Hotline TNT, a shoegaze band based in New York City, will be playing at Urbana’s Rose Bowl Tavern on Friday.
Hotline TNT was formed by Will Anderson, who previously played in several other indie-rock bands such as Happy Diving, Crazy Bugs and Weed.
Anderson formed Hotline TNT in 2018 while living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he stayed as the cornerstone of the group while swapping out different band members.
“It made it harder when it was not stable,” Anderson said. “But it has been stable for the last year and a half, so that’s made things easier.”
He said that the group has performed in the Midwest before, but this will be their first time at the Rose Bowl Tavern.
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The Rose Bowl Tavern is located on Race Street in Urbana and functions as both a bar and a music venue. Founded in 1946, it features live music almost every night from local performers and bigger artists like Hotline TNT.
“We have played in the Midwest quite a bit,” Anderson said. “Basically, what happened this time was our booking agent got an offer to play a show on campus and negotiated the profits so they were in a good place for everyone to profit off of it.”
This performance is part of the group’s 35-concert tour across eight countries, with 21 of those shows taking place in the United States.
The band has released two albums, with their upcoming third album, “Raspberry Moon,” set to release June 20.
They also released a new single, “Julia’s War,” from their upcoming album “Raspberry Moon” on April 8. Anderson talked about how the song details the beginning of a new relationship.
“(It’s about) not wanting someone to change who they are or to fit any goals you might have,” Anderson said. “Just kind of loving that person.”
He mentioned that whatever the band’s purpose for the song is, he knows audiences will assign their own meanings to it if they want to.
In creating their songs, Anderson explained that they have been evolving their music over time by being open to taking inspiration from anything that comes their way, with his biggest inspiration coming from The Beatles.
He also explained that much of the creative process comes from him experimenting with different guitar riffs and sounds, following a much more free-flowing kind of creativity, which is how he came up with “Julia’s War.”
“I start with a guitar riff,” Anderson said. “I was noodling around in my room one day and came up with a catchy idea and went off.”
The band is also known for the mystery around its name, and Anderson refuses to share the meaning, claiming it is sacred to the group’s original members.
“We wanted to keep it away from the prying eyes of journalists and fans who want to know more,” Anderson said. “We like keeping it just between us.”
