The Anchorage's addictive and intricate soundscape marries alternative rock with ska, a cohesion fine-tuned by hundreds of shows.

Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.

• Derek Harman – Guitar, Lead Vocals

• Jason Bohman – Drums

• Evan Wharton – Trombone, Backing Vocals

• Jake Bills – Bass

• Myles Lawrence – Tenor Sax, Bari Sax, Guitar

• Tyler Webb – Trumpet

For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to The Anchorage? How long has the band been around?

Derek played in a band called Back In Five and Jason was in a band called Super Hero which is where they met and formed The Anchorage in 2010, so we’ve been together just over 12 years. Most everyone in the band is currently in other projects as well, we all like to keep busy with music.

What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?

We chose the name The Anchorage as it symbolised the stability and reliability that we felt previous projects we were in often lacked, and we thought it sounded cool. Haha

Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?

It’s a group effort for us but it is largely driven by ideas Derek brings to the band, (usually like a few riffs and some form of idea for how they can connect, and then the vast majority of the lyrics are written by Derek. We typically structure out songs with Derek, Jason & Jake, and Evan, Myles & Tyler will write the majority of the horns. From there we demo out the songs and send ideas back and forth for smaller adjustments, and then collectively run the songs at rehearsal and hone things in from there

What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?

We have a pretty broad taste and influence among our band… from alternative, punk, indie, ska, pop, big band… it goes on. Lately Jason has taken a lot of influence from bands like Bayside, The Dangerous Summer, Don Broco, Big D and the Kids Table.

Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?

Our moment of starting a band was more driven by inadvertently writing a song together when Jason was rehearsing with Derek to fill in at a show for his band Back in Five, but Derek and Jason were both very inspired by the bands RX Bandits and Mad Caddies and that really showed through in a lot of the bands early work.

What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, etc …

Jason has a bunch of stretches that he does prior to shows, and he’ll usually do a bunch of jumping jacks and warmups to get blood flowing. Evan and Tyler run through warm ups on their horns

What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?

Our album release show this last July was a pretty special moment for us. We worked so hard to bring our new album to life over the last 2 years and we were so excited to celebrate with so many of our friends. I’d also say when we played a packed all local band show at The Depot in SLC, UT in 2019, that was a pretty incredible experience for us. And having our 10th annual Skalloween show in Salt Lake last year was the best, those shows are always a party!

If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?

Jason would love to tour with Less Than Jake or Bayside. Honestly, so many bands would be fun, hard to narrow it down

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Appreciate you checking out our music and hope you love it as much as we loved making it!

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