anika in london

Bradley Banks

Photo by Vinciane Verguethen.

It’s no secret that I love Leah’s work; I think she’s great. But I also have lots of love for the epically wonderful parts the other band members, Ben, Vanessa and Brad, contribute to Scary Mansion’s sound and live show. Ben is an incredible drummer, his parts on the new Scary Mansion album are excellent. Vanessa has an amazing voice and her harmonies are perfect. Brad is a brilliant bassist and so fun to watch live. Scary Mansion are brilliant in every way.

They’ve got some London shows in late February/early March and I suggest you go to ALL OF THEM. Here are the dates:

28th February: The Allotment (!!!) at The Slaughtered Lamb

1st March: 1.15pm at Pure Groove

1st March: The Old Blue Last

2nd March: The Black Heart

Come along! You can get tickets for our Allotment show here. I can’t wait.

Brad has a new Twitter (@bradleybanks) and invites you to follow him and keep up to date with his thoughts and Scary Mansion-centric news. Brad kindly answered some questions:

Can you think of two sentences that rhyme to describe how Scary Mansion sound?

Wow, I love how you have approached this question….However, can I give you instead a Haiku?

A girl is sighing
The monster shudders
the city is in ruins

How did you end up playing bass in Scary Mansion?

Ben and Leah are good friends of mine.  We met when we were playing in another NYC band called La Laque.

Do you play/have you played in any other bands?

I’ve played in many bands.  Possibly one of the wildest was a Misfits cover band, where I played guitar and sang.  Mostly I’ve played drums and bass guitar in bands.  Right now, I’m enjoying playing in only one band…. At the peak, I was playing in 3 bands at once which is demanding.

The bass part in One Percent is brilliant. What’s your favourite Scary Mansion song to play?

Thank you. There is a good deal of rhythmic interplay that Ben and I have designed into that song.  We are as one; without Ben there is no Brad, without Brad there is no Ben.  It makes intimacy awkward. My favorite SM song to play live is Unwise.  I use a pedal that I built which sounds like a nightmare.  Unwise is tense and relentless and then ends with this heavy and oppressive outro.  It may not sound fun in print, but its a blast.

How was the tour in France last year?

Our tour in France was great.  All the shows we played were great and meeting our fans was really special.  Our tour manager, Siegfried really took good care of us.  He made sure most of our American vulgarity and aggression didn’t spill out of the tour van. I’m really interested in class and politics so I was really clued into these things when I was in France this last time.  We had this crazy situation where we were flying out of Corsica early in the morning before having to play in Bourges.  We were late and almost missed our flight.  People were cutting in line to get through security and I was amazed that no one was complaining.  That made me think about how the French may view the good of the collective versus the good of the individual and how that can be different in the US.  Subtle, but interesting.

What are some tour highlights?

1) Watching and then meeting Jim White (drummer from the Dirty Three) from the wings while he played with Will Oldham.  Jim is an incredible drummer who is so fluid and instinctual.  He took off his blazer in the middle of a song without missing a beat!  Check him out live.

2) We reached an unsustainable level of madness and delirium while on tour, one of the most crazy days was when our tour manager took us to his grandparents’ house.  They were really sweet to us and we spent the day eating and relaxing and drinking heavily and going crazy into the night.  Actually every night after the shows was complete craziness.

What’s your favourite place to play in New York?

I really don’t like playing much in clubs and bars.  It feels really predictable.  I prefer playing house parties or anyplace impromptu. Recently we played a party at Ben’s house and people were going crazy, dancing and yelling one foot away
from us.  Party shows are the best.  There should be no boundaries between myself and the audience.  No stages.  The very real possibility that an audience member can stab you at any moment adds a thrill.

Are you excited to play in London in February?

It was a surprise that we are going to be in London.  I’m excited to meet Londoners and go wild with them.  I’m thinking American Werewolf in London.

We’ve booked Scary Mansion to play at The Allotment, which is a night I run with my friend Lynn. We plan to feed you lots of cake and treats.

Ben is going to love that.  He will eat all of your cakes and treats.

Do you have a favourite type of cake?

I’m not much of a sweets person, but the most important cake element for me is sprinkles.  I need that texture.

Leah completely amazes me with how much brilliant stuff she draws and how great her voice is. If you could hear her duet with anyone ever, who would it be and why?

Leah is a true artist right down to the way she views and interacts with her world.  I really enjoy being in a band with her and being her friend.  As far as duets go, I like how Leah and her sister Vanessa complement each other vocally.  Really, there is nothing better than female harmonies.

What’s some stuff you’ve been listening to lately?

I’ve been producing records for two artists and their stuff is about all I listen to in the course of recording, editing and mixing They are Kelli Scarr and Rafe Stepto.  Kelli has been touring with Moby recently and Rafe plays in another band I’ve worked with called Borrowed Eyes.  They are different from each other stylistically, but each has a powerful voice, sincerity and great songs. Outside of that stuff I’ve been really focused on live, late 70’s, Iggy Pop backed by Hunt and Tony Sales, and Talk Talk’s Spirit of Eden.

Thanks Anika!

A huge thanks to Brad, come see him play next month and follow his Twitter. I can’t wait to see them play again! Scary Mansion Myspace.