The Power Of Letting Go With ANA

In just under three years, Melbourne hard rock outfit ANA have laid themselves a strong platform from which to launch their music. Having already toured through Europe and Japan, ANA are now setting their sights on their home country, starting with a headlining slot at Rockdale Metal Festival in September.
Merging the intensity of metal with sweeping orchestral arrangements, ANA have quickly found their niche, exploring the outlying areas of symphonic/power metal and integrating it with a harder edge that gives their music an edge all of its own.
HEAVY sat down with the band earlier this week to discuss their rapid rise through the ranks. One of the topics of conversation was the cinematic orchestration prevalent in their music.
"When we were making the album - before we started going into the studio - Josh (Mak, lead guitar) pulled me aside and told me that Anna (Khristenko, vocals) likes to have strings in the songs," keyboard player Mark Shi explained. "But if I could have my way, I would love to have a lot of synths. So I took that into mind when we were writing the album and tried to come up with a good balance where we could have cinematic string lines along with synth sounds and synth sound design in the songs. It was a mix of everyone's ideas, and when we went into the studio, honestly, it was quite magical. I've never seen anything like that, writing a full album in two days. I think that the Japan tour helped us a lot because we knew what each other was thinking. Everything just came together in a very short amount of time, and it was perfect. We couldn't have asked for a better experience than this."
In the full interview, the conversation touched on the band's excitement for their headline performance at the Rockdale Metal Festival and the positive reception of their recent European tour, particularly in Budapest. The band members noted cultural differences in audience behaviour, with a desire to explore international venues beyond Australia.
The group reflected on their debut EP, The Art of Letting Go, and the collaborative writing process for their new album, which incorporates diverse musical influences, discussing the challenges of blending different genres while maintaining a cohesive sound. We discussed their musical direction, future tours and more.


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.