ANAVAN

The mystique surrounding ANAVAN's live shows is so intense that one would suppose thier act could never be recreated on a studio album. Take for example, the lead vocalist Aaron Buckley who plays live analog and digital drums simultaneously, sings and has known to leap over his drumset to do a strip-tease while dancing with audience members. This is a band that claims to be from Alaska (and who knows, maybe one of them has been there before), take promo pictures in a tub filled with macaroni and cheese, and play with an assortment of costumes that look like eigth-grade band leader outfits, underoos and garage-made miked hockey helmets. This type of creative and asinine output in live performances usually leads to releases that aren't translatable and leaves audience members with CD's that rarely get played. Yet, this self-titled release is even better that any chaos they can create on stage. ANAVAN's sounds can be considered no-wave-punk-dance-electronic-noise-
clash (or simply put, just pain fun); from panning electronic loops, to the sounds of sirens, busy phone lines, to a heavy bass rhythm, this is a band who found that by mixing genres and sounds they could could create a textured and layered dance rhythm that is both equal parts passionate and playful. If the chorus of "Mingle" (I'm the motherfucker that brought you to this party/ I got you in the front door / now get down on the dance floor) doesn't pique an interest in their puerile intellectualism, then nothing will.

J. Christopher Dupuy - Signal To Noise

Hotpants, Helmets and Humping
Anavan cooks up an interstate booty quake
by Drew Tewksbury

First, take two cups of low fat milk and combine with an equal amount of cream in a large saucepan over a medium heat. In a separate pan, melt a stick of butter while adding a handful of flour. This is called the roux, its a thickening agent, Brett Berg explains as he takes a sip from his Pabst Blue Ribbon Lite. Now add muenster, cheddar, and goat cheese with gently boiling milk, while pouring the roux in with the mixture. Stir until creamy, then add garlic and spiral pasta, transferring when cooked to a shallow pan and cook at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.


Anavan is making me mutant mac n cheese, and in 35 minutes were going to dive into this hot mess at the conclusion of this hotter afternoon, chatting about their upcoming tour, the dangers of eros in public restrooms and what theyre looking for in Missoula.


The kitchen is filled with the sweet pungency of garlic, Berg says while Molly Williams brings out our dishes, now accompanied with lightly grilled asparagus and sweet potato slices.


Like Bergs gourmet mac n cheese, Anavan is a new variation on an old favorite: the power trio. Think Rush in leotards, Minutemen with disco beats, Salt-N-Pepa with Spinderella thrashing on the drums. More energized, sexualized and tight than the most dancey of dance-punk iconoclasts, Anavan pushes their tighty whities, hockey helmets and vintage synths to their breaking points in whirlwind, sweaty, frenzied shows. Regulars at the indie fertile crescent Spaceland, the Echo and the Smell, their shows combust into slithering dance parties disintegrating the too-cool-Im-from-art-school arm- crossing that so often is found on the Eastside. Aaron Buckley-who sings through a MacGyver-ized microphone rigged through a hockey helmet-often emerges from behind his drum set to pummel the audience with party anthems, while Williams wo-mans the helm of her keyboards, belting retorts to Buckleys pleas for booty quakes.


Aaron and I have been drinking PBRs in the backyard, sitting on the mix-matched chairs outside their garage-turned-practice space as the other two-thirds of Anavan sit down to begin our dinner. Its hard to imagine that my cordial host is the same guy who screams, Shake your fanny like a tranny, and gives a grind or two to unassuming audience members.


Buckley, Williams, and Berg are no strangers to the underground L.A. scene, each earning their dues through indie radio, DIY label connections and the cannibalizing local music scene. After first fronting indie pop band New Bethel with Williams, Buckley explains their eventual mutation into Anavan:


[New Bethel] was so introspective for me. The songs meant more on a personal level, but now I just wanted to make music that was fun, fun, fun. Who cares about personal stuff? Lets just have fun. It was at this same time that I began to despise the music that I loved too. Im tired of hearing about your introspective sad sob story about how youve broken up with your girlfriend, I dont care.
At this point-nearly two years ago-Anavan was operating as a duo, with Williams and Buckley performing shows with nothing but drum machines and keyboards facing each other. We were just going for the feeling, Buckley says having cleared his plate of macaroni remnants. We dont want to be calculated. These intensely intimate early shows-with the crazed couple barking lyrics back and forth-solidified the bands musical base, at which point Berg joined on bass. Merging the worlds of dance punk and electroclash, the new Anavan meshed with the burgeoning L.A. surrealistic spazzes Totally Radd!, Captain Ahab, Faux For Real and Explogasm, becoming integral members of this ever-growing guerilla dance party syndicate.


