Recently I was able to catch up with the lead vocalist of Anxious, Grady Allen, on the road to discuss everything that went into the band’s excellent sophomore LP, Bambi. I asked Grady about how the headlining shows have been going for Anxious, if he felt any pressure during the writing process between Little Green House and Bambi, and much more. If you’re looking to support Anxious on the road, check out a show, or visit their merch store here.
Thanks for your time today, Grady! Anxious released one of my favorite records to come out in quite some time with Bambi. What were some of your favorite reactions that you saw with fans connecting with the new material?
We played Run For Cover’s Something in the Way Fest a month or two ago and that was one of the first times that I felt like the songs from the new record had connected. We played “Counting Sheep” and the room totally went off. It’s also been great playing so many new songs on the tour we are currently on. North Carolina, DC, and Dallas were especially great stops.
Anxious will be hitting the road this week in support of the new record. What can fans expect from coming out to a headlining show on this tour?
Grady: I think we are the best that we have ever sounded on this tour. We are playing a lot of songs off Bambi and a lot off Little Green House as well. The rooms are small, so all of the shows will be crazy. If we are coming to your city, roll out.
Bambi appears to have a lot of 90’s Alt Rock influences in its sound, sonically, but is still very much in the vein of what Anxious did well on Little Green House. What goals did you and your bandmates set out for in the writing process of the new record? Also, were there any other bands/artists that influenced the sound of Bambi?
Our goal is to always remain authentic and true to ourselves and the things we want to create. We tried our best to build upon the things we did on the last record while also trying new things. I think we did a good job.
I wrote the review for Bambi over at Chorus.fm and my immediate reaction to the record was that you and your bandmates had created something truly special here. Do you pay much attention to how an album is being received by either critics or fans alike?
I try my best to pay the “normal” amount of attention. I enjoy knowing what people are saying – but I try to not get too wrapped up in it. More than anything else, I think the true barometer of how our music has been received is how it translates to the live show. If kids are excited and going off, that really means more than anything I could read on the internet.
An old saying in the music industry is that “You have your whole life to create your debut album, and about seven months to write your follow-up”. Did you feel any added pressure or urgency after the success of Little Green House into the writing for Bambi?
That’s a funny saying, pretty accurate too. Yeah, we felt pretty rushed with Bambi. Our first record was written within a vacuum of Covid-19. We had no other distractions besides writing. Bambi, on the other hand, had to be written between tours while trying to balance personal life. That proved to be a difficult dynamic. I think it created a writing process that was a lot more opaque and fragmented.
What are some of your favorite songs on Bambi? Was there a song or two that you feel best represents Anxious today?
My personal favorites at the moment are probably “Counting Sheep” and “Sunder”. “Counting Sheep” feels like this perfect intersection of everything that Anxious has done in the past and new things that we would like to do. “Sunder” feels very true to the Anxious DNA. I love the two choruses. We’ve been playing that song on this tour and I’ve been loving it.
I read in the press release that you had regretted not naming Anxious as Bambi. Do you still feel that way?
Anxious is an okay band name. If I could go back and rename the band at 15 I probably would, but at this point it’s not really something that bothers me.
What does the rest of 2025 look like for Anxious?
This will be a big year of touring for us. We’ll probably keep trying to write some music as well. We’ll see!