The Anix Interview: SXSW 2010

The Anix had a rough 2009, as the electronic rockers had their live equipment stolen after a successful European tour. Undeterred, the band continues forward, writing and recording new material and getting enough funds together to buy all-new live gear. Spinner recently spoke with frontman Brandon Smith about the band and their upcoming turn at the SXSW festival, which will be their first live show in the US in over a year.

Describe The Anix's sound in your own words.

The sound people compare it to is 30 Seconds to Mars and Muse; kind of an '80s deal going on, because we use a lot of electronic stuff. In general, it's rock mixed with electronic and new wave.

How did your band form?

We formed several years ago. We used to play in the garage. We started that and then we started to take it seriously. Eventually, we bought a tape machine and started to do our recordings. From that, we bought a digital hard drive recording machine and then everything moved to computers and that's kind of where it went.

What are your musical influences?

As far as new bands, it would be Muse and Innerpartysystem. The majority of it comes from Depeche Mode, the Police, Rush, Pantera, and even Michael Jackson.

Is there one album in particular that influenced you early on?

The 'Thriller' album, just like everybody else. Growing up, that was the reason why I first touch a keyboard and it got me into guitar. After that, I was big into Nirvana and the whole grunge era.

How did you come up with your band's name?

We were going over names that were short and trying to think of something easy to remember. It didn't have to necessarily mean anything, but we wanted a word that was kind of electronic sounding. There's a keyboard made by Yahama named the AN1x. I'm not sure if they meant it to be pronounced Anix or AN1x, so we kind of took it from that.

What's in your festival survival kit?

Definitely a suitcase with 90 percent socks and underwear, maybe one outfit to wear in the van for the ride and one stage outfit. Laptop [I] definitely can't go without. That's what I learned to survive with. First when we toured, I tried to take all kinds of different shoes and outfits, but I learned that you only need two outfits, no matter how long the tour is.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

Lately, I've been listening to the ridiculous Top 40 stations. For some reason, I can't explain why. It makes no sense, but I guess I'm pretty disappointed and bored with the traditional rock stuff that's going on.

What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced while on tour?

The worst thing I experienced was in Germany, when all of our equipment got stolen on the very last day right after the last show. Fortunately, we finished the last show, but on the way to the airport, that's when we got the call. Several thousands dollars worth of gear was stolen and just like pretty much every band out there, nobody has money to replace anything. So it took us about a year to replace it all. That was pretty life-altering.

Did you ever find recover any of that stolen equipment?

Nope, none of it has been recovered. We had to literally start all over from scratch. It was all of our live equipment, so we were still able to record. During that downtime, we spent [time] writing a new record, but we couldn't play anywhere.

What's your idea of the perfect live show?

Simple, take a look at a Muse performance. Live performances for me are particularly boring to watch. I get bored probably within five minutes, but someone like Muse, where they create this environment so that the second you walk in, wherever they are playing, stadium or arena, is transformed into this scientific-looking experiment. Lights are a big deal and 3-D stage props I think are sweet. Not many people do that besides Madonna or bands like that.

The Beatles or the Rolling Stones?

Definitely more the Beatles, but I like Mick Jagger as the wild front man. I've always been a fan of that, but I'm a fan of the Beatles.

If you were stuck on a deserted island, what three albums would you have with you?

'Thriller,' a compilation of orchestra music to calm down to, and 'In Utero' by Nirvana.

If you could tour with one band, past or present, who would it be and why?

Definitely Muse, hands down. I think everything they do is absolutely cutting edge and groundbreaking. The live show, stage presence, showmanship; I think it can't be really be rivaled with music today.