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– Exclusive with Emma Anzai of Sick Puppies at Rock on the Range

Boxx Magazine | Exclusive with Emma Anzai of Sick Puppies at Rock on the Range

Thursday 16th January 2014,

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Exclusive with Emma Anzai of Sick Puppies at Rock on the Range

Boxx Magazine May 24, 2013

It’s no wonder all the photographers swarmed to her side of the stage when Sick Puppies performed at Rock on the Range 2013. Afterward, Boxx caught up with bassist Emma Anzai to learn more about the “Free Hugs” campaign that got the band noticed in America, the new album out in July and the females in rock who have inspired her. And of course we bring it all back to Silverchair.

BOXX: Back in 2006, there was a “free hugs” video campaign that featured one of your songs and really opened America’s arms up to Sick Puppies. What’s the story behind that?

Emma Anzai: “We were in the States, showcasing for label after label and got rejected countless times. So we thought we’d have to go home and we were really bummed out. At the same time, we were recording the song ‘All the Same’ in the studio and [singer] Shim[on Moore] had received all this footage of his friend giving out free hugs. So Shim decided to put it all together and sent a video to his friend. We thought it could be an online thing to put out and unbeknownst to us it really caught on. People really loved it, they forwarded it to their friends, and it became a thing. It put us on the map, so we are really grateful for it.”

BOXX: The legendary photographer Robert Knight has been championing you from the beginning and really helped find you recognition in the States. How did you guys meet him?

EA: “We met him through our manager who met Robert at a party in Australia. Robert is a character, just a guy that you have to meet. Our manager and he hit it off and he was like, ‘why don’t you come over to the states and introduce the band?’ So we did just that. We followed in his footsteps and came to the U.S. and one thing led to another. We had some downtime and so we started recording in the studio, and from there met some other people and here we are.”

BOXX: Sick Puppies is releasing a new album Connect on July 16. You played a new song here called “I’d Die to Save You,” which features you on vocals. We haven’t heard too much from you before. Is this something new, will we hear more of you singing?

EA: “I guess it is kind of a new thing. I don’t really sing too much, but we do like the duets of Shim and I together. We’ve done a few songs on the previous albums but this time we focused more on that. So I think you will hear that a bit more.”

BOXX: Being that we are a magazine that covers women in music, have there been any other female artists that you’ve listened to lately or toured with that our readers should look out for?

EA: “Halestorm of course. Back when we toured with Evanescence that was really great. In This Moment and Paramore are others that I like. But any woman in rock basically. It’s such a male-dominated industry that when you see a woman you’re like, Ah thank god!’ It’s that feeling that as long as there’s women in music it makes that much of a difference. The fact that you get to be in the presence of other female musicians makes you feel a bit better. At least for me.”

BOXX: Were there any women artists growning up that you looked up to or made you want to get into music?

EA: “Funnily enough not so much. There weren’t many at all. I guess I was lucky to be oblivious to that sort of thing, oblivious to any feeling that women shouldn’t play rock music or shouldn’t play bass or whatever. I was a bit of a tomboy anyway so I went for it and luckily I teamed up with Shim who was used to working with women and we grew from there. Really I just loved Silverchair, there’s not girls in Silverchair but I loved them.”

BOXX: Well all the girls loved them at least.

EA: “Exactly.”

Also check out our video interview with Emma Anzai from Rock on the Range!

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