(((O))) Interview: IAN at ArcTanGent 2026

 

It’s fair to say that ArcTanGent newcomers IAN turned quite a few heads at the festival, and were undoubtedly one of the highlights of the week. Anna and Ted talked to Jody Dunstan about their beginnings, sounding like a slowed-down Anthrax, and wanting to write like Fugazi but writing about Midsomer Murders instead. . .

Ted: Hello! Our guitarist and drummer are just sitting there laughing at us – pointing at us, which is nice!

E&D: Before the festival I put a request out on the ATG Facebook asking who I needed to see – a lot of people recommended IAN. So, tell us how you got here and introduce yourselves.

Ted: I don’t really know. I’m Ted! So, when did we even form? Three years ago, I think. Was it during Covid, or post-Covid?

Anna:  It was around Covid – Ted, Craig, me and Bob went for social drinks and decided to form a band. Hannah, our cellist, who’s also an old friend of ours, joined a year later.

Ted: We were all in bands before, we all knew each other, we all grew up in Exeter and went to the Cavern. That’s what’s nice about it – it’s a scene where everybody. . .  it’s not like London, where it’s really difficult to get anywhere. You get home from work after being out all day, and the idea of going out again and getting on a train is a nightmare. But in Exeter you’re kind of going there anyway, so you might as well do something.

Anna: There’s an amazing scene at the Cavern too,  such a good punk scene. David and Pippa, who run it, booked amazing bands, so we all got into them and met our whole friendship group through it. We were all doing music, so yeah – this is just 25 years later, us deciding to form a band so we could hang out with each other a bit more.

Ted: We probably wouldn’t even see each other that much if we weren’t in a band. That’s kind of why we did it.

E&D: So you didn’t have any issues being a slightly more unusual band starting out in Exeter?

Ted: Well, we started in London anyway, so we were all in there already. Craig does a lot of music videos for people, and takes photos too, so he knows a lot of people who put on shows, which helped, to be honest. He’s like our own little nepo baby. [Laughter]

Anna: He is the size of a baby.

Ted: Well, yeah, he’s also the size of a baby. . .

Anna: . . .and talks like one! [Laughter]

E&D: But yeah, he’s really helped us. And our friend Ade sorted out all the ArcTanGent stuff – he used to be in a band with me, Craig and Bob a while back. Now he’s. . . I don’t even know what he does – a promoter, runs some venues – but he knows all the ArcTanGent guys and pushed for us to get on the bill.

Anna: I think people took a punt on us because they knew Craig.

E&D: We had some insight – we didn’t get here on skill alone. [Laughter] Pure insider knowledge. [Laughter]

Anna: Yeah, exactly. We’re not a very good band. . . [Laughter]

Ted: A terrible band! But people have said we’d be good for this sort of festival. We played Desertfest, and that went down really well too. I still can’t quite get my head round it – I think we’d have ended up here at some point anyway, but it’s definitely useful to know somebody.

E&D: I think there’s an appetite here for the unusual. If anywhere’s going to be accepting, it’s here, right?

Anna: Yeah, I think we fit in pretty well. I don’t even know if. . . are we unusual? I suppose we are.

Ted: We’ve got a cello player. That’s unusual, isn’t it?

 

E&D: To me it felt like a mix of different things – lots of different influences.  What’s your creative process for writing songs?

Anna: Usually Craig writes the main riff. He’s got a real vision and he’s very structured in how he writes – he’ll bring a song to practice, and then we decimate it.

Ted: We batter him down, really – cut bits out, take about half an hour off each song.

Anna:  Yeah, we help him reconstruct it a bit.

Ted: He’s got a very definite idea of what we need to do.

Anna: He’s quite mathematical in the way he writes, and we’re not, so I think that combination ends up helping.

Ted: Yeah, cutting bits out, changing dynamics – I think it helps that we all like quite different music. Most of us are from the punk scene; Craig’s a bit more art-rock. I’m basically just hardcore, grime and pop music.

Anna: I like everything. Bob loves. . .

 

Ted: . . .Hip-hop, yeah, and ambient stuff. We all like quite different things, and I think that helps. The old noise bits are probably more me putting things in, because they remind me of Orchid, or some ’90s screamo band, and I want to pop that in — when I’m allowed.

Anna: And obviously Hannah’s classically trained, so that adds an extra element.

E&D: I know you worked with Wayne Adams on the album – how was that? What did he add?

Anna: A lot, actually. He’s really good – we’ve just done a second album with him too. On the first one, he wasn’t pushing for things to change, but he’d come up with useful ideas where we were a bit stumped. Like on one of the new songs, he could hear that the bass should be doing the same thing as the drums.

Ted: Yeah, subtle, creative suggestions that are really good for us. But he’s also very helpful on the emotional side – he curbs our anxiety a lot, doesn’t he?