Today, Anavan is signed to Gold Standard Labs (GSL) records, once home to bands like !!!, the Mars Volta, I Am Spoonbender, and OUT HUD. The group recently played SXSW, released their first full-length on July 25, and are currently on the precipice of their Western tour, where they will be paying visits to such thriving metropolises as San Francisco, Seattle and Missoula.


Yeah, thats motherfucking Montana.


I think the show Im most excited for is Missoula, Berg says. We dont know where were playing, or who were playing with.


Yeah, I think that the venue has Café in the title, Aaron warns, and Im like, Oh shit, I hope were not playing a coffee house. The attention may be on the poetry reading rather than us.


But no matter what Missoula might bring, it couldnt possibly be as awkward as their last show at the El Cid.


I had a weird experience where this kid tried to make out with me-wait, he did make out with me in the bathroom five minutes before we went on as I was taking a shit, Berg explains, as no one really seems that shocked but me. He wasnt the worst looking kid, but he wouldnt be my first choice. So five minutes later, Im in my underwear - LA Alternative - AUG 3, 2006

ANAVAN in Famousish Blog

It was one of those classic SXSW moments, I was on my way rushing to another show, when as I passed Emo's I heard something awesome blaring from the inside stage. I immediately ditched whatever show I was heading to and went in. I knew right away I made the right choice. A four piece band with the drummer in the front wailing on his snare, wearing nothing but his underwear and a hockey mask with a mic hooked up to it. And it only got better. The show was loud, fast, dancy and even included crowed grouping. But there's nothing I can really say that can explain what an ANAVAN show is like, you just have to experience it yourself . So if you know what's good for you, check them out BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY at SXSW this year.

Drummer/Singer Aaron was nice enough to do a quick interview with us.

DONESKI: So excited to have you back in town for SXSW. First time I ever saw or heard of you was last year at south by. You were my find of the festival. Excited about this year?
AARON: yea - we're extremely excited for this year! this year in particular is going to be really rad because so many of our friends will be down there as well, like; Abe Vigoda, Clipd Beaks, Friends Forever, HEALTH, Foot Village, Totally Radd!! & Captain Ahab. It's an LA Invasion!

D:Last time I saw you guys there was partial nudity, a hockey mask, and crowed groping... Is this the ANAVAN norm?
A:well nothing is ever really 'normal' about an ANAVAN show, but indeed we do tend to get the audience involved, I think that's mostly due to the TYPE of shows we play. mostly DIY, all ages, and the of course setting up on the floor and being "in" the audience rather than separated from the audience helps too.

D: What's your craziest story during a live show?
A:I think the craziest thing may have just happened like two days ago in Mexicali, Mexico. We played a show w/ Bad Dudes, Lipstick Terror & this incredible band called Mannequi Lazer. The stage was really tiny, and the space wasn't big enough for us to set up on the floor. So while we're playing YTMO (you're taking me out), I climbed up onto the PA speakers, which is situated on this table on the stage. There were two PA speakers stacked on top of each other. So I get up there and do half of the song, not realizing that the speakers and the table are totally leaning back n forth.. and I'm about 20 feet in the air! It looked like something out of a Harold Loyd or Buster Keaton movie. It may not sound that crazy I suppose, but when I came too after the show and looked at the stack of speakers and the table that they rested on, it scared the shit out of me, had that shit came down, there would have def been some broken bones, not to mention all the kids it would have come down on...

