The Anix

With its transportive mix of mood, grunge and electrorock, SoCal-based band The Anix is releasing its second full-length record, SLEEPWALKER, on August 30, 2011 via Cleopatra Records. The two-disc package includes twelve original tracks and nine remixes. Known for sonically massive choruses and constrained electronic verses, The Anix consists of brothers Brandon (singer/guitarist) and Logan Smith (drummer) and keyboardist/guitarist Chris Dinger. The trio often draws from the worlds in graphic novels and the music of NIN, The Cure and Muse. But with SLEEPWALKER, the inspirations were a little different. Explains Brandon, “For this album we wanted to really explore our cinematic influences first, then pull from our musical influences. I wanted the record to sound like a soundtrack to movies like “The Crow” or “The Dark Knight.” The bands we were listening to at the time that also helped influence us were Innerpartysystem, Daft Punk, The Prodigy, Justice, 30 Seconds to Mars, Filter and The Faint.” SLEEPWALKER was produced by Brandon, Chris Lietz and Jurgen Engler, founder of Die Krupps, the groundbreaking German industrial rock band. He connected with The Anix at SXSW 2010, and that resulted in a darker, more layer sound which included programmed drums on top of live drums, and additional sampling. Brandon also recorded keyboards in Stephan Groth’s “analog synthesizer laboratory” in Norway. The band recently finished a music video for “Glass,” directed by Chris Do. “Inside the video, we wanted to build this make-believe world that the songs are written in so the viewers can get a better understanding of what our vision is. Our music sounds like it was written a few years into the future, and our vision of the future is a dark, desolate place,” said Brandon. The Anix entered the scene in 2008 with a critically-acclaimed debut, DEMOLITION CITY. Billboard wrote, “DEMOLITION CITY is an addictive record uniting next-gen new wavers and emo devotees,” comparing tracks to Depeche Mode. “Yes, the songs are more synth-pop then industrial, with Brandon Smith’s tuneful vocals mixed loud and clean over the electronic roar and guitar crunch. But unlike Ministry on their first album, these guys put some real bite into the music here,” wrote Revolver Magazine. The band found a large and determined fan base overseas touring on DEMOLITION CITY. As Brandon also plays in Apoptygma Berzerk, which has a high profile there, The Anix is going to continue developing its relationships all over the world, with European and South American tours planned in addition to dates in America. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.