Anna: Yes, he really does.

Ted: He knows how to help us when we’re freaking out in the studio.

Anna: Yeah, he does.

E&D: That’s the secret, isn’t it – just tweaking little things to get the best out of it?

Ted: Yeah, he’s so good at knowing how to get the best out of us, definitely. I’m sure that’s why a lot of people go to him.

Anna: Yeah, he made us feel really at ease, which is something we definitely struggle with.

Ted: He did make you take out the rap-metal verse I was going to do!

Anna: Yeah, we’re still a bit upset about that.

Ted: It’s probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, but. . . I get it now. I did three lines and he just went, “I’m not sure that’s the right way of doing it, no?”

Anna: He was subtle about it, but yeah.

E&D: The video for ‘Manuel’ is a lot of fun – how did that come about?

Ted: Craig does our videos – he does them for a lot of other people too. And we’re lucky to know Amar, Anna’s boyfriend. He was an actor and he’s also a big metalhead, so he really enthusiastically helped Craig, and the two of them worked on it together.

 

Anna: Yeah, they came up with the concept themselves.

Ted: And then I was just allowed to come and do some wrestling.

Anna: Amar also used to be a radio editor, so he helped with a lot of that too – including putting the subtitles of Ted’s amazing lyrics into the video.

Ted: I’m not very good at writing lyrics. I mean, it’s fairly clear.

Anna: You’re excellent at writing lyrics. It’s one of my favourite things about our band!

Ted: In my mind, I’d like to write really intelligent political stuff, like Fugazi, but whatever comes out sounds like a teenage idiot.

Anna: If people knew the actual lyrics to our songs!

Ted:: So now I just go, well, you know what, I’ll do that. On the new record there’s a song about Jonathan Creek. On the first record, ‘Fennel’ is about having a date and then just going, “You know what, let’s just watch Midsomer Murders” – and it’s basically just a long chat about Midsomer Murders.

E&D: [Laughter] That was a bit of a tangent!

Anna: Sorry for the question!

Ted: We quite like the idea that the music sounds really serious, and the lyrics are all really stupid – and you can’t really hear them anyway – it just makes us laugh.

Anna: Yeah, it makes us laugh.

 

E&D: So what’s next for you guys?

Ted: The new album – we sold out of our vinyl, so we’re doing another pressing, I think just a CD pressing of the record, just to have something out there, otherwise there’s nothing available. And then the new record – I’m guessing that’ll be with Human Worth again next year, but that depends on whether he wants to do it.

Anna: We’ve got a tour with Kulk coming up in September.

E&D: Oh, I’m going to come up and see you play in Glossop!

Anna: Oh, amazing! We’re really excited about that show – we’ve heard really good things about that venue.

Ted: We’re excited about meeting Chris [French, PR Trail] too.

Anna: Yeah, he’s coming to that show as well.

Ted: That tour should be really fun. We’re playing in Scotland, which we haven’t done before, Glasgow and Edinburgh. I can’t remember the rest. Brighton, probably. We’re also playing a place called Tough Love in St Leonard’s.

Ted: It’s a record store in Hastings – that’s a show I’m really looking forward to. It’s next week, or the week after.

 

Anna: So we’ve got a few shows coming up, and then the record hopefully out next year or something. And then, I don’t know, tours or something.

Ted: And then Craig – no, wait, we’re not allowed to talk about that one!

Anna: No, we’re not allowed to talk about that one.

Ted: I think touring next year would be great – to play here again.

Anna: Oh yeah, that’d be lovely. If they’ll have us.

Ted: Headline, I imagine – Saturday night. I’ll do it. I’ve already put our fee up!

E&D: I like the way your confidence veers wildly!

Ted: Yes – we’re shit right up to we headline!

E&D: If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be and why?

Anna: Ooh, you can answer this one!

Ted: I suppose, recording-wise, everybody would say Steve Albini.

Anna: Oh, yeah – but mainly because I’d like to see how annoying he is. I’d probably end up having an argument with him. Musically, I’d love to collaborate with Fugazi, or Public Enemy.

Ted: Chuck D did that song with Anthrax. We’re not really Anthrax, but. . . we’d slow it down.

Anna: We’re basically slowed-down Anthrax.

Ted: Slowed-down Anthrax, that’s what I’ve always said. Imagine thrash, but slow!

Ted:: Craig would probably have good ideas – he’d probably want to play with Amenra or something like that.

Ted: They Might Be Giants – maybe we could do something with them. Or Devo, I’d like that.

Anna: Devo would be fun.

Ted: Something weird. Let’s leave it there!

E&D: Anna, anything from you?

Anna: Nothing to add – I can’t top that!

 

Header photo: Kieran C. White