by Meaghan Paulosky
Indie, electronic, pop? Maybe post-Britpop infused with a bit of folk? None of it? All of it? Well, whatever they are, Scanners have got it figured out.
Formed back in 2004 as a three-piece group (one piece being a drum machine), Scanners have since managed to carve out for themselves a neat little niche within a whole scheme of genres.
When asked to define their sound, original member Sarah Daly even found it difficult to label. “Indie/pop, but it’s a hard question to answer. It’s tricky because of how Matt and I write…We love writing songs and [it] transitions from electronic to folk when [we] pick out what instruments will work.”
And that’s just the way it’s always been. Fellow original member, Matthew Mole, joins Daly in the writing role, but a song is never recorded the way it was originally written. The two start writing separately and share ideas later, adding and removing their many instruments (and genres). Next, after having ditched the drum machine, Mole and Daly bring the music to their newer, more responsive band mates, Amina Bates and touring members Ben Grillon and Harry Lane. Once the song has been practiced, perfected, tweaked and practiced again, the Scanners are ready to hit the road.
It takes about a week, and a few drinks, to prepare for a show. The “fairly laid back” group plays off their apparent trial-and-error philosophy, trying out old and new songs and sounds before making a final set list. And this method hasn’t really seemed to fail them yet. They’ve played all over the world, most notably on Last Call with Carson Daly and more recently at the SXSW music festival this year. After narrowly avoiding a near miss and a teeny-tiny visa crisis, they made their way to sunny Texas to play five shows to an eager crowd, the best part for any musician.
“Once you’re on stage, that’s it. Everything else just shuts off,” says Daly.
Be sure to check out their newest album Love is Symmetry when it lands in the US this June, and look out for a Scanners tour stop in October!
