Nashville pop rocker Anthony Rankin takes on “The Five Question Challenge.” (Photo courtesy of Anthony Rankin)
By: Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com
When I first heard Anthony Rankin’s “Phoenix in Vegas,” I knew that I wanted him to take my Five Question Challenge.
I love the northeastern turned Nashville resident’s pop rock sound and impressive vocals. He is a true master of pop music as he studied the works of Michael Jackson, Maroon 5 and Justin Timberlake.
In addition, Anthony has penned and co-produced original music that has been featured on Nickelodeon, Spike TV and Current TV.
For this edition of The Five Question Challenge, Anthony talked about his songwriting process and his latest single: “Liar Like Me.”
Jacob Elyachar: When did you get interested in music? How would you describe your sound?
Anthony Rankin: I was truly raised around music; my dad was a professional drummer, so pretty much right from birth I was exposed to a multitude of artists and styles. I have vivid memories as a toddler listening to Journey, Aerosmith, Bob Seger and Steve Winwood with my dad. I first started playing instruments around four-years-old.
My sound has evolved over the years, but the one umbrella that always seems to encompass what I do is Pop, with a capital P. I make music that is meant to be enjoyed by the masses, meant to be played on the radio. It’s mainstream Top 40-style pop, but with are elements of R&B and rock as well. I’d like to think it has more depth and substance than the typical club banger, particularly in the lyrics. Maybe if I were to try to actually brand my style, it’d be called something like “Smart Pop.”
JE: Could you please describe your songwriting process to my readers? How does it stand out in the overcrowded singer-songwriter genre?
AR: I have written songs many ways in the past, some by very traditional methods (an acoustic guitar and a notepad), some by not-so-traditional means. The primary way I write these days has a lot do with production; I’ll often start out with an 8-bar loop of a full track that I might program or play, or some mixture of both (either in Pro Tools or with Native Instruments Maschine). I’m always cataloging short segments of music that I think just sound cool or catchy, and I’ll often reach into that catalog and pull something out to explore when I’m feeling inspired. A lyrical or melodic idea will often click with that particular segment, and then I’ll expand on it from there by simply adding to it and writing/arranging the rest of what ends up becoming the song.
Many times though, complete ideas will come to me, as in, I’ll be driving and I will hear an entire verse or chorus in my head, with lyric, melody, groove, chord changes, hooks, etc. Usually it’s easier for me to write based on one of these moments, because all I have to do is get the information out of my head and onto a recording. I record demos regularly, and waste very little time in just committing the ideas and parts to tape. Then, when it’s time to actually make a serious recording, I’ll revisit them (often with a co-producer) and sort of rebuild and edit them from the ground up.
I find traveling spurs my inspiration a lot; I write much of my initial lyrical motifs for songs on airplanes, independently of any musical ideas. Much like the short loops that I catalog, I’ll pull out my various lyric documents when I feel like working on a new song and see if anything clicks with a track I’ve already started recording.
In any case, I’m really not the type of writer who will sit in a room with a guitar or piano and work out a song, although that does happen occasionally. If I do operate that way, it’s typically with other writers and it’s usually with the aim of writing a song for another artist.
The fact that I write in, more or less, complete recorded blocks of music and melody, I think aids me in getting to the final product quicker. I mostly want to hear a finished production when I start working on a song, so I’m always looking for the quickest route there. Even though I don’t make hip-hop music, it’s sort of the same idea of a beat-maker and a rhyme writer, or the way that modern DJs create tracks and writers/singers write words and melody over that pre-existing track. That alone separates me from the majority of singer/songwriters. It also keeps things unique. I feel that if you write the same way with the same tools all the time, your songs become repetitive and routine, even if you’re a great writer.
JE: Recently, you released your latest single: “Liar Like Me.” What were some of the challenges that you faced while you recorded this song? How did you overcome it?
AR: “Liar Like Me” is the most unique track of the songs in the Love Elektrik series, because it is much more live performance-oriented than any of the other songs. All of the material, being pop, has a lot of drum programming, synths, loops, just a lot of electronic elements that embellish or form a track. “Liar” has all those goodies, but the foundation was just an amazing rhythm track performed by drummer Myron Howell and bassist (and my co-producer/co-writer) Victor Broden. The drums weren’t quantized like programmed drums might be, so there is a really reckless excitement in Myron and Victor’s performance that underscores the sort of desperate sexuality in the lyric; the words are direct and sort of primal, and the humanity in the playing really is important to make the song a complete package.
The biggest challenge in doing a track like this was literally finding the balance between human and machine, because there’s still a lot of synth programming that drives the song and very chopped guitar work that provides a pulse. Ironically, this is one of the few songs that started as just a basic swampy acoustic guitar idea and a chorus. Victor and I knew full well that it would be a heavy production track, but it took us a long time to find that particular balance so that it sounded aggressive and organic, but still gelled with the machine-y pop on the rest of the EP.
JE: What are some of your goals for the remainder of this year?
AR: The primary goal is to finish and release Love Elektrik 3, the third and final EP in the whole Love Elektrik set. After that, it’s all about getting these 12 songs into as many ears and hearts as humanly possible, and reaching the right ears in the business to be able to maximize the exposure of this music. We’ve got plans to film a live concert in Nashville, as well as release a series of music videos and alternate versions of some of the songs later in the year. I’m not sure right now, but I’m leaving the door open to packaging the EPs into a final full-length product with some additional material, and possibly releasing that with a big campaign.
JE: How has social media helped you grow as an artist?
AR: It’s allowed me to reach fans that I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. I use Twitter and Facebook heavily to share my music and to connect with people, more than I even utilize my actual website. Before the era of Facebook, I probably sold a couple hundred CDs at shows or out of my car. After social media became widely popular though, I was able to sell thousands of CDs and downloads; those sales were bolstered by performances and other means of advertising, but I’m sure the instant connection of the web played a big part in people finding my music. I’m still amazed at how people in the UK or in Scandinavia find me and become fans of what I’m doing. Social media is also a great instant barometer of opinion. I can easily gauge if what I’m doing or songs I’m releasing are working or not working. It helps me get better consistently
For more information about Anthony, visit his website: http://www.anthonyrankin.com/
You can also connect with him on his Facebook, Twitter & YouTube channels.
