Stephen Christian of Anberlin has posted an update from the studio, check it out below.
community friends.
well im going to be honest. this is my first surfacing since december 16th when we got off tour with motion city soundtrack. when you tour 10 months a year you get stuck in the monotony of the day you stop appreciating what you have and where your band is at in life. so for me i needed to take a step back, i needed to take a look at band life and fall in love with it & music all over again. so for me i took a “brian wilson” holiday. i’m not saying i went crazy, i just grew a beard and hid while obsessing on anberlin’s next record “sounds of pets”.
this is not an “oh whoa is me, my life is so hard” journal entry because its not! this life is only fit for a movie! this journal entry is more of a THIS NEXT RECORD WE HAVE BEEN WRITING IS GOING TO BE THE BEST OF OUR ENTIRE LIVES! kinda of post.in my silence i had the opportunity to escape to new orleans where i hid out at a bed and breakfast. the orleans music scene is beyond comprehension, i sat at the spotted cat one night (on frenchman) and listened to one (cab calloway sounding) band for over three hours, i was mesmerized by the talent and musical culture this town had produced. musicians of all sorts were playing with other musicians, it was like they had built one giant band with interchangeable pieces. (thanks kevin for hanging out!) it inspired not only anberlins next record it made me want to come back and play a show with my side project (anchor & braille) in tampa/st. pete just to get local musicians together!
while there i spent the majority of my time at a small cafe’ called kahve (on the corner of touro and royal) right outside the french quarter writing the next anberlin record. you have to see this place to believe it, if any of you know me and ever visit there you can see why it would feel so at home. its a 1700’s house thats dark yet inviting and with two pianos in the back only lit by lamp it made the perfect place to write.
the songs that came from the trip, inspired by new orleans, are like none other before; i can safely say that we have never been so prepared or excited for a record in the history of anberlin. usually when we walked in the studio previously we would have no more than 12 songs ready to record; as of right this second we are sitting on 19 songs with three more in the works; and on top of that we are working with THE neal avron who makes hits in his sleep and we are backed by universal republic who has afforded us such amazing opportunities.
christian has been such an impact on this band and on this upcoming record, any fan of acceptance will hear it, and i think he has been such a driving force for joey’s (unreal) writing on this record. deon has been really taking over online so i could catch my break and nathan is starting an art company (with more details coming soon!).
so much more to come.
thank you friends for letting us belong to you.
-stephen christian
