With their smooth, indie blend of harmonies, heartfelt delivery and sleek sense of style, Anna Sachs (vocals) and Phil Potter (vocals/guitar) are carving out a name for themselves in Honolulu as Foreseeable Futures. One Wednesday a month they can be heard performing at Bevy in Kakaako.
Foreseeable Futures
Album launch party Where: The Studio at Hawaiian Brian’s, 1680 Kapiolani Blvd. When: 7:30 p.m. Friday Cost: $5 Info: hawaiianbrians.com, 946-1343 |
After launching their debut single (“Be Right Back,” available on iTunes) in the fall with two events, a concert at the Doris Duke Theatre and a launch party at clothing store Kit and Ace in Ala Moana Center, Potter and Sachs are now ready to release their first full-length album, “Stories.”
The duo, who are a pair both onstage and off, spent the fall months working studio time into their schedules. Over many late nights a full album was born.
Sonically, Potter and Sachs’ voices blend well, with a warm quality. Low-key yet engaging, the band keeps things chill even on upbeat songs, but the hushed vibe works: The music is relaxed without losing its edge.
We caught up with the duo in some email exchanges.
STAR-ADVERTISER: What are some of the sonic influences on your music?
ANNA SACHS: We have always been huge fans of songwriters like Ryan Adams (did you hear his cover of Taylor Swift’s entire “1989” album?) and the power duo Johnnyswim. The rawness of the lyrics combined with the often wistful or roaring riffs hit us where we feel it.
SA: What is your favorite song on “Stories”?
Anna Sachs: I will always love “By & Bye” because it was the first song. I remember exactly how it felt when Phil sang it to me as a sort of love song, and since then we always laugh a little when we play it together onstage in front of people. It holds a lot of meaning for us.
Phil Potter: “By & Bye” was the first song I ever wrote, and it was about Anna, so it will be very special for me to hear it all gussied up in a studio recording. … “Stories” remains my favorite from the album, because since we first sat down to write it, the song really took on a life of its own. It started with a scribbled page of lyrics that Anna jotted down; I added a chord progression that I had been playing with, and the song started to take shape. When we got to the studio, I was initially skeptical of the first rhythm our drummer Faith Benson suggested for the recording. I was happily outvoted by the rest of the production team, and now it remains one of my favorite beats of all the songs on the album. Zach Shimizu’s haunting rhythmic guitar track brings it all together for me.
SA: Is there a fan favorite from live shows?
Foreseeable Futures: Though we didn’t include this on the album recording, Anna plays the harmonica when we play “By & Bye” live, which always seems to grab people’s attention. We love the extra color that the harmonica brings to the performance.
SA: How do fashion and music work in tandem for your band?
FF: We love to support the Hawaii creative community, and oftentimes that means friends who are designers or involved in fashion. For example, all our Foreseeable Futures shirts and totes were screen-printed by hand. Our friend Travis Sasaki creates graphic designs with his label Big Pineapple, as well as art prints shown at downtown eatery The Pig & the Lady. … There is mutual collaboration. We were so grateful to the Ala Moana store of Kit and Ace for hosting an amazing reception for our Kickstarter launch. It was a great way to bring people together.
SA: Tell us about the producers and musicians on the album.
FF: We are so fortunate to have had the help of many incredible people for this album. Our producer was Brandon Apeles, with co-producers Shelby Benson, Lock Lynch and us. Many times, great ideas came from suggestions or collective idea-bouncing. … We also pulled in several musician friends, like Shelby, Colby and Faith Benson (of Crimson Apple), who laid down the bass, drums and a few electric parts. Starting with those tracks really helped us define the structure of the songs. … Then, we had Aaron Garcia on the slide guitar and solos, Zach Shimizu adding backing guitar and texture, Darrell Aquino on the bass for “Seconds Blues,” Garbanzo Coniaris on cello, Andrew Alt on the Gryphon (a 12-string acoustic guitar) and Sean Choo on the keys. All of these great musicians gave us insight and inspired us to realize the full potential of these stories and songs.
SA: What can fans expect at the album launch party?
FF: The official launch party will be a night of music and good vibes! We wanted to host a celebration to thank all of those who have supported us in this adventure of making an album, from the very beginning of our songwriting to our Kickstarter campaign to the actual production of the CD itself. We could not have done any of it without this amazing community of support.