7 questions with Portland pop band AAN

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Portland-based pop band AAN (pronounced “on”) just released their debut record Amor Ad Nauseum. The band started recording in 2012, and launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the final product, which truly sounds like a labor of love.

Amor Ad Nauseum sounds impressively big, each note measured, and each beat perfectly placed. The record starts strong -experimental pop meets dub, before getting to the even stronger second half, when the band gets cinematic on the songs “Bubble Bath Bop”, “Wake Me With A Kiss”, and “Daylight”. This is a record that grows on you, and gets deeper with each listen. One of my early favorites of 2014.


Who: AAN / SW/MM/NG / May the Peace of the Sea be with You
When: 9 p.m. Saturday, March 8, 2014
Where: Lightbulb Club, 19 N. Block Ave.
More: $5 / Facebook event

I talked to singer/guitarist Bud Wilson before the bands tour leads them to SXSW, and Fayetteville, here goes…

There was a long road for AAN in releasing Amor Ad Nauseum – How does it feel to finally have the record out and get to tour behind it?
It feels validating. We’ve toured so much on singles that we didn’t really know how great it would be to have a full piece of music to send home with people. The reception has been stellar and it’s a lot easier to fill a gas tank now.

Have the songs changed since being recorded? Do songs like “Bubble Bath Bop” get played live?
Some songs have changed a lot, like ” Weirdo” ends in a dub freakout. But for the most part songs are quite similar live and on record. We have an engineer with us using effects and triggers which lends to the cinematics in a live setting. “Bubble Bath Bop” is played live, yes. It’s one of our favorites, but it has an extended ending live. We expand on the material when we can.

What has the addition of Patrick (of BRAINSTORM) on guitar contributed to the band?
Youthful exuberance. Some posi-vibes and a lot of suspicious smelling smoke.

What non-musical influences have had the most affect on your songwriting?
Phillip K. Dick, skateboarding, girlfriends, Idaho, Richard Brautigan, Vonnegut, dogs, boredom. I’m sure there’s more.

What will you guys be reading and listening to on the road?
We only listen to radio in the van anymore, which has actually been VERY refreshing. A typical van experience involves quarrelling over the back bench (Reese always secures that spot somehow) / Reese wearing a sleeping mask and listening to drones for 5 solid hours after a full nights sleep / Jon drinking 2-3 redbulls on prescription ADHD meds and checking ESPN obsessively / Bud (me) playing blackjack on my phone until I go digitally broke, resetting the time on my phone a full year ahead to gain more digi-money and playing more blackjack / Patrick just chilling like a normal person and being polite.

If we’re reading it’s usually some fiction. I did read Hammer of the Gods once on tour and it made our tour seem dreadfully vanilla.

Have you been to Arkansas before? This is a great opportunity to say something nice about our fine State.
I’ve never been! From what I’ve seen it looks like a very nice state. I really like that area of the country so we’ll be keen to explore when we have the time.

What can we expect at the show?
Five of the damned handsomest men with devastating style rollicking in the sounds of now with nary a concern for their own safety as they shred the hardest atmospheric indie pop some have ever heard.