A World Of My Own is getting great reviews. Sweet Sweet Music talked to Derrick Anderson about ‘his all star cast’ , the meaning of success, domestic bliss and Otis Redding.

A World of my Own had an all star (power) pop cast. How did this came together?

Shortly after my band The Andersons! (yeah, the exclamation point’s a part of the name) broke up in ’04, people began asking “when are you gonna make a record?” As the years went on, I would hear that more and more but since I no longer had a band, I had to consider how I’d go about making a record, once I finally decided to do it…years later.

By that time, I’d been playing with The Bangles for a few years and I’d subbed on bass with The Smithereens for several years as well. I’d also been playing with Steve Barton of Translator for years and through all of that, I’d amassed a lot of great, talented friends orbiting in my musical universe, including The Cowsills, having played with them as well. I’d played with Matthew Sweet through his connection with The Bangles and I knew Tommy Keene from my years in The Andersons!. So, it seemed the best way to go would be to choose folks I thought would be rightfully suited for each song and to see if whoever I had in mind would be up for it. Thankfully, they were all up for it and I think everyone involved had a blast doing this little project!  It literally took years to do it this way, but the end result was well worth it. Some of the songs had been around awhile, but never had a “proper birthing” until now. I just had to wait for the stars to align, as it were.

Was there a specific moment  you realized you were on to something special?

Once I heard what The Bangles laid down on “Something New” and heard Jim Babjak’s (Smithereens) tracks on “Waiting For You” I truly knew this was going to be an enchantingly great record!

And then …. you get all this great reviews. What about that?

My main goal with this record was to do something that I could be proud of. Just to please myself, and it was an all-around labor of love. The reviews have been fantastic and that’s just icing on the cake! I’m thrilled that people seem to enjoy it as much as I do.

The meaning of ‘success’ has changed over the years. When will the new record be a success?

The mere fact that it exists is a success. It doesn’t take much to make me happy!

She will decide on a 5 song mixtape if there is going to be a second date. Which 5 would you put on?

I’d almost have to disqualify myself from that one due to my 20 years of domestic bliss. It’s hard to put myself back in that headspace, but I’d say:

Pretty Word – Sergio Mendez & Brasil ’66
I Can’t Explain – The Who
Wouldn’t It Be Nice – The Beach Boys
Let Me Be The One – Carpenters
Give Away None of My Love – Otis Redding

How will 2017 look like?
Busy and  prosperous!