Queasy Pieces is a new project from one-man-music-making-machine Andrew Anderson; dance music done wrong / perplexing punk / and art rock for the absurd. Imagine if you mixed all your favourite foods together, from ice cream to baked beans, and somehow it still tasted good. Today, Anderson is announcing his debut self-titled album via the sharing of new single “Been So Good to Me” and as well as new short film, “Instruction Manual for the End of the World”. “Queasy Pieces” is due out on November 18th, 2022, via FatCat.
A veteran of punk groups like Freak Genes, Hipshakes and Proto Idiot, Queasy Pieces sees Anderson use his DIY aesthetic on music that makes you move. Instead of power chords and fist pumping, this new project leans more on 808 bass hits and dance synths.
“When I was 12 I wanted to be Fatboy Slim”, recalls Anderson. “Now, some 25 years later, the dream has finally come true – except I can’t afford to live in Brighton”.
Queasy Pieces self-titled debut album came together over the last year, with the songs slowly assembled from fragments of ideas.
“For each song I’d try to write it around a single idea and keep things as simple as possible”, notes Anderson. “I’d come up with a song that only has one lyric, or that uses just one chord. Then I’d do whatever I could to make it sound like dance music. I didn’t know what I was doing, but luckily that didn’t matter”.
It’s been a long road to this point for Anderson, who has played in punk bands since he was 15. His first group Hipshakes were signed to legendary US label Goner Records, and after a US tour he ended up staying in the US and working as a news reader for a local radio station. After returning to the UK he worked as a wedding photographer, aircraft engineer and classical music journalist while still playing DIY music on the side.
These days he lives in Bulgaria in a socialist tower block where the neighbours don’t let him play loud music.
“Since I can’t play guitars here without getting in trouble, everything is on drum machines and synths”, he explains. “The great thing about this is that it’s like learning music all over again: I had no idea how to play these instruments, so I just went with whatever felt like the most fun”.
This less-is-best aesthetic comes across in new single “Been So Good to Me”, a song with just one lyric that twists and turns to a hypnotic disco beat. Featuring Kat Rackin from Holiday Ghosts on lead vocals, he originally came up with the idea during that aforementioned Fatboy Slim fanboy phase.
“I came up with that idea in maths class after listening to ‘Right Here, Right Now’ on my Portable CD player, and it’s just stuck in my head ever since”, he says. “I thought probably it was time to turn it into a song before it sent me completely insane”.
As well as sharing “Been So Good to Me”, today, Queasy Pieces has also shared new short film “Instruction Manual for the End of the World”.
Of the film, Anderson says:
“The world is ending – that much is clear. You’re probably feeling pretty queasy about it. You may even be going to pieces. But fear not: Tony Tambourine is here to help. Fame, fortune and a future to live for? Yes, yes and thrice yes – Tony can give you all this and more. All you have to do is give him your soul. That’s fair… right?”…
The film was created using tracks from Queasy Pieces’ forthcoming debut LP by Serbian film director Mihajlo Kocev and Andrew Anderson.
“Queasy Pieces” is mixed by Phil Booth from Slumb Party and mastered by Australian garage rock legend Mikey Young. It features members of Holiday Ghosts and The Be Positives, as well as a clutch of Bulgarians that were convinced to take part.
Pre-order “Queasy Pieces” here.
Tracklist:
1. Enter to Win
2. Been So Good to Me
3. Turn That Wagon Around
4. Tony Tambourine
5. Oh No
6. Rapid Growth
7. Seem To Be
8. Vacation
9. Good Boy
10. Sound the Alarm
11. The Joke is Over
12. Cycle
13. Final Times
Weblinks:
www.facebook.com/QueasyPieces
www.instagram.com/queasypieces
