Ani Saafa is the brainchild of prominent Dunedin musicians Logan Edwards (he/him) and Stanley Barbazon (he/him). Supported by Jakira Brophy (she/her) and Erik Dekker (he/him) on bass and drums respectively, the indie-pop-grunge band has made a great impact on the scene with their new EP ‘Phonetics’. Critic Te Ārohi chatted to the band in the green room of U-Bar about the EP, gigs, and their influences.
The band’s prime songwriter is Stanley, who often comes up with lyrics and melodies with the acoustic guitar. “I take it to Logan to see if it’s any good and then we develop it from there once we have the bare bones of the song,” says Stanley. At the end of 2022, the band started to jam and got a gig at the Dunedin Social Club right as they were starting to do their own Pint Nights. “I emailed them on a whim just seeing if I could get a gig and luckily it lined up. We played there a couple of times and it was a good start.”
The band continued to play U-Bar and other venues, even extending to the stadium. “I was just emailing everyone and it worked out.” The band also managed to open for Ōtepoti legends L. Hotel after bassist Dave Borrie heard their music and, impressed, reached out to help give the budding band a leg-up. “They’re all really smart dudes, they've been doing it for a while,” says Stanley.
Stanley and Logan take their influences from early 2000s indie, such as Arctic Monkeys and The Strokes, as well as classic ‘60s rock such as Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. The band even does a cover of Hendrix’s ‘Foxy Lady’, as well as other classic pop songs like ‘Lost’ by Frank Ocean and ‘Lay All Your Love On Me’ by ABBA that are always a hit at Pint Nights. “We wanted to do songs that were popular and we liked but making it our more grunge kind of sound.” says Stanley.
Ani Saafa has recently released their EP ‘Phonetics’, a four-track project including the single ‘Waste It’ which managed to top the Student Radio Network Top 10. They also released a music video for the single, directed by Radio One’s promotion and content coordinator Lily Knowles, which currently has over a thousand views on YouTube. Speaking about the sound of the EP, Stanley says, “It’s a spectrum of pop to our harder sound, so it means everyone will have a song they like and it’s just the stuff we like to make. Helps us send stuff to radio stations, too.”
The band is currently on tour, playing shows across the motu, including Ōtautahi Christchurch, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Pōneke Wellington, Wānaka, and Tāhuna Queenstown. The band will wrap up the tour at U-Bar in Ōtepoti this Thursday, July 18th. While the shows have been going well so far in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch (the latter selling out), the rest of the tour has had more than its fair share of challenges. “We brought up an Xbox 360 but forgot the power plug,” says a glum Stanley. The band scouted Facebook Marketplace but were unsuccessful. “That was the first of many low blows,” adds Logan.
The band also had to deal with car troubles, malfunctions and failures, leaving them stranded in Auckland. The group was forced to splash out on a rental van to make their way home. “We are holding out for the finale […] playing Dunedin is like nowhere else. You can’t really top it,” says Stanley. A fruit plate did briefly help to lift their spirits, though.
You can catch Ani Saafa at U-Bar on the 18th of July and stream their music on all streaming services. Follow them on Instagram @ani_saafa_ to keep up with future shows and releases.