Anxious: "The record has a strong emphasis on relationships and connections"

Connecticut-based up-and-comers Anxious - frontman Grady Allen, guitarists Dante Melucci and Ryan Savitski, bassist Sam Allen, and drummer Jonny Camner - have arrived with their debut full-length, 'Little Green House'. Over two years in the making, it's been a long time coming for the Run For Cover Records signees. Grady tells us more, during a trip back to Connecticut from seeing his grandparents in Florida ("the change in weather was very refreshing").

Hi Grady! So your debut album then - how long has it been in the works for? What was your starting point, what was your headspace like going into it?
Oh man, it's been in the works for a LONG time. We began writing it in fall 2019, shortly after our first 7" came out. We finished writing it around May 2020. Most of it was written during the early months of the pandemic; we spent weeks in the basement of our drummer's house just writing and recording demos for the record that would become Little Green House. As far as our headspace, we just wanted to make a record that was completely unashamed in what we wanted to be. We consciously tried to not be bound by genre binary, to not be restrained by what we thought the record "had to sound like". I think the group of songs we put together reflects that pretty well (or at least I'd like to think so). We just wanted to not feel tied down. We recorded the record in summer 2020. A year and a half later, here is the LP, hahaha.

To what extent did you achieve your initial ideas for what you wanted the record to be? Did they evolve much along the way?
I think we really achieved our hopes for the record. Sound-wise, We were really meticulous with the recording and mixing process and spent a long time making sure everything laid out exactly like how we had hoped in our heads. My sincere apologies to our engineer, Chris Teti, who had to constantly keep churning out mixes until we were happy, hahaha. Lyrically and thematically, I think the record touches upon all the things we were hoping to cover. The record has a strong emphasis on relationships and connections: romantic, familial, friendships and the lack thereof. I'm not sure if this overarching theme was initially intentional, but the final product definitely arrives at that.

How did you find recording, was it tough fitting in studio time during all the lockdowns?
Quite the opposite, actually. The pandemic completely wiped out any and all plans we had had for the band, so it felt like the perfect time to hit the studio and record. After some time and thought, we ended up choosing Silver Bullet Studios in Farmington, CT. I enjoyed the recording process, but it seriously is arduous. Vocally it's exhausting to spend 2,3,4,5 days recording. I learned a lot of lessons about the importance of pacing yourself and making sure you are properly prepared to record, so you don't blow your voice out. I think our guitarist Dante really enjoyed the creative process in the studio. He was glued to the board with Chris the entire two weeks. I understand why; it really is interesting to see a song come together layer by layer.