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Artist Spotlight: anamē
This month, we're shining the spotlight on anamē 🔍
If you haven't had the pleasure of coming across these fine chaps yet, let us introduce you!
anamē are Marcus Schössow, formerly part of gardenstate, and Thomas Sägstad. They've been friends for the best part (pun very much intended) of two decades, living together in Helsingborg, Sweden in the early 2000s against the backdrop of Scandinavia's flourishing electronic music scene.
Few artists have record sleeves from Axtone, Armada, Size, Spinnin’ and Anjunadeep in their catalogue. Marcus Schössow has them all. A jack of all trades when it comes to genres, Marcus has worked with some of the biggest names in electronic dance music. In 2020, his gardenstate project crossed over to Anjunabeats, resulting in the 2021 album 'Inspirations', a viral hit in 'The Best Part' and a rather stunning remix of Above & Beyond and Zoē Johnston's 'No One On Earth'.
A talented producer and DJ of his own accord, Thomas Sägstad's solo career also took him to the higher echelons of dance music. A notable high was his 2012 record with Sultan + Shepard (now of This Never Happened fame) and Dirty Vegas 'Somebody To Love', remixed by Third Party.
While their professional lives kept them busy, Marcus and Thomas remained close friends. In 2022, they teamed up officially and the anamē project was born. Let's take a look at their journey so far...
'Gratitude' 🙏
What better way to launch your Anjunabeats journey than with a collaboration with Above & Beyond? An Anjunafamily anthem for the ages, 'Gratitude' began its journey at a jam session at Paavo's Finland studio. Finessed together in the studio, the world got to hear 'Gratitude' for the first time during Above & Beyond's performance at Group Therapy 450 in September 2021.
The great thing about music is it can mean different things to different people, that’s really what we love about it. For us, this record is a small token of appreciation for our family and friends. It’s a thank you to those who believe in us, to the ones who stand in a line in the rain, spending their hard-earned money to share moments with us all over the world. It’s a love letter and thank you to all of them.
'Influencer' 🎵
With an emotive dance floor record out in the world, it was time for anamē to explore the other side of their sound - dark, heavy and addictive club music. Enlisting their good friends and fellow party-starters BLR and Robbie Rise, out came 'Influencer', a throwback house track reminiscent of those summer anthems that dominated Ibiza seasons in the early 2010s.
‘Influencer’ came out of nowhere. We put together a combination of ideas with Leon and Robbie over a few days, and perhaps that was the magic of it – we kept it simple. Every time we play it live, the floor explodes and DJs come running like maniacs to the booth to see what we’re playing.
Remixing two classic dance records 🌓
While anamē's music takes inspiration from many modern club sounds, they've also been influenced by the records that every dance fan cherishes. 'Tears From The Moon' being one of them. Famously remixed by Tiestö in 2004, Conjure One and Sinéad O’Connor's seminal record is one of anamē's personal anthems.
Remixing ‘Tears From The Moon’ was one of the easiest choices of our lives. We both grew up listening to the Tiësto remix, and we wanted to incorporate that into our sets but in our own way. The vocals from Sinéad O'Connor just hit you right in the heart, and that's what it's all about.
Another record that hits home to the anamē boys is Lostep's 'Burma'. First released in 2004 on Global Underground Music (the same label Marcus and Thomas made their debut), 'Burma' was then remixed by Sasha and included on his iconic Involver compilation. anamē's remixes came about as a result of Marcus connecting with legendary producer Luke Chable, one half of Lostep, over WhatsApp.
We are still in love with this record - we always come back to 'Burma' when we want to play classics after a few drinks and to this today it sounds fresh to our ears. We built up the courage to ask Luke Chable if we could have the stems and after some long consideration (more or less an interview process) Luke was kind enough to hand us the stems from an old hard drive he had to dig out of the dust.
Collaborating with Paavo 🤝
Marcus and Paavo have also been friends since the early days of Above & Beyond. When their schedules align, they are often found in the studio together and you'll be hearing the fruit of that on Paavo's upcoming album as P.O.S, 'Deeper Tales'. The first taste of that is their remix of 'Lonely River', originally penned by singer-songwriter Kyan.
'Lonely River' started out as a jam over Kyan's beautiful original that Paavo found. The original vocal and piano take this record into a different space that we haven't really heard in dance music.
What's next for anamē?
We're mega excited for what the anamē boys have planned next... let's just say, a lot of original music from them will arrive on the label in 2023. You can also catch them at our Anjunabeats Miami pool party in March 🌴