From the ashes of Brighton, England based hardcore band Johnny Truant come Anacondas, a progressive, heavy, sludgy metal trio from the same town. Both groups were completely new to me, and Anacondas’ debut LP Sub Contra Blues was the perfect introduction. The mix of heaviness with a perfect amount of melody drew me in and now I’m obsessed. Naturally I wanted to know more about this band, so I caught up with Stuart Hunter (Guitar / Vocals), James Hunter (Bass / Vocals), and Timothy Newman (Drums / Vocals) to find out more about the recording process, snakes, and their thoughts on Miley Cyrus.
B.G.M.: Describe how Anacondas came to be.
Stuart Hunter: We primarily got together to have fun and make loud music without pre-conceptions or judgement. I was messing around with this super low tuning and asked Tim to fill in on drums. It was originally intended to be just guitar and drums. I didn’t think it needed bass at all but when James rigged his bass up to accommodate a sub contra tuning, the whole thing sounded huge and that’s where the name for the album came from.
You guys recently signed with Prosthetic Records. How has that experience been?
Stuart: We’re really excited to be working with such a great label. They’ve put out some of our favourite records by artists like Gojira, Kylesa and Acacia Strain to name a few. We are totally chuffed that they are putting out Sub Contra Blues worldwide in October. Can’t wait to see what happens next to push this beast forward.
You worked with Russ Russell of Napalm Death fame in the recording process of the album. What was it like working with such a well-known producer?
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James Hunter: Russ actually mastered the album. We originally had problems finding the right fit for the job, so through a recommendation from Dee Baxter (who guest vocals on the album) we made contact with Russ. He really brought out the best in the mixes. It was an absolute pleasure working with such an awesome chap!
Any touring plans in the coming months? Some U.S. dates I hope?
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Stuart: We hope so too. Firstly, we need to spread the word throughout Europe and then we will get our arses over to the states. Hopefully next year!
You’ve played some shows with bands like Torche and Earthtone9, as well as headlining some shows. What has the live reception been like?
Timothy Newman: Better than expected! It’s hard to know how you will come across, often we are the heaviest and/or slowest band on the bill and I always wonder whether people will just want to puke when they hear us and they’re not expecting it. But people actually seem to dig it, whether they like slow and heavy or not.
Clearly you all have some sort of interest in snakes. Any cool snake stories to tell?
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Stuart: We live in the UK, where there are no indigenous snakes unless you count adders or slow worms, We don’t have any snake stories, we just think snakes are cool, especially anacondas. Anything that can digest something twice its size deserves respect.
Who or what were some of your influences in writing Sub Contra Blues?
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Stuart: We never say “- right, we are gonna write a song that sounds like this band or that artist”, It’s a very natural process when we get together in the studio. We jam out some riffs and develop the ideas that stick, drawing influences from literally everything we listen to from shoegaze to hardcore, sludge, post rock, metal, dance music ,..whatever.
How does the writing process differ from your previous band Johnny Truant?
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Stuart: We drink a lot more for a start. It’s a lot more easy going in the fact there is just the 3 of us.
Since you all sing, how does the writing of lyrics work? Does one person handle the writing or is it a collaborative thing?
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Timothy: We kind of do it separately, then bring it all together at the end and tweak it so we are all literally singing from the same hymn sheet.
Is there any lyrical concept behind the album?
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Stuart: Drugs, alcohol, sex and nature. Love and Heartache,The state of living in the UK today, failure and loathing.
Do you have a preferred way that Sub Contra Blues should be listened to?
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James: As loud as possible through the format of your choice – we will have it all…CD, tape, LP, Digital. Just as long as you don’t stream it from YouTube through shitty laptop speakers. No excuses, I don’t care how high you are.
Any cool tunes you’ve been listening to lately that you’d like to share with us?
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Stuart: I am bumming the new True Widow album at the moment, especially “Four Teeth”. “Wide Open Wound” by Nails is the most ballsy thing I’ve heard in a while and have to say “Reach for the Dead”, because I waited so long for Boards of Canada to release a new record, The perfect thing to listen to at 5AM.
What are your thoughts on Miley Cyrus at the VMAs?
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Stuart : I don’t claim to know anything about Miley Cyrus, but I guess if your music is so unmemorable that you feel you have to jazz it up a bit with some weird soft petting, big bum latex fetish action and a big foam hand, then so be it. Everyone is talking about it , so she probably sold at least one more record on ‘shock’ value. To be honest, I’m jealous and wish our shows were a lot more like that.
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Timothy: I think it’s a sorry state of affairs when the western world is in uproar about a stupid ass dance when there’s so much other bad, bad stuff happening. Pop stars are getting more and more raunchy, why? It sells. Will they stop? Nope.
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James : The paedophile bears were handing out candy to all the kids who aspire to be budding young pornstars.