Band of the Week: Awesome New Republic

jason - Posted on 15 May 2009

For each musician the purpose of writing and recording music is different, but for Michael John Hancock and Brian Robertson (aka MJ and B-Rob) of Awesome New Republic (ANR) the answer is clear. ANR strives to capture the energy and emotion of a generation while making people move. Sounds simple, well I often think it is harder to write a sugary pop/dance track than it is to write an abstract mood piece. The sound of ANR is retro, but exciting, it pays homage to artists like Prince, Scritti Politti, and others, but remains extremely relevant to the currents sounds.

ANR released a critically acclaimed album back in 2005, but did spend some time apart before returning to the studio last year. The band actually recorded or mapped out three albums while in the studio, and Rational Geographic Vol 1 is just the beginning. ANR will release two more albums this year (yes, Vol 2 and Vol 3). Ambitious, sure, but their music is so fun (nearly silly) that you will just begin to soak up their tiny pop gems and you wont be able to stop.

Recently, Awesome New Republic was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): First let's start with the most recent news, you have released your most recent album, Rational Geographic Vol 1, and made it available for free download through your website. How was it decided to allow fans to download it for free, and what has the response been like?
Awesome New Republic (ANR): For anyone who was already a fan of ANR back in the day (2003-2005) before we broke up and subsequently got back together (2007), its been a long time since our last releases, both of which came out over three years ago. We figured we'd put it up for free for those people. Couple that with the current industry climate and how best to reach new fans as a still relatively unknown act, and we put it up for the optional price of an email address. All we use the addresses for is to let people know if we're playing in their town, or if there are any future free downloads. Additionally, we offer a direct link download as well as a direct link to the torrent of the file if you want to seed it.
Its been working so far.

OA: This is just the first of three releases that are planned for 2009. Are the other albums finished and how did you decide to release three eps as opposed to maybe a double album?
AMR: We had an unmixed album, the length of a traditional LP. The first "side" was all pop jams, and the second "side" was dark-alterna-prog. We also had a lot of additional songs and additional opinions in our camp. One of those opinions was that of Will Suter, who runs the label. He suggested we make a third "side," split the album up in thirds and release each as a digital EP to lead up to the physical release in October.

The next part of the album is getting mixed and mastered. The last part is getting picked apart, but is pretty much done as well. Hopefully it will all fit on one CD and two LPs.

OA: From the listener's perspective, it sounds like you guys are utilizing some vintage electronic instruments or at least replicating that sound, what type of instruments were utilized on this album and is there a specific era or sound that you were trying to capture?
ANR: We use a mixture of analog and digital synthesizers a lot from the seventies through today. We also use a variety of drum samples of different drum machines from different years, and often feed those through analog effects or re-mic them. We like to keep an even keel between synthetic and organic.

The era we are hoping to capture is that of the current year. The sound we seem to end up with when the two of us make music together is a heavy, aggressive style of alternative R&B and pop.

OA: How does that sound translate into a live performance? What can fans expect for a ANR concert?
ANR: Live we sound different than our records. I suppose you'd say we sound more live. We also don't play things the same way and we don't play the same stuff every night. Additionally, we have a propensity for focusing on dance songs. B Rob takes solos. Our live drummer, Jorge is off the chain. Come see us the next time we play.

OA: I really like the cover art for the new album and all of your previous releases. Does the band focus a lot of attention on album art and presentation? How important is that to you?
ANR: Thank you. The art and the music for our releases are very connected for us, with the art being made as the music is. Whether I'm doing it myself or having a friend like Reeve Schumacher doing the cover, we spend a while on it because it is as important to us as the music. We're lesser artists than we are musicians, but we try to get it right as best we can.

OA: What is next for Awesome New Republic?
ANR: We're headed across the States to the west coast and back, we're dropping Rational Geographic Volume II on Honor Roll Music in in a couple months, and plenty of other stuff.

Check out "Magic City":