What do you get when you put a rock band and some vintage Nintendo equipment in a giant blender? Anamanaguchi. This New York City band of (super smash) brothers has beautifully combined the nostalgic melodies of our favorite game systems with fast, upbeat pop-punk to create something truly unique and fun. Luke Silas took the time to answer a few questions on the band’s recent escapades, adding plenty of emoticons along the way.
Erik Rojas: Hey guys, how has everything been lately?
Luke Silas: Sick as helllllllll duuuuuuude! 😀
E.R: How was Japan? It wasn’t your first time in the country, right?
L.S: Actually, it was the first time over there for all but Ary! It was a truly amazing trip.
E.R: Was your music well received over there?
L.S: We were honestly blown away by the response. We had no idea what to expect, or how to gauge our fanbase there, but it was definitely beyond what we had in mind (which was not very much). The Blip Festival did a fantastic promo job, and made the whole festival a big ol’ success!
E.R: How did you end up playing dates with Baths?
L.S: Will has been a good friend of ours for years and years, so we decided to try playing some shows together! Simple as that. It’s awesome to get together and hit the road with your friends. 😀
E.R: For the fans who are just getting into your music, and those readers who are yet to be familiarized with Anamanaguchi, can you explain what you guys are all about, and how you got your start?
L.S: Simply put, we make loud, fast, hyper-melodic, and fun jams using old video game hardware as electronic instruments. We are always down to have all the fun ever. We all met when we were in school at Parsons for fashion design, decided it would be fun to start jamming, and at some point the band just took the front seat! We quit school, put down the pencils, picked up guitars and never looked back!
E.R: Right now, what consoles are you rolling with as your main instruments?
L.S: We mostly use an old NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) for our jams, but we have a few that are written on a Game Boy and a few using a program called MilkyTracker, which is supposed to emulate the sound chip of an Amiga.
E.R: This question probably seems inevitable, but what are some of Anamanaguchi’s favorite video games?
L.S: We’re pretty across the board in terms of what we enjoy: Pete is currently hundreds of hours deep into Dark Souls, James plays a lot of NHL, Ary strictly plays driving games and I just play a lot of Super Smash Bros!
E.R: In regards to new material, is there anything lingering on the horizon? Perhaps an EP?
L.S: We’ve been writing for a new record for a while now, it’s really coming together! Expect to hear so much about it so soooooon.
E.R: Well, that’s all from my end, any last thoughts for the fans and readers?
L.S: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqEy1F8lrfU
<3
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