Amos/Anon Newsletter Interview

Best described as progressive, dark and haunting, Amos/Anon, brainchild of Peter-James Dries, has remained embedded in obscurity since 2005, covertly planting their music around the country, hiding their albums and waiting patiently for unsuspecting victims to stumble upon it.

If you haven’t heard of Amos/Anon, then everything is fine. The system is working. Keep calm and stop thinking. Close your pretty eyes and let capitalism lull you back into a dreamless slumber.

Peter talked to muzic.net.nz about the new album:

Tell us about your new album.

If anybody has been following Amos/Anon they’ve probably noticed that I alternate between heavier and lighter music between releases. Toil On, Poor Heart fits into the lighter, pseudo-acoustic side of things.

The album features vocals from long-time collaborator Paraffin, who has also recorded her own versions of the songs, which she’s been slowly releasing on the Paraffin Soundcloud.

How did you come up with the name?

It’s from a poem by this transcendentalist writer, Ellen Sturgis Hooper. It kind of reflected what I planned to go for with Toil on.

I’m not usually one for the whole Unitarian, “every person is innately good” thing, but I wanted to try something different. Transcendentalists have this hope, where Dark Romanticism, my usual style, is rooted in despair.

Is there an overall concept to the album?

It’s a reflection of the previous album, Anomy. The narrative was about the journey from being nothing to being “normal” and how integration into society from the outside is impossible. Or at least that’s what it was going to be about.

Looking at it now, Anomy is more or less summed up by Rusted Through, the third song of Toil.

Let’s say the release is the story of Kurt Cobain, post-In Utero. Or any artist really, at least a broken one. Their process.

What was the hardest part about making this album?

Toil on turned out to be an apt name. The writing and recording process was one where at every step there was an obstacle that made me question whether it was even worth it any more. There were plenty of times where I had to tell myself to toil on and get this album done.

Where do you see your band in the future?

If you believe the underlying theme of Toil on, this is probably the end for now. There were still two releases I had planned, How to be unheard and postmortem, but if this one was anything to go by, I don’t know if I have it in me.

Toil on, poor heart will be available from the [Amos/Anon] Bandcamp Page.

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Album Review: Anomy