D:You guys call LA home, but you started in Alaska. How's the music scene there?
A:I'm not really certain how the music scene is in Ketchikan, AK. I played drums in the high school jazz band, so my music scene was basically jazz band nerds and lots of video games.
It's at this juncture I should dis-spell the belief that we are ALL from Alaska. I'm actually the only member in ANAVAN that can claim it as home. Bret our bass player, wrote that hilarious bio for us. You see, when we signed with GSL, we didnt' want the typical bio, so Bret whipped up this silly yarn about a sailor in a Pawn Shop telling us to move to LA and play at the Smell.. so we ran w/ it. It's funny & I think it's reflects a certain sense of humor we have about it all.. Wait until you read the new bio.. haha

D: ANAVAN, your self titled last album was a mind fuck, I LOVED IT, any news on the next one?
A:The new record is going to be called "Cover Story" and we are working on it now. We have been working on it for about 7 months. Totally the opposite of how we handled the first record, which we recorded, mixed and mastered in about 6 days, all at home and on ZERO budget.

This time we actually tracked everything in a studio, Chermak Studios here in LA, and the whole thing is being mixed / produced by Justin Bates, who worked on the Moving Units, "Hexes For Exes" record and has also dipped into some remixes for Peaches, Weird Science, Steve Aoki & Snoop Dogg. Needless to say it's gonna be fun.

D: Thanks so much for the interview guys, just one last question, any bands you're really excited to see during SXSW?
A:Dolly Parton!

ANAVAN plays:
Friday March 3/14 at 5:45pm Opera House (2209 S. 1st street. Behind End of an Ear)
Saturday March 3/15 at 9:40pm Emo's Jr (603 e. Red River) (Wristband or Badge Required) - Famoushish Blog

SxSW 2008 - Constantines - Anavan - HEALTH - Old Time Relijun - the Helio Sequence

Austin, TX

Vivian’s Top Five Bands of SxSW 2008

This year was the first year that any Redefine staff members have managed to make it down to SxSW in Austin. We didn’t know what to expect since SxSW’s reputation proceeds it. Although slightly daunting and involving way too much standing around, SxSW is one amazing event.

Some people are mistaken in thinking that SxSW is yet another cramped, sweaty festival in which people are herded around like derelict cattle. It is much, much more than that.

SxSW is a non-stop music party in the city of Austin. Every venue in town -- including bars and churches that are not usually venues -- begin churning out bands from noon to early the next morning. People from all over the country and world come to Austin in mid-March to experience all of the musical delights -- free and paid -- that SxSW has to offer. Because of diverse booking, music lovers can see anyone as laughable as Bo Bice or Hanson to anyone as underground as that shitty nobody who plays at your local coffee shop. SxSW is, in many ways, an independent music lover’s dream, as there were very few major label artists being represented. And did I mention the free food? Oh yes, there was a lot of free food and schwag as well.

This year, we went from late Thursday, March 13th to early Sunday, March 16th. Because of the sheer number of bands at SxSW, the long lines during the nighttime shows, and the cruelty of Father Time, we obviously didn’t see every band. Nonetheless, here are my five favorite acts from SxSW, in no particular order, along with a couple notable mentions.

ANAVAN
www.myspace.com/anavan

Anavan was probably the most pleasant surprise of SxSW, because seeing their set was purely by accident. We had been outside in the backyard of a small restaurant venue, and although the outdoor band seemed to be gathering all of the fans, they sounded dated and were mediocre at best. We decided to check out the inside room, and were ecstatic to find out that inside was a younger band that had an engaging amount of frenetic energy and funky bass licks. I wanted to start dancing from the moment I stepped into the room, and despite this brainless takeover of my senses, I could still see that the level of musicianship they hold is impressive. They’re not just some young kids fucking around; they know how to play their instruments and how to write catchy, danceable songs.

Anavan is a melting pot of many genres, and for a lack of a better term, I began describing them to other people as "electro screamo." Real electro, though -- not electro in the sense that they occasionally play a keyboard sample. Anavan’s performance was insanely interesting to me as a first-time viewer. They had football helmets, underpants and drumming with hairy man legs, and pole humping of sorts. Before I knew it, I even got a sweaty vocalist head on my shoulder during the middle of their set. Despite the fact that their name is hardly discernable when spoken, Anavan deserves a good heap of attention for being entertaining and different. And for making damn good music. - Redefine Magazine

Hotpants, Helmets and Humping
Anavan cooks up an interstate booty quake
by Drew Tewksbury

First, take two cups of low fat milk and combine with an equal amount of cream in a large saucepan over a medium heat. In a separate pan, melt a stick of butter while adding a handful of flour. This is called the roux, its a thickening agent, Brett Berg explains as he takes a sip from his Pabst Blue Ribbon Lite. Now add muenster, cheddar, and goat cheese with gently boiling milk, while pouring the roux in with the mixture. Stir until creamy, then add garlic and spiral pasta, transferring when cooked to a shallow pan and cook at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.


