Welcome back to another Havoc Underground's "Band of the Week"! This week we're really excited to bring you The Anti-Queens! They're a kick ass Rock n Roll Punk band from Canada. Check out our interview with them below:
HU: For those who don’t know, who are The Anti-Queens?
AQ: The Anti-Queens were officially formed with that name in 2013, but the band’s history goes back to the late 2000’s. Formed by Emily Bones with former members. Emily is the only original member.
HU: Where’d the name come from?
AQ: Our band name derives from the concept of an anti-king, a person who’s declared themselves in a role of power, often with societal support, in direct opposition to the king born into their monarchical position. It’s a form of uprising and independence, not taking any bullshit and leading the way. I like to think we’ve been living up to the title.
The Anti-Queens - Leave Me Out
HU: You've hit the road a lot in the last few years. Can you pick out a favorite tour?
AQ: We LOVE touring, and it’s probably one of the main reasons we love being in a band so much. Although it’s difficult to pick a favorite tour, I’d have to say our first European tour through Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland with our pals in The Creepshow by far stands out as the most exciting. We can’t wait to go back!
HU: Your debut Self-Titled album came out last year, and was met with an overwhelmingly positive response. What was it like to have such a response to your full length debut?
AQ: The response to our first full length record has been amazing. We keep seeing a growing amount of people coming out to shows, and they’re singing every word off the album. We’ve surpassed 200,000 streams since it’s release, and we are being streamed in over 50 countries. We’ve had consistent radio play for “Worse Than Death” on stations across Canada, and we have mailed out albums around the world. We are so proud of this album and the response it has gotten.
HU: How have you guys been handling the COVID-19 shutdown?
AQ: Like most active bands, we have struggled navigating our way through this pandemic. The hardest thing to cope with was not being able to practice together or play shows. We did however come up with fun online content which kept us busy for a few months while we we were all locked down, and the response to that was pretty positive. You can find most of it on our Facebook Page and Instagram account. Things got a little weird to say the least. We did a couple covers and made videos for them, which you can find on our above mentioned profiles.
THE ANTI-QUEENS - FRANCES FARMER WILL HAVE HER REVENGE ON SEATTLE (NIRVANA COVER)
HU: If you could have The Anti-Queens be direct support on tour for any band, who would it be?
AQ: Honestly, our tastes are pretty all over the map so we’d probably have a different answer for this one, but collectively we decided Sum 41 wins and we would be over the moon to go on tour with those guys. Runner ups were The Distillers, Joan Jett or Foo Fighters.
HU: Do you have a favorite song to perform live? Song you can tell is a fan favorite?
AQ: “Worse Than Death”, the first single off our Self-Titled album, usually gets the biggest response. Although, as we put ourselves out there more and more, the fans are discovering the past discography and have been known to request, with some serious persistence I might add, older songs. “Noushi”, a song off the very first AQ EP ‘Grow Up/Stay Young’ is definitely a fan favourite and we get that one called out all the time at shows. We recently (before the pandemic) added it into our standard set. As for our favourite songs, we all have our own specific favourites and they’re generally all different. We just love playing the album front to back, it doesn’t get old for us.
HU: Anything new coming up for The Anti-Queens?
AQ: As our country starts to reopen, we are now putting our focus into a brand new album. We have been feverishly writing, creating, and collaborating with each other in this new chapter of The Anti-Queens. We will be going into the studio to record it in September, but that’s all I can say for now. As well, keep an eye open for one more single and video off our Self-Titled album.
Well there you have it! The Anti-Queens! They also just made an official post on their Facebook that they have started writing a new album, so follow the band to keep up to date with that.
The Anti-Queens "Worse Than Death" Music Video