Rik of The Violet Collective interviewed Anji Bee about her various creative endeavors on mp3.com. You can read the full Q&A over at the Violet Collection site.
Maybe you’ve seen her face around the mp3.com site, or maybe you’ve heard one of her collaborations with Lovespirals, or Voiceless, or Delphinium, or, well, you get the picture. Anji Bee is the voice behind a number of bands I’ve grown to enjoy, so I thought that it’d be kinda neat to have a little chat with her for The Violet Collection…
RIK: You divide your time between a few projects, Lovespirals and Delphinium being the most visible. How does this affect the way you write? Do you sit down with the idea of writing a Lovespirals song for example, or do you decide where a piece will be used after it’s written?
ANJI: I haven’t actually done any recording for Delphinium (formerly known as Datura) in a few years. Justin and I started doing other projects, and then he stopped making music. He’s been saying he wants to get back into it, so perhaps we’ll collaborate again sometime in the future. Since I’ve been in Lovespirals I’ve collaborated with a number of different musical projects, though — mostly during the end of 1999 to mid-2000. I was so excited to join Lovespirals that I went into a really creative period of songwriting, and my song journal was just overflowing.
Unfortunately, Ryan was having a lot of problems with his studio, so our work was put off for a while. His computer died twice, causing him to lose a lot of precious data, and he’s had a lot of problems getting his software to work correctly ever since. We haven’t actually gotten to do much work together yet, even though we’ve been together 2 years. As I mentioned, I was writing songs and just kinda tucking them away in my diary — recording the vocal lines to cassette. I guess music is kinda like breathing for me, it’s something that I have to do in order to live, you know? I go nuts if I’m not working on something music related! (It doesn’t always have to be singing…)
So what happened is that I recorded with 3 different bands that I met over the Internet, all very different from one another. I did some gothic-tinged electronica with a band called Voiceless, experimental drum’n’ bass with Aslan’s, and then some poppy trip hop and drum’n’bass with Dreamzone 51. I was more or less doing all the projects simultaneously, just grooving off whatever music the different musicians would send me. It was a crazy, creative time! I began to spread myself a little thin, though, so I told everyone that I had to back off and focus in on Lovespirals again.
We seem to have our band computer under control, we’re getting some hard drive space prepared, and we’ve started a new recording. Perhaps the wait has been beneficial, in that we’ve gotten to know each other more, shared a lot of music together and taken in lots of new musical influences. I think this next album will be really different from anything LSD has done.
RIK: There would seem to be a difference between the two bands in that your work with Lovespirals is very communal, very celebratory, whereas Delphinium seems to have a solitary nature to it, an almost confessional intimacy. Would you say this is an accurate description, and if so how do you keep these feelings separate when you’re working in each band?
ANJI: Gee, I really like what you said about Lovespirals! That is sort of true, in that those recordings you’ve heard are, indeed, very celebratory. Recording under the influence of new love and energy was sure to influence the sound of the song and my vocals. Ryan has really set me free to dance, and I tried to let my voice dance, as well. I love to dance to Lovespirals’ music; it’s a real kick when he spins the dub-plates at clubs. With the low lights, the loud volume, and all the lovely people dancing around me, it’s a truly magical experience!
Delphinium/Datura was definitely a much more somber project. But most of that was Justin’s influence. He’s a very different guy than Ryan. I always felt a bit at a loss doing vocals for his music, because I didn’t feel that it fit my personality completely. I’ve never really thought of myself as a gothic person, because I’m just too bubbly and enthusiastic. I really had to tone myself down to do darkwave music. I would much rather be doing jazzy soul vocals than stark ethereal ones. I didn’t really know that at the time I was working with Justin, but I hadn’t found my voice yet, and was still searching for my musical personality. I think I’ve found it now.
RIK: Knowing that Lovespirals is the next phase in the development of Love Spirals Downwards, what changes do you have in mind as a band to distinguish the two periods? As a new addition to the band, what would you specifically like to bring to Lovespirals?
ANJI: I guess I tend not to keep the past music of LSD in mind when we’re working on stuff, because what Ryan is doing now is so darned different. I understand the sound that he’s going for now, so I’m more focused on that as an inspiration. What we’re really interested in doing is bring an organic jazz sound into the music. As a vocalist, I intend to bring in more soulful feeling, using personal lyrics and a more blues-based vocal style. I also plan to be very involved in the songwriting, construction and production, making this more of a collaborative duo than in the past. I love to work with samples and loops, which I was able to do for our remix of Claire Voyant, and intend to continue with. Basically, I’m striving to be an integral part of the Lovespirals musical process, as well as the vocalist. I want to give the band 100%!
RIK: Aside from the Lovespirals album, are you working on anything else right now, and if so, what can we expect to hear? Any plans for the future?
ANJI: I had been thinking about compiling my favorite songs from various projects to release as an Anji Bee album, but I’m afraid that all the different recording qualities would sound too strange. I may just have to stick to Mp3.com as the avenue for getting my older music out to a listening audience. You’re free to do whatever you want on there, which is really nice. I may start doing some solo recordings, and slowly work towards doing an Anji Bee album that way, instead. Perhaps I’ll redo old songs that I really like, making them more fully mine. I’m not really sure how it would turn out, but it would likely be more ambient and vocal based than any of the stuff you’ve heard so far. I was doing some ambient stuff on 4-track before I hooked up with Ryan, and I’m feeling drawn to go back into that again, but this time with computer based recording. We’ll see, it’ll depend on how involved the Lovespirals work gets.
RIK: Dream question: Given the opportunity to play with anybody alive or dead from any time period, who would be part of the Anji Bee All Star Band and why?
ANJI: If I could work with anybody musically — that’s a tough one! I guess it’d be pretty bomb to do a vintage jazz ensemble with Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans and Paul Chambers. It might be hard to squeeze vocals into that group, but how inspiring it would be…. That old school jazz sound is some of the best music that exists, and those musicians played so well together. I think it would have been great fun to have sat in with the Grateful Dead, back in their hey day! I really love the way their collaboration was explained as being created from one hand, with each musician being one finger. It sounds like their recording sessions were really mystical experiences, which would be cool to be a part of. In present day, I’d love to work with Blue Mar Ten, PFM or Big Bud — so would Ryan, I’m sure! Those guys are really tops in the atmospheric dance music scene in England. BMT and PFM do amazing Drum’n’Bass remixes, and Big Bud make some funky ass Down Tempo tunes. I love singing to their instrumentals. It’d be cool to work with BT, William Orbit or Bill Laswell on a project. they are all great producers who know how to make a vocalist sound so sweet!!!
Anji Bee’s work can be heard on a number of pages on mp3.com: Anji Bee, Lovespirals, Delphinium, and Voiceless all feature songs with her.