Pick up some Skyline Chili, make a few friendship bracelets and grab your buds as Midwest Friends Fest is returning to the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area for its sophomore year. Midwest Friends Fest is once again taking over the Southgate House Revival in Newport, KY.
The 2-day festival with multiple stages and amazing national and local acts like Signals Midwest, Cinema Stare, The 1984 Draft and Tooth Lures A Fang will take place from 30 & 31 May with tickets available here.
TGEFM was able to chat a bit with Over Anna about this year’s festival for this installment of our MWFF interview series. Check it out below and we’ll see you at the bonfire in the woods!
Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview! What should our readers know about Over Anna; your history, your mission, your sound?
Sure thing! We’re honored to be able to share more about our story and journey.
Probably the most important thing that folks should know about us is that…none of us are named Anna. Other than that, they should know that we’re just four neurodivergent dorks in Atlanta who make 2000s-esque pop punk and emo music a la Coheed, Paramore, and Fall Out Boy. Through our music, we bring fun and high-energy vibes, but with an introspective lens. We might make you rethink all of your life choices, but hey! At least you’ll be dancing while you think of them.
You are gearing up for Midwest Friends Fest in the coming months, what does the festival circuit mean to artists like yourselves?
Yes! We are so excited to be playing MWFF next month! It will be our first official festival outside of the state! Playing fests like MWFF gives us independent/DIY folks the opportunity to connect with different artists and people that we otherwise might not have had a chance to meet. It helps to create a sense of community beyond state lines and virtual spaces, which is essential as we all continue to navigate this ever-evolving industry.
What does Over Anna have planned for us beyond MWFF?
NEW MUSIC. NEW MUSIC. NEW MUSIC. We can’t reveal when things will be released, but we just got out of the studio a few weeks ago and recorded 3 new songs AND (for the first time ever) an official cover. Buckle up buttercups! Outside of that, we’re going to keep working on playing more festivals and out of state shows, especially in Texas (two of us are originally from there).
What have been some of the most memorable moments or experiences with the band so far? What’s been the most unexpected? The weirdest?
Being a band full of dorks, we’re fortunate to have many wild and memorable moments to draw from. Some awesome moments would include: playing Punk Black Showcases (all of them really, but one of our faves was in Tampa); opening up for Like Roses, Action/Adventure, and Youth Fountain at the Masquerade; our times recording in Valdosta, GA with the emo legend Lee Dyess; and breathing the same air as Lil Nas X and B.O.B at shows. The most unexpected AND weirdest moment would have to be encountering the roosters in the trees in Ybor City, Tampa (IYKYK).
Regarding live sets, what are you most excited to bring to the Midwest Friends Fest audience? What do you want the attendees to say about your
set when they tell their friends about you?
We love to move and have a great time onstage, and really just want folks to share in that fun while also picking up on the messages and themes in our music. It’d be so cool for people to still be reflecting on our set as the day goes on and spread the word about Jaz’s high notes, Emily’s sparkly bass, Eugene’s headbanging, and Tim’s fills. We’d also love to get that signature stank face of approval from the crowd.
We’ve all got a few, what is your biggest regret? A gig you turned down, advice you didn’t take, what one thing do you wish you handled differently as a musician?
One of our biggest regrets is not playing mixed genre bills sooner. There were previous members that didn’t agree with the concept of mixed bills, so unfortunately, we missed out on playing with some really cool bands early on. Thankfully, we’ve since course-corrected and have made so many friends and connections within different genres.
The punk, ska and indie scenes have almost always been at the forefront of inclusion and diversity within the music scenes. The flipside of course is that the gatekeeping in the scene is also very prevalent? Why do you think the genre brings in such a welcoming community and is so happy to let everyone in and also seems to shut the doors so quickly behind themselves?
Taking this question from the musician perspective – What probably started as a well-meaning way to protect the scene, has seemed to be overshadowed by the need to treat it as a competition or exclusive club (or as Fall Out Boy put it, “an arms race”). We wish that folks would remember that it’s not a competition, especially as more alternative artists are finding different paths of success and turning away from big labels, agencies, etc. There’s enough room for everyone, and we’re stronger together. Plus, having a solid and diverse network of awesome people in your corner will do way more for you while you’re navigating the scene and industry.
This festival is all about friendships and music. What do you value most in friendships amongst yourself and your stagemates?
Being goofballs both on and offstage, the ability for us to laugh with (and very often AT) each other is a key aspect for us. Underneath that silliness is a blended layer of respect, support, and trust that further strengthens our connection. If you can’t have fun onstage and trust the people you’re up there with, what are you doing?
I’ve got to be honest, I wasn’t very familiar with Over Anna before you joined the MWFF roster. Now that I’ve listened to “Blip” and the other singles released this Summer I’m fairly obsessed with what you are putting out there. Tell me a little bit about “Blip”? What was going on at the time that helped kickstart the songwriting process?
(Content warning: mention of intimate partner violence)
Thank you so much! “Blip” is the probably most *emo* song we’ve written so far both lyrically and instrumentally.
