Page 26 - Black Velvet Magazine Issue 108

BV108 pg24-28 Anchor Lane Interview.qxp_BV108 pg25 19/06/2023 20:35 Page 3

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this what is really happening?’. "Because that is what happens. You get a proved. Everything was a step up."
"Everyone is so disconnected, everyone is job and, with the best will in the world, you have
so unwilling to communicate with each other, the interview and you tell them you’re in a band he title track of the album includes a
and we are all being encouraged to behave like and you go on tour, blah, blah, blah, and, no Tnoteworthy line of ‘Call this a reality or
that. There was a time when people were grass- matter how thick you would lay it on, they would just some sick dream’. So, we ask Conor what
ing up their neighbours because they were always think, ‘OK, well, it's not a ‘real’ band,’ and he calls reality in 2023 and does he feel it is a
going to get their hair cut. And it was just, ‘Is this you're telling them you are playing Download, sick dream?
where we are? Is this what is happening?’” Isle of Wight and all these festivals and they just "The thing about that line was the fact that
He raises a very interesting point during this don't get it, they just assume we play the local there is so much pain and so much disconnect
description of the album and its in the world right now", he tells us.
songs and how they came to “While I was at the urinals, I saw a boy at the opposite end, "I'll give you an example of
be, the perception that some and obviously, there is the man code where you don't look at each what it is to me. I was out with my
people have of musicians and girlfriend recently for our anniver-
the idea that they should find other, but, out of the corner of my eye, I could see that, while he sary and I went to the bathroom
themselves a 9-5 job if they is stood there peeing, he is still on his phone, messaging someone. and, while I was at the urinals, I
are unhappy or struggling with And that is my problem; you can't be disconnected from your saw a boy at the opposite end, and
their lot in life. But, those with phone for however long it takes to pee!?” - Conor Gaffney obviously, there is the man code
a greater knowledge of the where you don't look at each other,
musicians they support, espe- but, out of the corner of my eye, I
cially those at the level Anchor Lane presently pub at the weekend. And there is no shame in could see that, while he is stood there peeing,
find themselves, will already know many of the that, but where we are now, it just takes out my he is still on his phone, messaging someone.
band members already do have a ‘regular’ job whole life. And again, we're at this point where And that is my problem; you can't be discon-
on top of their duties within their band. And those so many other bands call it a day because we nected from your phone for however long it
that make the band their job, work on it full-time. are at this stage where, if the band could make takes to pee!? 30 seconds and you still have to
"To be perfectly candid, we are at the point a little more money, then I could make a bit more message someone? And after that he pops his
where a lot of bands quit," the frontman tells us. money and be OK." phone in his pocket and doesn't even wash his
"Anchor Lane IS a full-time job, so when people hands!
tell me, ‘Go and get a full-time job,’ I say ‘Anchor iven that all three of Anchor Lane are "That, for me, is like, ‘What are you doing,
Lane IS a full-time job.’ I'm speaking to you now, Gnow supporting themselves outside of man? Your priorities are all in the wrong place.’
at 6.30pm, doing an interview - that isn't some- the band in a similar way, we ask Conor who And how people would rather talk to each other
thing you might do in a ‘normal’ job. During the made the move first and how significant of an in- through this, a daft device that they can't leave
day, I've been doing emails, social media, media spiration they were to their bandmates. "I saw alone. They would rather connect through that
stuff, things from our tour we've just done to sort the inspiration in our guitarist, Lawrence. He'd rather than have a conversation in person, or,
out, stuff for the next shows to sort out, all these been teaching guitar for a while, and, when he god forbid, someone even calls them."
things are happening. joined the band, he was teaching and he was And the guy who left the bathroom without
"And then you go away for two weeks to go working a nightshift as well in a local club, col- washing his hands, we presume, was also the
on tour, so it's impossible to have a ‘normal’ job lecting glasses and stuff like that, so he was guy cooking Conor and his girlfriend their an-
if you are doing that. You can't go to an employer constantly knackered. niversary meal? "Of course," he says, with a big
and ask, for example, to have the whole of Oc- "I remember he turned to me one day and laugh.