Anavan is making me mutant mac n cheese, and in 35 minutes were going to dive into this hot mess at the conclusion of this hotter afternoon, chatting about their upcoming tour, the dangers of eros in public restrooms and what theyre looking for in Missoula.


The kitchen is filled with the sweet pungency of garlic, Berg says while Molly Williams brings out our dishes, now accompanied with lightly grilled asparagus and sweet potato slices.


Like Bergs gourmet mac n cheese, Anavan is a new variation on an old favorite: the power trio. Think Rush in leotards, Minutemen with disco beats, Salt-N-Pepa with Spinderella thrashing on the drums. More energized, sexualized and tight than the most dancey of dance-punk iconoclasts, Anavan pushes their tighty whities, hockey helmets and vintage synths to their breaking points in whirlwind, sweaty, frenzied shows. Regulars at the indie fertile crescent Spaceland, the Echo and the Smell, their shows combust into slithering dance parties disintegrating the too-cool-Im-from-art-school arm- crossing that so often is found on the Eastside. Aaron Buckley-who sings through a MacGyver-ized microphone rigged through a hockey helmet-often emerges from behind his drum set to pummel the audience with party anthems, while Williams wo-mans the helm of her keyboards, belting retorts to Buckleys pleas for booty quakes.


Aaron and I have been drinking PBRs in the backyard, sitting on the mix-matched chairs outside their garage-turned-practice space as the other two-thirds of Anavan sit down to begin our dinner. Its hard to imagine that my cordial host is the same guy who screams, Shake your fanny like a tranny, and gives a grind or two to unassuming audience members.


Buckley, Williams, and Berg are no strangers to the underground L.A. scene, each earning their dues through indie radio, DIY label connections and the cannibalizing local music scene. After first fronting indie pop band New Bethel with Williams, Buckley explains their eventual mutation into Anavan:


[New Bethel] was so introspective for me. The songs meant more on a personal level, but now I just wanted to make music that was fun, fun, fun. Who cares about personal stuff? Lets just have fun. It was at this same time that I began to despise the music that I loved too. Im tired of hearing about your introspective sad sob story about how youve broken up with your girlfriend, I dont care.
At this point-nearly two years ago-Anavan was operating as a duo, with Williams and Buckley performing shows with nothing but drum machines and keyboards facing each other. We were just going for the feeling, Buckley says having cleared his plate of macaroni remnants. We dont want to be calculated. These intensely intimate early shows-with the crazed couple barking lyrics back and forth-solidified the bands musical base, at which point Berg joined on bass. Merging the worlds of dance punk and electroclash, the new Anavan meshed with the burgeoning L.A. surrealistic spazzes Totally Radd!, Captain Ahab, Faux For Real and Explogasm, becoming integral members of this ever-growing guerilla dance party syndicate.


Today, Anavan is signed to Gold Standard Labs (GSL) records, once home to bands like !!!, the Mars Volta, I Am Spoonbender, and OUT HUD. The group recently played SXSW, released their first full-length on July 25, and are currently on the precipice of their Western tour, where they will be paying visits to such thriving metropolises as San Francisco, Seattle and Missoula.


Yeah, thats motherfucking Montana.


I think the show Im most excited for is Missoula, Berg says. We dont know where were playing, or who were playing with.


Yeah, I think that the venue has Café in the title, Aaron warns, and Im like, Oh shit, I hope were not playing a coffee house. The attention may be on the poetry reading rather than us.


But no matter what Missoula might bring, it couldnt possibly be as awkward as their last show at the El Cid.


I had a weird experience where this kid tried to make out with me-wait, he did make out with me in the bathroom five minutes before we went on as I was taking a shit, Berg explains, as no one really seems that shocked but me. He wasnt the worst looking kid, but he wouldnt be my first choice. So five minutes later, Im in my underwear - LA Alternative - AUG 3, 2006