The Antibuddies have a new single headed our way quite soon (LYKW 3/18), which gave me the perfect opportunity to make them do homework, and answer some of my questions. Big thanks to The Antibuddies for playing along, as this is my first interview on DWR. You’ve got mail, it’s my favorite Detroit punks The Antibuddies.
DWR: Just like every good superhero, every band has an origin story. How did the Antibuddies form, and how did you choose your name?
TA: We’re sort of in our 2.0 phase. So instead of the origin story here is our rebirth story.
But first a preface; Jenny and Cale had attempted to start a band a few years ago with our friend Angie. We didn’t have the time for it then because life is busy.
The Antibuddies got rolling a few years after that with our friend Emily on drums. She took a job out of state last summer so we decided to ask Angie to help out. We played a few local shows and did a tour to promote the last EP. We hit it off really well and decided to make it official.
It was important that our name reflect the total weirdassness of 2020/2021 when the band started, so we came up with this silly play on “antibodies”- the buzzword of the day. Shit took off, luckily!
DWR: Who do you view as the main musical influences for the Antibuddies? How have those bands shaped how you play music, and what’s a band people would be surprised that you’re influenced by?
Cale: Nirvana for sure. Maybe a surprise but Helmet without all the silly unique time structures.
Angie: I like a lot of post-punk stuff, so that is a big influence on me in general. In terms of coming up with drum parts for this band, I think I end up channeling Dave Grohl (Nirvana), D.H. Peligro (Dead Kennedys), Bill Stevenson (Black Flag, Descendants, All), & Jess Gowrie (Chelsea Wolfe) the most! I’m not sure if anyone actually hears any of that in my playing!
Jenny: Songs I keep coming back to are Possum Kingdom by The Toadies and Big Bang Baby by Stone Temple Pilots. I love the cronchy bass tone in Big Bang Baby and the amazing brilliant structure of Possum Kingdom- a 5 minute rock song that never drags! How’d they do it??? Folks may be surprised to learn that I have a years-long obsession with Love In An Elevator by Aerosmith. Another wonder of satisfying song structure. I implore you to really listen deep to that song if you haven’t in a while. I have soft spot for party rock bands like Eagles of Death Metal, T. Rex, and INXS- as an anxious overthinker, I appreciate the fuck out of an emptyheaded good time.
DWR: I’ve previously covered and really enjoyed two of the Antibuddies previous EP’s, and with LYKW coming it doesn’t seem like there’s an end in sight (thank goodness). What’s your songwriting process like, and who’s involved?
TA: THANK YOU for the support! We’re jazzed you like our songs and undyingly grateful for your reviews. A tsunami of thank-yous to you.
We’re pleasantly surprised at the amount of songs we have in us too! It’s a bit of a snowball effect luckily- once you get started you get a sort of system going that helps build confidence. It helps that we’re all generally blindly enthusiastic about each other and prefer to marvel at the miracle of creativity rather than criticize shit.
It typically starts with guitar or bass parts. Sometimes independent riffs but sometimes full rough drafts. We then get together and figure out a basic structure. We play it some and record it to a phone. Then we listen back separately to come up with the polish. It helps to decide on a theme early-on: is this song about misogyny? Mothman? Making out? Is it angry? Silly? Both? Keeping things simple is key. If the crowd can’t be shouting with us by the end of the song it’s too muddy.
DWR: It doesn’t seem like The music industry is becoming any easier to find success in nowadays and one of the larger costs can be associated with the recording process. What’s your recording process like? Do you use a studio, or DIY? Do you have an outside producer, or do you do that yourself?
TA: As luck would have it, Jenny’s fella Jimmy does recording and mixing as a hobby and he’s very good at it! He only charges Jenny’s continued undying love and affection, so it’s very budget-friendly. In an even luckier turn of events, Jimmy’s boss has let us use their shop warehouse for our recording sessions. So, we had lots of square footage and rooms to play with for sound isolation and natural reverb. Btw Jimmy’s band Vellows are rad and he records them too!
DWR: From what I understand being in a band sometimes involves a lot of waiting around. I’ve seen people read, I’ve seen people knit, what do you do to pass time on tour, and at shows?
TA: For us tour is like vacation so we do fun relaxing stuff. Like conservatories! We’ve been to like 3 different conservatories and a few different arboretums. We ran into another touring band at the Milwaukee conservatory last year! Punks love plants. And vegan food. Cleveland Vegan in Cleveland and Three Carrots in Indianapolis are some of our favorite spots.
We also use the Atlas Obscura website to look up kitschy weird roadside stuff between tour spots. We’ve visited the world’s largest teapot in West Virginia and more than one corn maze in our time.
Their Socials:
My Socials:
Remember to keep tuned for The Antibuddies new single “LYKW,” out March 18. Interested in an interview yourself? Use the contact form on the site, or shoot me an e-mail at Justin@Dirtwitchrecords.com
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