Interview with Tony Anderson
The man behind the sound; a melodic blend of organic, electronic, and nostalgic elements have created a systematic combination to cinematic music. Anderson takes his listeners on a journey of their soul, bringing life back to music. It’s about telling a story through rhythm and sound; each beat, each cord, each progression, and each accent plays a vital part in the creation of each and every master piece of his work. Anderson gives us a look inside the man, the genius, the meticulous Sonic Architect that he is known as today. Having had 14 plus years in the industry, his ideology of music as an art form has been pushed to the limits; he gives us a clear cut, raw interpretation of his humble beginnings, experience, inspirations, aspirations and his current position within the industry. The ultimate goal is to invoke a feeling in each listener. Are you moved, brought to tears, great joy, pain, or anguish? If the answer is yes, than Anderson considers that a job well done, an accomplishment and a privilege to touch others through his gift of composition.RAINE: In your bio, you say that for the first decade everything that you wrote was awful. Talk about your ability to keep moving forward in the face of adversity?ANDERSON: If I have my way, I sit on an idea for a long time. I chisel away the excess little by little. I prune the vines as they need to be pruned. My secret is that I know what sounds bad in my music. Lots to unforced time with my music helps the core ideas of each song to decant like a good wine. That’s just something I learned from 10 years of writing music in obscurity. When nobody is watching - and when you aren’t filling your mind with the noise of social media when you’re writing - anything is possible because you aren’t writing from a motive of comparison, competition or worry.RAINE: How has partnering with Musicbed helped your career as a creative entrepreneur?ANDERSON: Partnering with Musicbed has single handedly been the wisest and most liberating decision I’ve made in my creative endeavors. Period. I feel like most free man in the world because I get to wake up next to my wife every morning, walk to my studio 3 blocks away and write music all day long. I joined Musicbed in 2012, and their team in Fort Worth (who have become friends) - are on the phone on my behalf brokering deals, making placement suggestions to filmmakers, writing all of my contracts, dealing with all the invoicing, agreements, collections and administrative details that drain creatives like me from what I’m here on earth to do - that’s a small part of what Musicbed brings to the table. Their ability to uniquely market the music is second to none. They’ve created an ecosystem in which every artist has an opportunity to be heard. I get emails every week telling me about new artists they’ve signed, new playlists they’re releasing for filmmakers and new events the entire Musicbed community is invited to. They truly remove the need to self-promote for artists.RAINE: Are there any big project that you are working on for 2016 that you can talk about?ANDERSON: Two things. First, I am officially stepping away from scoring films after 2016 simply because longer films force me to write tons of low quality music in a compressed timeframe. However, I have one more film to score between January and April of 2016 called the Hearts of Men. It’s a film about what men are really searching for when they visit brothels and continue to perpetuate the demand in the global sex trade. It’s legitimately the most powerful and life changing thing I have ever come across in the history of films.Second, I have started a second name from which I’ll begin writing and releasing electronic/house music inspired by my limited time in Miami. It’s called WAVMAP and my first single called Immersion will be out sometime before I die - can’t guarantee what time exactly, but it will be before I die. WAVMAP harkens back to many late night drives in warm coastal breezes, Miami’s many incredible sunsets and the ever evolving electronic scene in South Florida. WAVMAP will certainly be a dance of discovery and a departure from my current music.