PAUL: Please introduce yourself!
RYAN: I am Ryan, I play the bass and sing.
PAUL: For those not yet familar with you, please describe the Anchors For Arms experience!
RYAN: We are a form of melodic punk rock from the great state of New Jersey.
PAUL: Which bands would you say are an influence on your sound? I think the Lobster mailout compared you to bands like A Wilhelm Scream…do you think that’s a fair comparison?
RYAN: I actually, am honored to be compared to a band as good as AWS. They are definitely one of our favorite bands so they obviously have a huge influence on us. Propagandhi is a huge influence on me..their brashness. Not many bands have that attitude anymore. The Fullblast (RIP) and Strike Anywhere are great bands in our book too! I can go on forever.
PAUL: You’re from New Jersey, what is the local scene like at the minute? Obviously there was the NJ explosion with Thursday/TBS/Brand New a couple of years ago and then it seemed to die down…what’s it like at the minute and which bands should we check out?
RYAN: The local scene is what it always has been. There are so many kids and so many bands so there are always shows any weekend anywhere you go. That is the best part about Jersey. The down side to that is so many bands sound exactly the same and are just playing what is “scene” or whatever. I cannot begin to tell you how many bands we’ve played with that are more concerned about their image then their sound…and it shows. Haha. There are some fucking badass bands though..check out Fake Knife, Of Fate And Chance, We Found Jimmy Hoffa..that’s where it’s at.
PAUL: Are you as excited as everyone else that Lifetime have reformed and there’s new material on the way?
RYAN: I am so fucking stoked to play with them at Bamboozle and for their new record!! They are legends.
PAUL: How does the songwriting process work? Who writes the lyrics and who comes up with the music itself?
RYAN: Slow..very slow. Haha. I write all of the lyrics, melodies, and basic skeletons to the song but the song doesn’t really form until the rest of the band puts their ideas and parts in.
PAUL: How did the deal with Lobster come about?
RYAN: We recorded a few demos with John and the night we got home from the studio, and literally, the first thing I did was send them to Kevin and Barry and PunkRocks.net. They’ve always showed a little interest in us when no one else was. So I sent them the demos and they both got back to me that night saying how they liked it. Kevin, who also works for Lobster, forwarded them to Mike at Lobster, and he enjoyed them a lot. Mike made Steve, the owner of Lobster, a CD which he also really liked. We started talking to the label, went out to California to meet everyone, fell in love with every person at the label, and here we are. We couldn’t possibly be any happier.
PAUL: Obviously the label has had many alumni move on to major labels…is this something that influenced your decision to work with them? Do you have any goals or aims as a band?
RYAN: No that really had no influence in our decision at all. We’ve always believed as a band that we’d want to work with a label that are good people, supported our band, and who will do whatever they can to help us. In return We aren’t really concerned with “budgets” and anything that has to do with the word “major” at this point in our careers.
PAUL: Have you met/played with any of the Lobster bands yet? Which are your favourites and why?
RYAN: When we visited Lobster, we had the opportunity to check out First To Leave, the other new lobster band, and they fucking rocked dude. They are going to open eyes.
PAUL: You’ve recently recorded some new demos with John Naclerio, what was it like working with him? Will you be using John when you record your next release?
RYAN: John is an awesome guy. We also recorded our EP with him and both times were the best experiences ever. For our record, we have a lot of time to think about the producer situation so we’re going to take our time and look at all of our options.
PAUL: What is the plan in terms of releases? Do you have anything available already fans can check out? When can we see any new material?
RYAN: We have two demos that will most definitely make the cut on our new full length record. You can check those out at www.purevolume.com/anchorsforarms and we have some older tracks from our EP we put out in September at www.myspace.com/anchorsforarms
PAUL: What’s your take on the internet and the MP3? Place for shit-talking and illegal downloading or an excellent tool to promote brand new bands across the world in an instant?
RYAN: I think downloading music has been a great tool for the bands like ours that are widely unknown and struggling to spread our name. It is the most effective way to promote your music. Of course there is going to be the shit talkers but you just got learn to ignore all of that.
PAUL: Would you be happier to have a smaller, more passionate following or a huge, less passionate following?
RYAN: Without a doubt we would much rather have an audience that is more passionate but smaller. It’s all about the connection between the band and their audience…that is the most important thing.
PAUL: If you could with any three bands who would they be and why?
RYAN: This answer constantly changes but at the moment, The Movielife, The Fullblast, and Lifetime. That’d be fucking sick.
www.myspace.com/anchorsforarms