tober off. said, ‘I'm gonna bet on myself.’ He said he was
"So, what we all do is, we teach. I do inde- going to try and do the teaching full-time, be- witching our focus to the song 'Stutter'
pendent vocal lessons, Lawrence gives inde- cause at that point he didn't have enough stu- Sand, more specifically, the lyric, ‘I scroll
pendent, one-to-one guitar lessons and Graeme dents, but he was going to double down on this through you. You paint your picture so pretty.
teaches drumming, and that is the way we are and now he's got 14-15 students every week This distorted view, don’t know what I'm missing,
able to balance what we do. And it's hard. But and he's able to keep things afloat." or what to believe in’, which, alongside, ‘If this is
we are able to be a band and go on tour and a newsfeed, hell, I wanna news starve’, from the
play, and then come back and be able to earn aving got distracted by the hard work album's title track, brings up the impact of social
money to live." Hthat Conor, Lawrence and Graeme do media in our lives today.
outside of Anchor Lane in order to ensure they "The problem that we all kinda have with so-
iven that much of the new album is are able to continue pushing forward with their cial media is that it isn't real," he explains. "That
Gthemed around the events and impact music, we revert back to their album 'Call This a is where 'Call This A Reality?' comes in. You
from the lockdown months, we ask Conor is he Reality?’. know, Instagram, Tiktok, Facebook, it's all high-
could tell us a little more about how his life was "I think the thing with this album is that it is light reels, it's all the best bits. No one is showing
affected by this. the realisation that this is what this band was al- themselves, and nor should they, at 10am in the
"The lockdown is what made me start teach- ways supposed to be. I feel the first album, morning when they aren't feeling well and not
ing," he explains. "Up until then, I was just doing 'Casino', which I'm still very proud of, it was sort ‘living their best life’. No one is doing that and
odd jobs and wee things here and there, but, of like the accumulation of all the work we had I'm not saying anyone should have to do that,
during the lockdown, this kind of work became done so far and where the band sat at that time. but the problem is, we become so focused on
much more scarce, and a lot of people did this But it wasn't the full realised potential, whereas portraying this image of ‘look at this perfect
during the lockdown, I think, where they thought, I feel we learnt a lot during that process, working human being with this perfect life’, and it's non-
‘I'm going to work for myself. I'm going to find a with guys like Ricky Warwick and Toby Jepson, sense.
skillset that I have, which I can offer and people and it gave us a sense of direction and what we "And what that creates for other people is
will pay me for.’ are good at and where we want to go with it. anxiety, it creates depression, it creates a com-
"I'd spent two or three years learning about "After that, we knew what the process was parison. That's what 'Stutter' is about. It's about
my voice because I'd had some issues in my like. We know what it's like to write and record comparing yourself to other people. Comparing
early 20s with my voice, so I went to vocal an album and we know we can write an album. yourself to people you went to high school with.
coaching and I learnt about these things, and so Because sometimes, you can ask a musician for ‘Am I doing better than them? Are they doing
I had the skillset there to go and share with other 10 to 12 cracking songs they feel confident with better than me?’ It's nonsense, it's doesn't even
vocalists, because it's something that is a little to release into the world for people to buy for matter.
shrouded in mystery for a lot of vocalists." £10 a CD or £25 for a vinyl, that's a lot of pres- "At the end of the day, you could be doing
It's an interesting story and something which sure. Especially if you have never done it before better than someone today and, two weeks later,
makes the band and Conor all the more likeable. or if you don't know how to do it. they could be doing better than you because
We ask him if he could tell us more about what "And we'd come through that process where they got a promotion or blah, blah, they got a
inspired him to bet on himself. "Really, just my- we did need our hands held a bit. But, when it new car, whatever. It's all nonsense. And that's
self," is his immediate reply, "and the fact that I came to album two, and the songs and style my problem with it. It's not authentic. When you
didn't want to have to go back to a job where I started to take shape and things began to de- find yourself to be an authentic person who val-
needed to ask for time off when we had gigs velop and change, we knew what we wanted to ues things being real, that's the goal. That is why
coming up, and have that argument again with do and what we wanted to achieve, and the we love playing music, because music is real.
someone I have already told I'm going to need song writing improved and the sound improved, You can't just put up a picture on Instagram and
time off. and the production value on the album im- be able to play ‘Master of Puppets’ on guitar like
ANCHOR LANE