November 2003
The Anderson Council Rocks the Garage
By Mike Doktorski

What does The Anderson Council have in common with E Street Band guitarist and Sopranos star Steve Van Zandt?

Well for starters, both share a love of "garage rock," a retro-leaning, guitar-based musical style that has its roots in the British mod scene of the 1960s when bands like The Beatles, The Kinks, The Who, The Yardbirds, and The Animals ruled the airwaves. Over the years, successive generations of musicians have updated the garage sound to incorporate such diverse influences as punk and R&B, and today the form is championed by new acts like The Strokes, The Mooney Suzuki, and (of course) The Anderson Council.

Formed in New Brunswick by singer/songwriter Peter Horvath, guitarist Jimmy Charles, bassist Bobby Farrell, and drummer Brian King, the Anderson Council self-released their debut CD Coloursound in 2001. That same year, Van Zandt launched a live music series called Cavestomp! at various downtown NYC clubs. When the Anderson Council performed at a Cavestomp! show that summer, it just so happened that Van Zandt caught their act and obtained a copy of Coloursound. A few months later, Van Zandt launched his own weekly syndicated radio program ("Little Steven's Underground Garage") and began spinning Anderson Council tracks like "Never Stop Being '67" and "Sitting On A Cloud" alongside tunes by other famous and not-so-famous garage rock purveyors. As you might expect, the benefits of such regular airplay have greatly increased The Anderson Council's fanbase. At last count, "Little Steven's Underground Garage" had 112 affiliates in 138 markets throughout the United States and Canada.

"Every time we get some airplay from Steven, our web stats go off the charts," says Farrell. "Too bad we don't have the money to repress Coloursound…we get a lot of e-mail from people wanting to buy it."

The band is planning to capitalize on their newfound notoriety on their second album, which remains a work-in-progress. "Six songs out of fifteen are completely done," says Horvath, "and the other nine are in varying states of disarray." Further complicating progress has been a chronic lack of money. To wit, the Anderson Council have been entertaining some inquiries from record labels who may step in to help them complete the project. Says Charles: "If someone gave us a little bit of support, I'm completely confident that we could make a really amazing record."

With a lot of preserverance and a little bit of luck, they might just get their chance. §