We were a 3-piece at the time and looking for a new drummer. Eugene sent most of the song late one night and prefaced it by saying something like, “I wrote something weird, but I kinda like it.” Sure enough, we fell in love with it and started writing bass parts and melodies. While getting ready to go into the studio to record it and other songs, Eugene started getting second thoughts and tried to scrap the song multiple times. Thankfully, Tim joined the band just in time to write awesome drum parts that essentially saved the song.
The lyrics were written way before the instrumental parts were. Jaz is a survivor of intimate partner violence, and originally wrote the lyrics as a therapeutic way to get her thoughts out. She kept being ambushed by triggers that would pull her in and out of memories, which she referred to as “blips.” Suddenly she was back reliving a memory with her ex, with all the “good” feelings from that moment flooding back and briefly letting nostalgia win. All the progress dissolved in an instant due to a song, smell, etc. Which is a complex feeling as a survivor, because for a moment there’s that, “*sigh* Why did we ever break up?” thought, until you remember the abuse.
When the instrumental parts were complete, the lyrics fit like a glove with the rough melodies and overall vibe of the song. And voila! Our emo breakup anthem was born!
It could just be that I’m paying more attention as our daughters are starting to discover their own music tastes, but it seems like “femme-fronted” acts are finally seeming to get the acceptance and mainstream attention it deserved for so long? Beyonce mentioned in her Grammy speech that unfortunately sometimes genres and descriptors end up holding artists down. In light of the way the world seems to be moving backward in a lot of regards, do you believe we are getting to a point where “femme-fronted” is no longer used as a descriptor when we really
should just be calling bands like Over Anna kick-ass rock rather than femme-fronted emo/pop?
YES – Or at least we’re getting a lot closer than before. And we’ve started to use some of that reframing in our social media posts and interactions at shows to further normalize this awesome trend. But we still have a long way to go, especially when some of music’s biggest festivals are still limiting the amount of women, femme, trans, and non-binary artists being featured, which is not consistent with how the scene actually looks.
One of the things we do in our local scene to bring attention to the issue is through our “Representation Matters” Instagram story highlights. We take pictures with other women, femme, trans, or non-binary musicians that we’re playing with or watching perform and share them to our IG story. (Note: We also expand this to different racial/ethnic groups, as these groups also use descriptors to qualify their existence in the scene.)
What album or band or significant singles made you go “Yeah, this is what I want to do” Not just an influence but who or what was the catalyst? On the flipside to that one… Who are some non-MWFF bands on your radar that TGEFM readers may not know about, but you think they should?
Green Day was the catalyst for both Eugene (guitar) and Tim (drums) to start playing their instruments, with Eugene also noting Nirvana as an influential push. Emily (in classic Texas fashion) started playing bass/guitar because of George Strait. And it was Paramore for Jaz that catapulted her into wanting to start a band.
Non-MWFF bands on our radar:
*Soul Meets Body
*Keep Your Secrets
*Hijas de la Muerte
*Hue
*Capture This
*Cawston
*Pretty Pity
*Color Me Krazy
*Second Lady
*Gold Steps
*Smallpools
*Mint Green
Non-MWFF bands from ATL (just sharing a few for now):
*Sister Sleep
*Novumora
*The Rack
*Left Hand Hotdog
*Pinto Sunshine
*Mostly Strangers
*Kyle Lewis is a Boring Name
*Elysium
*Catch These Hands
I don’t know if you’ve heard about this newcomer by the name of Taylor Swift. Her growing fanbase trades friendship bracelets. If you made a bracelet for MWFF, what word or phrase word you put on it?
Excellent question as we’re likely going to be having friendship bracelets available to pass out for MWFF. Probably would just keep it cute and simple with “MWFF”, “Let’s Be Friends”, or “Over Anna”, but might also do some silly stuff like:
*Oh Haiii 🙂
*MW Emo Friend
*Be Gay Do Crime
*Not A Gemini
*Emo 2 Go
Post show jam session in a large, empty field. What song are you singing around the bonfire? (Pardon my playful biases, but everything I know about the Midwest comes from shitty movies and songs by the Kinsella Bros. so I assume everyone playing here has spent some time at bonfire parties in the fields off some lonely county road)?
Oh with our member having lived in Texas, Georgia, and Florida, we’ve definitely experienced our fair share of bonfire/pasture jam sessions. Would have to say that we’d play some Creed (yes, CREED), “Friends in Low Places,” and (depending on the night) Eugene singing “Alive with the Glory of Love” solo.
Midwest Friends Fest is a smorgasbord of fantastic acts. Which bands are you most excited to see?
Everyone!!! The lineup is soooo good and there’s such an awesome blend of sounds. Some of the folks we’re really hyped about are:
*Life in Idle
*Cinema Stare
*Take the Reins
*Leisure Hour
*Kat and the Hurricane
*Year Twins
Was there anything I missed that you’d like to share or dive deeper into with our readers?
Nope! But if there’s anything folks would like to know (like who TF is Anna), come to MWFF to ask us in person. 🙂 We play on Saturday!
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/