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Forming whilst still in high school, and still to this day practicing in their drummer's garage, Anarbor are one pop rock band who did things the old fashioned way. Signing to Hopeless Records before they had even graduated, this young band are full of potential and their first full-length 'The Words You Don't Swallow' gives us proof of their promise.

The foursome from Phoenix, Arizona recently enjoyed a trip around the UK on the Give It A Name Introduces tour, and we were able to catch up with vocalist Slade Echeverria and guitarist Mike Kitlas before they hit the stage in Newcastle.

OS: How are you guys doing today?
Slade Echeverria [vocals/ bass]: We're very, very good. How are you?
Mike Kitlas [Guitar]: Awesome. OS: I'm fine thank you.
Slade: It's our first time in Newcastle!
OS: It is indeed. How are you enjoying the tour so far?
Slade: It's good. Mike: We've finally adjusted to the time zone so it's been nice. Scotland was awesome yesterday. It was our first time there so it was really cool to be over there, the crowd was great.

OS: You've just released your new album 'The Words You Don't Swallow'. What's the album about?
Mike: The name of the album is 'The Words You Don't Swallow': we named it because it compiled all the songs we've been writing over the last couple of years..
Slade: It's really about a lot of things.
Mike: ...And it's about not holding back, and saying what we wanna say on the record.

OS: What do you actually want to say to your fans with this record?
Slade: Just to be yourself... Yeah, that's the main message coming out of it. A lot of bands put out certain records that have a certain style to them and there's really not a certain style to this record which is awesome.
Mike: We try to make all of our songs diverse. We've got slow songs, fast songs. A big thing we're about is just talking about real life situations. A lot of bands write about stupid stuff that never really happens, like dance parties and stupid shit. So we're writing about real life stuff that's happened to us and hopefully kids can relate to it.

OS: And through talking about real life issues, people will relate to it more.
Mike: Yeah exactly.
Slade: I know, that is exactly how we feel.

OS: Obviously you're in a genre that is so saturated with bands who are like that.
Slade: Exactly.
OS: So, how difficult is it to be currently in this genre?
Slade: It's not easy let me tell you. We get thrown on tours with bands that we don't even want to be like, associated with sometimes. But it's just how it works and you have to take it as it comes because we're just starting to get our name out there. Slowly, but surely. It's just what it takes; you have to do what you have to do.

OS: The music industry is such a tough place to be in.
Mike: It is, it's the hardest thing.

OS: You're signed to Hopeless Records: how did that come about?
Slade: We played in California every weekend that we could because we had school so we could only go on weekends, so eventually they just hit us up.
Mike: They were like, "We're really liking what you guys are starting to do and we're interested in helping you guys out". So we showcased for them and got to hear what they could do for us. We thought it'd be a good move to help our band to go to the next level and take it overseas.

OS: It's cool that two Hopeless Records bands [The Dangerous Summer are also on the label] are on this tour together too.
Mike: Yeah, The Dangerous Summer are an awesome band and it's really cool to see them on our label. It's awesome to be on the label with an actual good band.
Slade: They're a great band: we really like their music.

OS: You mentioned that you were in high school and literally just graduated before touring.
Mike: Yeah, we started touring pretty much right after we graduated.
OS: How insane is that to go from being in one environment to the other?
Slade: It was crazy.
Mike: It was a slap in the face.
Slade: I mean, we had been playing shows but we had never experienced a tour; we were just so anxious to go out and tour. Doing the real thing is cool. We're really experiencing it, it's awesome.
Mike: We were ready for it. It's definitely getting thrown into the real world though. Not many people are out to do you favours so it's shown us what life's really like, especially at a very young age. It makes you a lot tougher.
Slade: Yeah, it makes you stronger as a person.

OS: It's so hard to even make any money from it now.
Slade: Absolutely.
Mike: In the States we're finally making money; it's not an issue that we have to worry about and that's awesome.

OS: Obviously in the States it's a lot harder to tour because it's so much bigger.
Mike: There's so many bands.
Slade: So many bands!
Mike: But, it's awesome to be here with such short drives and stuff!
Slade: We're having a great time.
Mike: We're definitely coming back.

OS: What are you looking forward to for the rest of the year?
Mike: For the rest of the year? Warped Tour!
Slade: We're also going to Japan for two and a half weeks.
Mike: It's gonna be a total culture shock for us!
Slade: [laughs] Yeah, this was kinda weird for us but we were like "Oh shit! Japan's gonna be even weirder!"

OS: We've spoken to bands before who have said that when they visited Japan it's just completely different: everyone's very polite and quiet.
Mike: Really? Aww, I can believe that.
Slade: Luckily, we have someone who's gonna be talking us around Japan. Mike: Yeah, our tour manager will be doing that.

OS: In contrast, this tour seems to be about just being in a van with your instruments, on your own. Almost back to basics.
Slade: Yeah, we just brought our guitars and are trying to do our thing.

OS: What's it like to be in front of blank faces?
Mike: It's different because in the States we've built a following so kids know what to expect when we come out. The high energy and stuff like that, they expect us to be rocking out and hanging out. But here everybody's just taking it in.
Slade: Because nobody's really heard of us, because we're a new band, people are just stoked on it and taking it in. So far, we've got a good reaction so it's been good.

OS: What's your favourite thing that you've done this tour so far?
Slade: ... Honestly we haven't really been able to do much because we've been so busy with playing shows and press, but hanging out with all the bands who've all been so nice. We didn't really know the UK bands, but we came in..
Mike: And taught them American drinking games!
Slade: We're looking forward to London. We have a couple of days off so we're gonna try and get some gifts in London to bring back home with us. London will be cool.

OS: And your album was recently streamed on Punktastic.com, so there's a lot of kids who are excited for these shows because of that aswell as The Dangerous Summer.
Slade: Wow, really? That's awesome.
Mike: It's cool seeing the kids coming out and singing the words, it blows our minds.
Slade: Just seeing like two kids singing the words is awesome, you don't expect anything.
Mike: We're so fucking far away! So the fact that they know any words to our songs is unbelievable. The words we wrote! It's crazy.

OS: So, plans for the rest of the year? Warped tour, Japan: is there anything more?
Mike: Warped Tour and Japan is all we can announce right now. Everything else is just submissions, so we're not sure.

OS: Any possible UK plans?
Mike: Definitely trying for Reading and Leeds.
Slade: We've heard word about Reading and Leeds, but it's nothing for sure. We'd like to be back, that'd be awesome. That's our goal.

OS: So, what's your ultimate goal then?
Mike: To make it a career!
OS: If there was a moment where you could say, "this is it", what do you think that would be?
Mike: Arenas.
Slade: [Laughs] Yeah, once you walk into an arena about to play, that's the point where you're like, "this is awesome". You can't get any bigger than that. It's the biggest thing.
Mike: That'd be ideal. Right now we're having a great time just seeing the world.
Slade: We get to tour the world! It's fucking awesome and we never dreamed of doing this, honestly.
Mike: The fact that we're all in the UK together, is just ridiculous. It's crazy. Scotland was awesome and everywhere we've been has been so different. It's just crazy, but it's cool!

'The Words You Don't Swallow' is available now on Hopeless Records.