot and love learning new things. I have a thirst for knowledge that I can't seem to satisfy, so I often become a flavour of the month kind of person as a consequence, right now I'm putting a lot of my spare energy into learning Capoeira.
Rose:
I don't really relax -- I am a self driven workaholic, and when I have nothing to do is when I drive myself crazy. Ienjoy constantly creating whether it is with my music or my writing. I must admit however that I do enjoy good indie flicks or attending rock concerts and partaking in a little moshing.
Is there any advice you would give to an aspiring band to help them with their dream to make it in the music industry?
JesseL
The best advice I can muster is just not to give up, I find the ones that crash and burn are the ones who just stop having it in them. Don't give up and u can never truly fail, no matter what anyone says.
Rose:
Never underestimate the power of getting media attention and creating a "buzz" about the band -- it is invaluable and can be the difference between playing at the good clubs in town to decent crowds or playing in your garage to your friends and family. As well, there are a lot of advantages to remaining independent. So many artists are so desperate to make it that they are willing to agree to just about any contract, but they fail to realize the benefits of being an indie artist - a) you get to call all the shots b) you gain more respect from fellow musicians and c) there is a huge scene for independent artists these days. No, you may not be selling billions of records, but you can still gain a very devoted fanbase that will see you for the artist you truly are instead of the glitz and glamour of Hollywood which any REAL musician will agree is much better.
Thank you for your time. We all look forward to hearing the new album and seeing your next show!
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