7 Minutes in Heaven with: Anamanaguchi

Anamanaguchi

“It’s a new year and we’re anxious to see what up and coming bands and artists might make our top ten lists this year. We also realize a need to bring you more face-time with bands, not just giving you our opinions, but allowing the bands to make their case and let you decide if you want to hear more. So we’re launching “7 Minutes In Heaven with…,” an interview series dedicated to introducing new bands to you guys. It’s a really simple concept: 7 questions answered by the bands, telling you a little about who they are, their music, and what makes 2011 their breakout year. Think of this as your meet and greet–if you like the bands, let us know!” -Beth Yeckley, Head of Interviews for TheBlueIndian.com

———-

Anamanaguchi—who is Peter Berkman, James DeVito (who was kind enough to do the interview), Luke Silas, and Ary Warnaar—create a world of chiptune music made for high, high energy, orchestrating traditional instrumentation with a couple hacked NES systems brilliantly used as synthesizers. Where you may (or may not) know them from is a gig that seems like the perfect fit for the band: the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game soundtrack.

Artist Site: http://www.anamanaguchi.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/anamanaguchi

INTERVIEW:

1. Where are you from and how long have you been a band (or been making music)?
Pete + I grew up together up in Westchester County…. We had both been in our fair share of (separate) bands, but in 2003 he started making music with the NES, and shortly after asked me to play bass. Since then, the lineup had changed a couple times, but solidified when we met Ary at NYU (where the three of us studied Music Technology), and then Luke who played a house party with us in LA (he was so good that we decided to keep him ~_~).

2. Describe your sound in 5 words.
Party, party, loud, party, party.

3. Who would you say are your top 3 musical influences?
Weezer, Beach Boys, and anything with high energy and sass.

4. If you had to choose ONE song from your albums that our readers have to hear, what would it be and why?
“Airbrushed”- it’s fun as hell to play, and it should be at least as equally fun to listen to.

5. What were 5 of your favorite albums from 2010?
Adebisi Shank – This is the Second Album of a band called Adebisi Shank
Root For Ruin – Les Savy Fav
Skrillex – Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites
The Best Christmas – George & Jonathan
Cerulean – Baths

6. Name a band that we might not have heard of yet but should definitely check out.
George & Jonathan —- these guys write The Best Music.

7. What’s big and exciting for you in 2011?
Wellllllll, on March 8th we released a 7″ of Airbrushed, which we’re really hyped on— it has a 3D lenticular cover by Paul Robertson, pretty much an animated .gif in real life. Also, immediately after SXSW we’re going on a 6 week tour with Peelander-Z all over the country playing a lot of places that we’ve never ventured to before, in a van with over 325,000 miles on it. On top of that we’ve been writing a bunch of new stuff with a new album in mind, although it’s a bit too early to tell when that’ll all come together, we’re working as fast as we can!