Tie Your Anchor is a local band based in Illinois, officially formed in 2013. I caught up with the frontman, Jonah (lead vocals), but the group also includes members Chris (clean vocals, lead guitar), Josh (bass), and Brandon (drums). They currently have a single out called “Smoke.”
How long have you been a musician, officially?
Jonah: I created Tie Your Anchor in 2012 and tried to find members for about a year. Brandon and Chris joined in 2013.
Is there a story behind ‘Tie Your Anchor’ as a band name?
Jonah: I was 16-17 and in high school. The Color Morale was a huge influence on me, and they had a song called “Hopes Anchor.” The anchor itself is metaphorically dropped from a ship, and keeps that ship from moving, thus saying we will not sway from the chaos around us.
Would you describe your sound as being close to theirs?
Jonah: Maybe early The Color Morale, like their first two albums, but otherwise not really.
How would you describe or categorize your music?
Jonah: I like to call us “Emo-core.” I feel we fall into mainly the post-hardcore or metalcore category, though. I’m not big into labels. Our music is constantly growing and changing.
Being from Chicago and growing up here, I know the local scene is ever-changing and evolving, so what types of differences have you experienced from 2013 up until now as a band?
Jonah: I wish I could go back, honestly. The scene was way more accepting and the music was in a higher demand. Now if you listen to any old “core” bands, they barely have screams/heaviness to it – which is fine. But there’s more of a demand for “dad rock” and radio friendly music.
Venues have also shut down as well and we find ourselves with no where very local to play.
It was much easier to get on a show 5+ years ago, whereas now you have to know someone as well as meet a ticket requirement.
What would you say the hardest obstacle has been for the band?
Jonah: The hardest obstacle has honestly been ourselves; we were our own worst critic and worst enemy. I feel like we just stopped caring what other people think and started making music that we enjoy. We took a year off and after we came back together, it has been like a new start.
What are the smallest and largest venue sizes you’ve ever played?
Jonah: Smallest was a skate shop out of Lansing, called Royal Skate.
Largest would be Mojoes(at the time)/The Forge.
Can you talk about the writing process if anything you do is similar or different than before your break?
Jonah: Our guitarist Chris writes the tracks instrumentally and collaborates with Brandon, our drummer. We get sent the tracks and then each write our own parts. I write the lyrics for the most part. We adjust if needed during recording.
Before we used to kind of just throw stuff together. It’s more organized. Lyrically, I’ve grown in the sense that I’m writing more for/to the music. I try and write different feelings/topics for songs instead of the same shit over and over.
This is more of a general question about the scene, but what is your favorite and least favorite parts about it?
Jonah: Favorite: the people I meet and talent I get to play with
Least favorite: the people I meet and talent I get to play with
I say they’re the same because my least favorite part are the judgmental assholes who we meet. But, the people who genuinely support the music and want to be there are the positive that outweighs it.
I know your goal is to release an album by the end of the year; can you talk a bit about it?
Jonah: We don’t have a name yet, though we have one in mind. We’re about half-way done, 12 tracks. It’s definitely going to be a game-changer for us. We’ve never put this much time into an album, we always end up rushing. We’ve learned from that and now collaborate with each other a lot more. “Smoke” is a great song off the album to represent our overall message but it’s definitely not my favorite.
What is/are your favorite song(s) to play live and why?
Jonah: My favorite changes especially as I get more comfortable with new songs, but currently it’s our cover of “Misery Business” (crowd reaction), and “Pills” because of the break down.
Chris: All the songs from the new album because we’re taking longer to finalize everything and taking our time to structure the songs and make things sound good.
Josh: I like “Losing Control” and “The Day You Walked Away” because I get to play power chords.
Brandon: “Done to Me” and “Lullaby.” “Lullaby” because it was the first song we played that I smiled on stage.
What bands or artists do you feel you take inspiration from when writing and creating music?
Jonah: Silverstein has always been a huge inspiration lyrically and vocally. Emmure as well. Those have been my two favorites and influences for around 10 years.
What was the first album you ever bought?
Jonah: Probably Simple Plan – the first few albums.
Lastly, what does music mean to you, whether it be creating or listening?
Jonah: It’s an outlet, for all of us. I’ve always wanted to be a writer so this allows me to do that. It’s the one thing I’ve created and never given up on. Music has done a lot for me, and I plan to give that back to the best of my abilities.
Tie Your Anchor plans to release an album later in the year, but you can give them a try by streaming their album Broken and their new single “Smoke,” available on streaming platforms.
