Interview with Anarchy Reigns

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Anarchy Reigns. The brainchild of Hitch. The bridge between ‘Old School and New Thinking’. Opposed to anything musically safe and sterile. Rock and Roll should never be safe contrived. Rock and Roll turns us into juvenile delinquents…lets Rock and Roll..!!!

Where are you from?

Liverpool originally. Grew up watching every cool rock band as they all came to the Empire on a Friday and Saturday night. I Loved the rock groups. We used to get the train down to Hammersmith Odeon to have a weekend away and watch Judas Priest, Rush, Black Sabbath, Rainbow etc. Liverpool was a great place to grow up because music was everywhere. Other than that, I played rugby, sailed boats and chased girls.

 

How long have you been making music?

It came late to me. I was at a Genesis Concert in Parc de Prince in 2008 happily playing my air guitar when my wife said, why don’t you learn to play properly. So I did. Still not brilliant but I can play a bit. Right from the start I realized I wanted to make my own music. Melodic but heavy. I was a choir boy for 10 years when I was 8 or 9 so I could sing a bit and understood a little about how to pull music together.

 

Do you have specific influences or are you experimental?

I am starting my journey in songwriting and performance a bit later than most. But I grew up at an amazing time in the 70s and 80s when heavy rock was just starting out and I really loved it. I love melodic rock and Ritchie Blackmore who uses his amazing guitar skills to blend classical music and heavy rock. He blew me away. His playing has soul and depth that touches you. I also loved Judas Priest. What a band. A true mix of rock and theatre. To me the best Album ever made is Nostradamus (Judas Priest). More recently I’m into Rammstein. They are awesome and the music and drama live is utterly awe inspiring. So, blend all of the above ad my aim is to write and perform melodic heavy rock music , with a real theatre about it, so it touches all of your senses.

 

Tell us about your debut album The Album is called ANGER ISSUES?

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One of my daughters once said to me “ All your songs are angry, you have got Anger Issues…!” She of course is right! I am a 55 Rebel. I am angry about a lot of stuff in the world. From people living a virtual life on Facebook, to Radicals getting away with killing each other. It’s sad. We should know better by now. The album has some serious songs dealing with major issues like the end of the world: REVELATION is one such song. Another called LIBERATION deals with how we march into countries depose their Dictators to give the people a (so called) better life. A song about the First World War soldiers and how terrible it was, called THE FALLEN. There are also uplifting songs, such as YOU ROCK a song written for my wife. A NEW DAWN which is an Anthem for the future. Even a fun self effacing song called ALL ABOUT ME. We hope to have a single out as a precursor and the Album will be available mid next year.

 

Can you tell us about your latest release (liars) and the background and inspirations behind it?

I wrote LIARS three years ago. The inspiration is politicians. I get so angry with them. They start off with the right spirit of intent and before long the system gets to them . They see the money they can make and they get corrupted. They purport to work for us, but this is patently not true. Historic lies like Saddam had weapons of Mass Destruction. The Chilcott Report has clearly illuminated this. The song uses samples from Blair and Bush vindicating their attack on Sadam and deposing his regime without regard for the human toll. It is a hard hitting and sad reflection of current world politics. We put together a lo-tech video which some might consider a little shocking. It enforces the title LIARS and has a deep sadness that reflects our feelings of the current level of politicians.

Music Videos? Hi-tech or a good old fashioned story?

Good question. Bit of both. A video is only there to enhance the song and not detract from it. In the case of LIARS we made a simple narration with clips. On the other hand with NEW DAWN and YOU ROCK we made Sci-fi epics with CGI included because we felt they told the story as it was intended and enhanced the audio.

 

Tell us about your Studio, how it came to be and why?

I realized early on that if I wanted to write and produce music I needed my own studio. I have spent the last 10 years acquiring items to make it an outstanding studio. When I started, the digital revolution was in full swing, and the only way forward. Software Plug-ins were In and Hardware was Out. I liked digital recording but hankered for the warmth and depth of 70s and 80s rock. So, I set about buying some vintage valve boxes. I have an amazing array of outboard including pre-amps from the 60s by EMI, Poultec, Manley, Massenberg, Lexicon etc. These are underpinned by the finest modern technology with API full lunch box and SSL suite. The heart is an Einstein Mixing Console which was once owned by Mick Hucknall and Gavin Rossdale after him.. We have converted a large house in the middle of nowhere and themed the studio as a Spaceship. A large control room and two further live rooms plus a dedicated drum room. We even have a swimming pool. Can’t be bad. There has been a lot of buzz about the studio and it will be great when we get some clients through the door as well. However the studio will be used mainly for my projects and to develop my music.

 

In the current music climate do you consider yourself an underdog? in the minority?

I sort of consider myself naïve. Everyone talks about the opportunity out there now with the internet, Soundcloud, Reverbnation, Vimeo, Youtube. Its never been easier to release your own stuff as is the case for the majority of Major/indie acts these days. If you are an established act the returns are greater. However, if you are unknown in a certain field you have to build a following and support. We are releasing stuff in a very managed and realistic way to gauge our demographic and then build on it. I am really determined to make a success of the music coz I really love doing it.

 

Where do you want to be (musically) in 5 years’ time?

Hopefully building on everything we have recorded and hearing people singing the songs I have written. Playing big venues live!! The only thing that beats the studio experience is the LIVE performance.

 

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