‘Folk Rock’, they say. ‘Twangy (Power) Pop’, I would say. Whatever. Quality songs and great melodies over here. No need to argue about that. Anchor & Bear’s new release ‘Raincoats and Gold’ is a joy. A JOY!

 

 

 

Anchor & Bear are Katy Pearson – vocals/bass/guitar, Brian Bringelson -vocals/guitar/bass and Eric White – drums.

 

 

What was the biggest fun during the making of the last album?

 

I think we really became a band making this record. It was such a different experience creating this record than it was with “Ahoy”. With the first album, Brian and myself had all the songs sorted out, some even had demos already recorded. With “Raincoats and Gold” we worked through these tunes as a band. The writing, the arrangements, and the grooves were all collaborative which made recording the record a much more enjoyable experience. Plus our producer Matt, he was and still is a highlight.  – Katy

 

 

Which is the song you wish you had written every time you hear it? And why?

 

The easy answer for me would be any song written by The Beatles, but I’ll choose another artist! Neko Case’s song “The Pharaohs” is a song that completely changed the way I looked at songwriting. The melody twists and turns in so many beautiful ways that it almost seems impossible a mere human could create such a thing. Of course, Neko Case is much more than a mere human. In addition, the lyrics stop me dead in my tracks every time I hear them. On top of all of this, it’s a song that is constantly in my head, which is a good thing in this case since it’s just so perfect. 100% a song I wish I had written. – Brian

 

This is hard because there are probably a million I could say but two stick out.  “Lullaby” by Loudon Wainwright III. It’s this biting, sad, lilting, tough song. I think writing something slow without it becoming mundane is an art form. It’s filled with beautiful moments of interesting chords that are purposeful but not forced. It’s haunting but weirdly sweet at the same time. Lyrically it’s dynamite. The other song would be “Surfs Up” by Brian Wilson. The melody line on  “columnated ruins domino” is still the most beautiful melody line I’ve ever heard in my life. – Katy

 

If the budget was unlimited, how would you record the next record? 

 

I would book 2 months at Abbey Road to record basic tracks: drums, guitars, bass. Then I would book another month at Sunset Sound to do overdubs and some vocals. Then finally I would book a couple of weeks at Capitol Records to finish it all up. I’d also have it mastered at Abbey Road just so I could be there for another few days/weeks. – Brian

 

Saaaaaaaaame ❤ – Katy

 

 

 

What’s up for the rest of the year?

 

We will continue to play shows up and down the California coast promoting “Raincoats and Gold”.  In addition, we’ll be making another music video for one of the tracks off the new album which should come out this fall. Katy and I have already started writing songs for the next album and hopefully, we will begin recording before the end of the year. – Brian

 

Shows, Shows, Shows, and Shows. We’re also writing because we never stop. We’ll be putting out a music video soon and then hopefully (after a few other recording projects get checked off) we’ll be headed BACK into the studio as a band before we see the downbeat of 2019! ❤ – Katy

 

 

 

Can you still recall the moment music became important to you? What happened? 

 

The moment music became important to me was when I was very young and would listen to my parents play records on their amazing stereo system. Albums like “A Hard Days Night” and “Rumors” sounded so perfect and just seemed to mean something very important. The fact that my whole family was sitting on the floor just listening to this amazing music really left a mark on my life. I knew I wanted to do something involving that feeling. – Brian

 

Man, the moment music became important. I think it happened even before I had the brain capacity to recall it but, my two biggest memories are forcing my dad to teach me every single lyric to “Why do fools fall in love?” the Beach Boy version as he drove me to school. I was obsessed with the B section. The other big life-changing moment was when I wrote my first complete real song. I think I was 12? I had piddled around with writing but this moment was different. I wrote it and I liked it, plus other people liked it too. But more importantly, I loved how I felt when I was doing it. I’d never felt freer or more like myself in my life. So I just kept chasing that because, why wouldn’t you? – Katy

 

BUY