QR Music - Interview with Anteros: "I decided to quit my job, move to London and start a band. Everyone told me I was crazy."

Since their formation in 2014, Anteros' string of deliciously biting indie-pop EPs have sent them on an incredibly fast-paced rise. Though they've spent the past few years touring with the likes of Two Door Cinema Club and graced the legendary Other Stage at Glastonbury within a year of playing their first ever show, they're now at a pivotal moment for any band - the lead up to their debut album release. When I sat down with Laura and Harry ahead of their gig at Metropolis Studios, the band were working their way through the recording process. The pair caught me up on their progress, and discussed the impact of location on the band's formation and sound.

Laura, you grew up in Spain. I also grew up there, and having friends who are musicians over there I know things can be pretty limited in the way of gigging and other opportunities. How did that work for you? 

L: Yeah, that's why I moved to London, I think Spain is quite behind in terms of pop music, and in terms of- and I don't mean this in a bad way, but in terms of production and songwriting. I just don't think the level is as good as it is in England, and I think it's very hard to write and produce music the way British people do, or the way they do in America or Canada. I think there are certain countries where music production and just the quality of music is hard to beat. Growing up listening to a lot of British music and having a British mum, I just realised that I didn't want to start in Spain, I wanted to start where most of my favourite bands had started. 

And so Anteros was formed following that move?

L: Yeah, I moved here and everyone told me I was crazy because I was working for MTV, presenting for them. It was accidental, I fell into doing that. Then I moved over here and it was one of those moments where you sort of decide to flip your life upside down, because if you don't do it now, you're going to regret it, you know? I decided to quit my job, move to London and start a band. Everyone told me I was crazy- I think my parents only just started realising that I might not have been as crazy as they thought I was. 

So you think of it very much as a London project?

L: It is very much a London thing, very much a British thing. Growing up around Spanish kids, did you feel like you were completely torn in personality? Like half of you wanted to fit in with the conservative Spanish way of being, and the other half of you just wanted to be in a band?

Absolutely, it's a total clash of cultures. 

L: Yeah, a complete clash of cultures. I think like anyone, you want to try so hard to fit in and I spent my entire life growing up completely divided. I'd spent all of my life in Spain being Spanish and trying to fit in there, and then I realised it's not really how I feel. We had someone come down to our gig in Manchester, a couple who came all the way from Madrid, so it's really cool that Spanish people are catching on, and I got to do a radio interview with one of my Dad's favourite radio stations in Barcelona. It's definitely nice to go back.

It feels a little redundant to be talking about genre in today's industry, but I did read that you guys self-describe as bitter dream-pop, which I love. Even though your tracks are indie club anthems, there's a definite melancholic undertone to a lot of them. When you're writing, are you ever hesitant to share that raw side? 

L: I think it's always funny watching what people associate your songs to, because when you're writing about something so personal to you there's that feeling of 'oh my god, everyone's gonna know what I'm singing about' but actually it's not really the case. It does vary a lot, and I think the one thing we established was that we wanted to use music as- not therapy, but we wanted music to be that outlet for us. There's so much sh*t you have to go through, and it feels like one existential crisis after another. You start realising who you are, and start to realise what responsibilities you have. You start to understand, after a whole life of people telling you what's right and wrong, that it's not actually so easy sometimes. And I think you start to worry a lot about the state of the world. It is like therapy, and I feel like you can write about something that makes you miserable and still have energy onstage. That's why we enjoy playing live so much, because it's so up-tempo, and watching people have fun to something that's made me miserable is almost like a way of coming to terms and getting closure with it. 

Having ultimately made what was clearly the right decision to move to London and start the band, how have you found the independent music scene to be as a creative environment? 

L: There's something really lovely about being on an independent label, which is that you're actually nurtured. I feel like it's ironic that you can sign with a label that just wants everything ready, but the whole point of a record label is to nurture their artists. It seems crazy that that's now the role of independent labels. If feels like there's a lot more work to be done to be an independent artist, especially with social media where you have to be so on the ball and interacting with fans. It's 360 degrees- all areas you have to cover, but it does mean you become a lot closer with people working on your label, and with other bands. 

H: I think music fans can see that as well, especially people who are very into new bands. They notice that feeling of being at a gig with that DIY element, and they quite like it. 

L: It's so important because now we spend so much time with our heads down looking at our phones we've almost lost the ability to communicate, and the whole beauty of live music is you get the live feel. 

Born out of that close, DIY environment was your collaboration with GIRLI on your remix of her song 'Hot Mess'. I think she's fantastic, and was wondering what made you take on Hot Mess?

L: Who wouldn't want to take on 'Hot Mess'? We've known GIRLI for a few years now, we met her through friends at parties. She sent us the song, and we thought 'why not?'. Her music is so much fun, but it was so challenging because I was like 'sh*t, I'm going to have to rap-sing now, how am I gonna do that?' 

I think she does so well in getting the balance right between making really important and really fun music.

H: She has points that she raises, and raises them really well, in a fun way without preaching. It's a straight-forward message. 

L: With the world in the state that it's in now, it's impossible not to let politics affect you and the way you're writing, but if you look at any big catastrophe in the world at any marking point in history, art has always thrived because of it- and it definitely is [thriving] right now. We're going through a time where there are big things happening, things you can't really ignore. 

Lastly, you're recording the album at the moment. How much are you allowed to tell me about it? 

L: We're not really allowed to talk about it at all, just that...

Just that there will be one? 

L: Yes, If we ever get to finish it! We're back in the studio tomorrow and we're around half way there with it. Actually a little bit less than half way, so still a lot left to do. We've been working with Charlie Andrew (Marika Hackman, Alt-J), and we're having a lot of fun working with him. We've started working on the mood boards for all the artwork and the direction we want to take it in. It's so bizarre because it still doesn't feel real that we're going to do this. 

H: It's even weird when people use the word album, like 'what album? oh, ours!'

L: Making a first album is something you dream about from when you're a kid so it's definitely surreal. We're all enjoying it a lot, and it's been relatively drama-free which is good - sharing a house with three guys is not the one. 

Anteros' debut album will be released later this year. Stream their EPs on Spotify, and catch them on tour.

By Addison Paterson