INTERVIEW: Rebecca Need-Menear – Anavae
Breaking down the doors into being one of the best rising duos in electronic rock is London duo, ANAVAE. After recently releasing their brand new EP, Are You Dreaming? Distorted Sound caught up with vocalist Rebecca Need-Menear to discuss the EP and the influences that have shaped the duo into having a truly unique sound and a successful future ahead of them.
Firstly, how are you?
Rebecca: And secondly, thank you for asking. Currently listening to my favourite new Spotify find – Mammal Hands with the coffee shakes.
It’s been a few weeks since the release of your new EP, Are You Dreaming? How has the reception been?
Rebecca: I guess all you can hope for is each release being considered your ‘best to date’ and to have people say as such is a great feeling. Being told it was ‘worth the wait’ has been such a relief.
You’ve got a really unique sound that makes rock and electronic hold hands wonderfully, what made that
style come around for you?
Rebecca: Thank you! We listen to a lot of heavy rock, squeaky clean pop and everything in between, so the genres
combining is something we tend to naturally gravitate towards. We just write what we think sounds cool.
You both share a love of Sci-Fi movies, novels, images etc. and you bring that love into the music, how do you incorporate that into your music?
Rebecca: We love weird, dark noises which we’ve started incorporating into our music more and more. I find Sci-Fi movie soundtracks so interesting. It’s the amalgamation of classical music and ambient/electronics which takes you on a journey alone, even without the film. We want to be able to evoke images through music and whether we’ve achieved that or not, it’s certainly a future aim. It’s also the desire to be able to say things in a more interesting way. There’s finding a balance in being too poetic and being relatable.
Your EP title is taken from a book called Lucid Dreaming I believe, can you tell us about how that made its
way into the inspiration for your EP?
Rebecca: I tend to write music in this spaced out state of neither being here nor there. It’s a feeling of being quite separated. I got a very similar feeling whilst dream working. If you think about it too hard or for too long you start to contemplate the boundaries between dreaming and being awake. Day dreaming, sleep dreaming, reality, none-reality and whatever are the differences really? I never really feel present so it felt like the perfect title to sum up any body of work, as everything I write comes from a personal experience.
ANAVAE is clearly unique but in a world of music that is bursting at the seams can it be difficult to find a
niche aspect for you to grow on?
Rebecca: If you think about your niche or where you fit for too long you’ll probably drive yourself crazy, and we’ve certainly done that in the past. Worrying is so uninspiring. I’ve learnt that the best things come from a place where you allow yourself to flow freely. If you write just to fit into a nice or NOT fit into a niche then I fear the music may become disingenuous.
What plans are there for you now that the EP is out?
Rebecca: We’ve got another video due to be released really soon for our track Stay. We’d obviously love to make something for every track on the EP, but we’ll see! We’re playing a few live dates in December. Croydon Rocks on the 3rd December, and two dates at Boston Music Room with AREA 11 on the 11th and 12th.
Many thanks for your time and congratulations on the stunning Are You Dreaming?
Rebecca: Thank YOU !
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