You know those signs that say ‘live/laugh/love’ or ‘don’t drink from the toilet/bark softly/be nice to the postman’? Oh, hang on, that’s Labrador-specific. Best ignore that one… Anyhow, courtesy of Anna ‘Ace’ Brunner of bad assin’, big soundin’, in yer face League of Distortion, we’ve got a new list of slogans for the wall. ‘Be the reason someone smiles today/don’t let anyone put out your light/just be nice/don’t be a prick/pick your own age/get a fierce undercut’. Jo Wright spoke with the super sweet lead singer about her band’s new album ‘Galvanize’, their coming tour, Anna’s uber cool image, vicious vocals, Halestorm’s huge influence and pretty much everything in between.
Brace, brace, friends; German modern metallers League of Distortion are dropping their new album on October 25. And if you fail to prepare for this chaotically classy, melodious monster bleeding empowering lyrics, killer riffs, lethal rhythms, and a load of cool styles, it’s gonna hurt.
So Anna, how’s your day going so far? ‘It’s been going really well! The sun was out today, so I have lots of energy!’ Same! And then the inevitable happens… Jo can no longer contain her excitement, declaring her love for Anna’s hair and how it is way cooler than her own electric blue undercut. Anna smiles, ‘I actually had blonde hair at some point in my life, and I didn’t like the way people treated me or how their approach was to me. I love having this hairstyle, and looking like I’m in a band. People often ask me about it. They’ll say, ‘I love your hair! Are you an artist?’. People really reach out to me because of it, and I love that!’
‘Galvanize’ is the follow up to League of Distortion’s 2022 self-titled debut album, which was written during Lockdown, when, it’s fair to say, many of us had a bit more time on our hands. LOD’s second record was written in the opposite set of circumstances – while the band were busy on the road touring. Anna is the main lyricist, and thanks to the state of the world at the minute she has a lot to go at. ‘I get inspiration so quickly,’ she says. ‘Even just watching the news or talking to a friend, I’m like, ‘Ok this is an intense topic – I want to write about it! It’s actually harder for me to narrow it down and pick which idea I want to sit down and work on.’ Sure, the world can be a pretty dark place, but, much like LOD’s music, it’s also beautiful, inspirational, and a gift. ‘This is so important to LOD – that we don’t just passively say, ‘Oh, this is all terrible, I can’t do anything about it’,’ says Anna. ‘We can do something about it, step by step, even if it’s only for ourselves or our friends, our community, our families, the music scene, the people we reach with LOD… I believe that we can change a mindset and also the situation if we all hang on to something and fight for this together.
‘Sometimes I feel like I’m naïve because I think this, but it’s true. The sad thing is that I have the feeling many influential people are happy not to be nice and are happy to only think of themselves and what concerns them. But we try to get out there as good people, we try to have a big influence, and I think we can eventually make things change more.’
So not only are your speakers all the better for having Anna’s band blasting from them, the world’s a much nicer place with LOD in it too. Was there ever a time (please no!) when making music wasn’t on Anna’s agenda? ‘I wanted to be in a band for such a long time!’ Anna laughs. ‘I’ve worked for a production company doing book-keeping rather than having the artist role. That was five or so years ago, and I watched bands get out there and I was like, ‘I don’t want to be where I am! I want to be on that side!’.’ And blending her background in music with belief and bravery, well – here we are; two albums in, an upcoming tour and a loyal fanbase (who clearly have great taste btw). Anna tells us, ‘I studied music in Germany and it was amazing to be together with other musicians who had the same dream. I love singing, writing and feeling that I have something to say. It makes me so happy to be able to do this; to have people who are interested and who love our music, and who want to come to our concerts – this is just the dream and it feels so good.’
‘Galvanize’ is a blistering listen on many levels, made even more spectacular by Anna’s sensational vocal ability. When she sings, she slays. ‘I love to have different styles,’ she says. ‘I love to sing with power, I love to scream and to have a more distorted way of singing. But I also like to take it down a little bit and sing softly or whisper, or just talk.’
There is that lovely Lzzy Hale tone, depth and strength to Anna’s vox, and it turns out the Halestorm lead singer and guitarist has been a huge influence. Can you imagine an LOD/Halestorm tour???? Absolute FIRE. ‘That would be in my dreams!’ smiles Anna. ‘I don’t know if I can even put it on my bucket list, because I don’t know if we would achieve it, but supporting Halestorm – I would probably be smiling for a year!’.
Back to ‘Galvanize’ – do you have a favourite track, Anna? ‘What’s really funny,’ she tells Devo, ‘is that before these interviews I listened to the album again to get in the mood and in the zone, and I’m like, ‘Oh this one’s good too, and this one’s a cool song, and I totally forgot about this song!’, because the song writing process was finished around June, and then the months just passed by. I love ‘What’s Wrong With Her’ because it’s very different and it’s kind of risky. It’s brave to have a song like that and I’m very curious to see how people react to it.’
And what about the album name, ‘Galvanize’? Anna explains, ‘I think I heard it in the news more and more, and I was like, ‘Let me get into that word! What does it actually mean?’. And then I added my own meaning to it; like waking up, breaking free, having the courage and the power to change things. Then we wrote the song, and I thought, ‘This could be a good name for the album as well. Then that took off, and the tour was named ‘Galvanise’…It’s like, if you repeat the word often enough people will understand it!’
Anna is super excited to tell Devo LOD are touring across Germany in November and December. ‘There’s still a lot to organise, but we’re really looking forward to having our own headline tour with the chance to really build this show and connect with the audience. Sometimes I can’t sleep at night because I’m thinking, ‘Maybe we should change these songs around, maybe we could have a kind of show element on that song? We’ll see if this is all going to work out on the first tour. We have plenty of ideas!’
Since crashlanding in her 30s some time ago, Devo has given up on remembering how old she is. Her penchant for big boots, tartan trousers, shorts with tights, and utter confusion with social media suggest someone who got hit hard by the 1990s. Turns out Anna has a similar strategy. ‘The funny story about my age is when I turned 30 it wasn’t the greatest birthday, so the year after that I thought, ‘You know what? I’m just going to recelebrate my 30th birthday!’ And then I thought, ‘I want to stay 30 until I decide to be 40! So I tell my boyfriend, my friends, my parents, and they’re rolling their eyes. But I forget what my actual age is! I say, ‘Oh I’m turning 30 again!’.
Devo and Anna’s shared scared take on AI can probably go some way to putting an age on the pair of them too. For Devo it means she’s gotta push out of her comfort zone behind the keyboard. For Anna, as a lyricist, it’s even more concerning. ‘The song ‘Crucify Me’ from our new record is actually about AI,’ she explains. ‘I pretend I am an AI and I write the song from their point of view; how they will look at us humans and say, ‘You know what? You put us out there, now you’ve got to deal with what you’ve created. I love changing perspectives!’
Anna adds, ‘I’m a bit scared of AI and how it’s going to evolve. This is what we do [as artists] – our words, our lyrics, our music. Knowing that there is an AI that can write these things frightens me.’
But there is only one Anna ‘Ace’ Brunner. And that’s a shame. Because this fearless, powerful, ageless goddess is the most talented artist, and the friendly and loveliest soul. And we definitely need more people like her in the world.
‘Galvanize’ is out now on Napalm Records
https://www.facebook.com/leagueofdistortion
Interview by Jo Wright
Band photo by Janis Hinz
Click below to watch this interview in full – over at the DeVlog YouTube Channel!
