Getting set to embark on their first ‘proper’ tour, the Wellington lads that make up Anxiety Club are ready to lay it all out for Christchurch audiences. Following the release of their first studio EP, Black Heart, last year and a new single early February that is set to become a New Zealand summer staple, Anxiety Club are bringing their alt-indie-Americana sound to the Garden City. Cityscape caught up with lead singer Kev Fitzsimons.

How did you guys get together? I’d been doing a lot of vocal work for various projects when I was living in the UK and Ireland and when I got home I put an ad in the Musicians social page and a group of guys responded and we got together. Weirdly enough, we all just hit it off, which is really unusual for a first off. But we all had that same idea of making good music and doing it because we enjoyed it, and everyone can really play.

What sort of projects were you working on in the UK? I was doing studio work with Guy Massey, who produced Ed Sheeran’s early stuff and guys like Manic Street Preachers, Paul McCartney, Groove Armada – some really good names and serious pedigree.

Do you prefer studio or playing live? Live, every day. Unless we’re playing to an empty room, of course! But there really is nothing better than getting the reaction and engagement with people. We’ve played to some decent crowds in Auckland and Wellington and at the Festival of Lights in New Plymouth and while we’re not that well known yet it’s a really cool process of discovery for the crowd and for us.

How is it going getting your name out there? We’re doing it all independently at the moment, through Spotify and iTunes, and we’re getting great support from RadioNZ and places like that. It’s harder to get that lift because there’s so much noise around, but we’re just going to keep putting out really good stuff and enjoying what we do. We’re not going to tailor our sound for what an industry wants.

Speaking of, where did the name come from? We kind of came from the perspective of not overthinking things, so we basically consulted a random band name generator online – it all stemmed from there.

And are you anxious by nature? Aren’t all musicians?

How would you describe your sound? We’ve said we’re like a mix between Wilco and Radiohead – but better, obviously! Nah, we describe our music as feel-good anthems of heartbreak and despair. I’m particularly drawn to really melodic music, whatever genre, and everyone knows how to play so they’re kinda pop songs dressed up as alt-country indie Americana.

Any plans for another EP to follow Black Heart (which is awesome, by the way)? Thank you! Yeah, we’d like to put out another EP – we put out a live one that we recorded ourselves a while ago, and really enjoyed the process of making Black Heart, so definitely keen to keep putting them out there.

So what can Christchurch audiences expect from you on March 29? We’re playing with Deep Water Creek who is a fantastic local band, so for the princely sum of $15 you get two amazing bands – highly melodic music, feel good anthems, great musicianship and a bit of humour – we don’t tend to take ourselves too seriously. And we’ll be going hard out – and encourage the audience to do the same!

Anxiety Club, March 29
Blue Smoke
undertheradar.co.nz