Alt-Rock from a Dream: An Interview with anocean

In the neon-bathed recesses of a restless night's dream, anocean wove together an EP. A 5-track set plucked from the ethereal part of the brain that only wakes up during the darkest phase of the night. The supergroup debuted the release dubbed Climbing Walls in early November and have been rolling around Baltimore playing the shoegaze hits ever since. Though anocean just recently came together in January of 2024, the members have been helping shape the dream-pop/alt-rock scene in Maryland for decades with the help of groups like Thrushes and Mittenfields. On an evening between shows, I got the opportunity to speak with vocalist Anna and bassist Dave about this new project. The conversation ran as follows. 

UPTIGHT: You bill yourselves as a supergroup formed from Thrushes and Mittenfields. How did those two groups end up combining to make anocean?

ANNA: A mutual friend connected Dave and I via Instagram, and we got talking from there about starting a new band.

DAVE: The one and only, John Foster — who wrote our bio — added that. The whole “supergroup” thing is all John. anocean isn’t the result of Thrushes and Mittenfields combining, although that has some real Captain Planet energy about it. Both bands are connected to one another in that Mittenfields opened up for Thrushes back in 2010, and ANNA and myself were in those bands, respectively. 

UPTIGHT: With Thrushes having a release that dates all the way back to 2006, it's clear you're a group of veteran musicians. How long have you been playing for?

ANNA: I’ve been playing guitar for about 28 years.

DAVE: I picked up the guitar when I was 15. So 1994. I have Weezer’s Blue Album and Green Day’s Dookie to blame for wanting to become a musician. More so the former, though. 

UPTIGHT: You can hear touches of anocean's sound in tracks from Mittenfields and Thrushes. Do you consider anocean to be a sort of continuation of those two groups or its own thing altogether?

ANNA: It feels brand new to me. 

DAVE: I think anocean is its own thing. I was the lead singer in Mittenfields. I didn’t sing one note on the anocean Climbing Walls EP. So I don’t really hear Mittenfields sound in anocean. Maybe my bass playing, but that’s about it.

UPTIGHT: How long have you been doing live shows, both as anocean and with your respective earlier groups?

ANNA: I think Thrushes formed in 2005. I played in my late-teen years as a solo act at church basement gigs.

DAVE: Our first show [as anocean] was in December of 2023 at The Runaway in Washington, D.C. We opened up for Minneapolis’s Creeping Charlie. That band is going to be big one day! 

UPTIGHT: What is the music scene in the Baltimore area like?

DAVE: It seems like the bands are really supportive of each other. I’ve always loved Baltimore. There’s something special about blue-collar cities. 

ANNA: It’s always interesting because there are always new bands to get into. Playing with other local bands in Baltimore is awesome because it feels so supportive. I’ve met some of my best friends in the scene here.

UPTIGHT: Have you played much outside Maryland?

ANNA: Not as anocean. Thrushes did some short tours around; the furthest we made it was Nova Scotia for the Halifax Pop Explosion Fest. We drove there and back in a weekend.

DAVE: We’ve only played shows in Maryland — mostly in Baltimore — and Washington, D.C. We hope to start playing in other states next year. 

UPTIGHT: What's your favorite place to play?

ANNA: That’s a hard choice because there are so many good venues in Baltimore. I think it’s a tie between the Ottobar and the Metro Gallery.

DAVE: There’s something to be said about “favorite places” to play, but I feel like it’s equally as important to consider the lineup. I’m at an age now where I only want to play with bands that I’m into. So as much as I’d love to play the 930 Club  with any band out there, I’d probably be just as excited to put together a bill of bands that I’m really into at any venue with a sound system. But I didn’t really answer your question. We haven’t played a venue that we wouldn’t return back to. The Watermelon Room in Baltimore really impressed me a lot! We had a fantastic time playing at Metro Gallery. The Crown was a really cool and interesting venue to play at — very hip place, rest in peace. Had a great time at Holy Frijoles. The audience was lively that evening. All of these Baltimore venues are lovely, and I’d recommend any band contact them if they’re looking to play in Baltimore. As far as Washington, D.C. goes, we haven’t played many venues in D.C. The band played to an energetic crowd over at the Pie Shop when we opened for Continuals. What’s not to like about a venue that serves pie and hosts live music?! Our last D.C. area show was at Galaxy Hut in Clarendon, VA, across the bridge from Georgetown. Best dive bar, in my opinion. 

UPTIGHT: Who are your musical influences?

ANNA: I’ve always loved bands like Fountains of Wayne, great hooks and lyrics. I was also very, very obsessed with Tori Amos in my formative years. 

DAVE: It started off with Weezer in 94’. I was a massive fan of theirs. Back then, there weren’t many Weezer fans in San Antonio, Texas. And, if you admitted to being a fan of Weezer, people would automatically think you were a nerd, which is fine. My next-door neighbors had a band called The Doozers. They had a Mudhoney/Nirvana/Sonic Youth vibe. The oldest of the three brothers introduced me to the Pixies and Pavement. Those two bands have been referenced as major influences of mine in over 20 Craigslist ads over the years. 

UPTIGHT: What can you tell me about the Climbing Walls EP?

ANNA: We just wanted to play songs we liked playing. 

UPTIGHT: What can we expect from anocean going forward? Is there a full-length album in the works? 

ANNA: I would love to do a full-length record. I’m really just happy to be playing music again. It would be fun to do some short tours.

DAVE: I’d like for the next album to go through at least three mixes, and I’d love for the band to spend a lot of time with post-production tricks. Due to financial constraints, we all listened to the first mix and agreed that it sounded “good enough.” I’d love for the band to get beyond that kind of an attitude about something we’ve spent a lot of time on.

There are many things you could call anocean; dream pop, shoegaze, or alt rock. When it comes down to it though, these all fall short of what you're getting on Climbing Walls. They ripped something surreal out of the unconscious world and pumped it up with a dose of rock. Do yourself a favor and go listen to the EP wherever you stream your music.