Cape Town, South African based band, ANVR joins us to talk all about their EP release, ‘Live At Sunset Recording Studios’.
Consisting of Andreas (vocals and guitar) and Simon (drummer and producer), the duo was previously known as Boston Light Band and has taken on a new name as they move into a new chapter.
ANVR’s latest four track EP release, ‘Live at Sunset Recording Studios’ has been created as a live, one take recording of each song, with Andreas singing and playing the guitar and with backing vocals layered over the top. The recording style allows the listener to have that close and intimate feel, as if they were watching Andreas play live, right in front of them.
The songs on the EP include three tracks that have never been heard before and an acoustic version of their song, ‘Glowing In The Gold’, which was originally released in 2019.
“It was a unique and engaging experience,” says Andreas, “the creative combination of working with Jurgen (Producer, Recording Engineer and Mixing Engineer at Sunset Recording Studios) and re-working a lot of the songs on the day to fit the acoustic format was both challenging in a new way and highly rewarding. We actually recorded six songs on the day – backing vocals and all – but picked these four as the best representations of what we wanted out of the project.”
The tracks on this EP, will take you through a winding journey of deep and intimate feelings, captured by the events and situations that life has thrown in the way of the duo.
You can listen to ‘Live At Sunset Recording Studios’ below:
Would you like to start by telling us a little about yourself?
ANVR is an Alternative Rock Duo from Cape Town, South Africa.
It consists of Andreas Potgieter (Lead Vocals, Guitarist and Producer) and Simon Orrey (Drummer and Co-Producer).
What was it that first inspired you to begin a career in music?
We met in 2011 at Stellenbosch University, where we were both studying at the time.
The band began that December in 2012 – first as a Grunge Rock band which was just a creative outlet for us and over time adapted to the Contemporary Pop Rock/Alternative act that it is now.
The band first started playing live shows in 2018 under the name “Boston Light Band”, and now as of rebranding in December 2021 is going forward as ANVR.
We both felt an incredibly deep connection to music and the creation of original songs, and after playing our first live show were hooked.
How would you describe the feel of your music?
Our music has, at the moment, a very dreamy quality to it.
Large expansive soundscapes and dreamy guitars. The EP itself is very different.
It is very stripped back and raw, seeing as we tracked everything in a “Live” format – one takes of the main tracks.
Going forward we might have a more rock feel.
Simpler and less dreamy – a more punchy feel.
ANVR was also meant to explore different feels and moods by being a band geared to telling stories and inspiring emotions, more than any specific style.
You are releasing your EP, ‘Live At Sunset Recording Studios’.. what was the inspiration behind the creation of this EP?
It is a four-track EP that consists of three songs that the band has never released before and an acoustic version of “Glowing in Gold” – a song that has been popular since its release in 2019.
The inspiration was to release songs that the band had played from the beginning, just when they started to play live and in the best format to tell the stories of the songs themselves.
It was also to try something new – and these songs were perfect for the ethos of the EP.
What do the songs on ‘Live At Sunset Recording Studios’ mean to you?
Each one has a different meaning.
Glowing in Gold (Acoustic) ‘Glowing in Gold’ tells the story of two people involved in a toxic relationship: one person is unable to leave, the other unable to let go.
Dive is a song meant to inspire. It’s about having someone’s best interests in heart even at the darkest of times, and kind of saying “Just go for it, I’ve got your back and I can’t wait to talk about all the amazing things, you have done and learned, at the end of your journey!”
Down by the River is a song inspired by real-life events in Andreas’s life. A dark time where nothing seemed to go right, and there was only one place he really felt peace.
Superman is a mixture of real-life events and also an overriding feeling. It’s about being a saviour at the detriment to self but also at the incredible gain to others, and the juxtaposition between “where do I lose my identity?” and “where do you gain yours?”.
What did the creative process look like for ‘Live At Sunset Recording Studios’?
It was recorded with just lead vocalist Andreas playing the guitar as one-track live takes, and the double vocals being added afterward layered on top of the live take – a first for the band, who usually track their elements separately.
The overriding feeling of the album is melancholic, with the songs themselves being odes to stories out of the band’s life.
Both, through the sense of “feelings invoked by situations” and actual events.
Hence using the acoustic guitar and the “live take” method, to really capture the raw emotion behind the music – imperfect and intimate.
The layered backing vocals were then added afterward to bolster the emotion already there in the songs and increase the impact – to really tell the story.
Where do you find your inspiration for your music?
In stories of our lives.
In the feelings invoked by events, and also though visualising what feelings, emotions and events would surround a situation – not necessarily personal.
How has Covid-19 impacted your release?
We would usually play our release more – but with Covid everything is very much focussed online and in streaming.
What would you like to see happen for you in your music from here?
We want to play live and tour again – badly.
It is what inspires and drives us more than anything, hat incredible moment of pulling people out of their lives (and us out of ours) and for an hour just enjoying the music, the joy it is bringing others and the pure joy we have in playing it.
What is one message you would like to share with your fans?
We hope that you love our new release, maybe connect with it and find something in it that you resonant with.
Thank you for all your support – it is what inspires us to continue.
Where can people find your music?
We are on all major streaming platforms under ANVR!
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/artist/6Sz0lDNxowJIPkn0JgfKuw?si=HxojStuiR4KTpgHQUFW94Q
Apple Music – https://music.apple.com/us/artist/anvr/1602234817
Deezer – https://deezer.page.link/zrwaknvp2Krf5jnA7
Karen Harding is a Melbourne, Australia based singer/songwriter, founder of Sounds On The Couch, and founder and operator of boutique music PR service for emerging and independent artists, Rise Indie.