DJ Q&A: Anabel Englund
Friday September 20th we welcome the incredibly talented Anabel Englund and her Gari Safari crew for a night of wild decor and outrageous talent! We discuss a lot of things we LOVE with this trendsetter and trailblazer ahead of the show.
Anabel, we love fun themes and decor and are super excited to host Gari Safari. How did Gari Safari come about?
Gari Safari consists of myself, my brother Jackson Englund, Matt Ossentjuk who we went to high school with, Human Life (Matt Wasley) & Diego Cuevas who is 1/2 of Mont Blvck (a musical act within GS). Working in a group for a few years now has taught me a lot. Everyone has their own traits & strengths that they contribute, its been really interesting watching us all grow into the humans we were meant to be & how best to add to our crew. We all work very hard to keep learning & being on top of things.
What is your favorite thing about the project?
I have so many. My 3 favorite things are;
1) Going to the airport with my friends. I fly alone a lot so when we all go on tour its so fun to be with my buddies & my brother.
2) When we throw an event & seeing the success. The feeling of knowing we accomplished something amazing, where so many people I don’t know have shown up to dance because of how rad of a party we throw.
3) When we put music out on Gari Recs & our music is played on the radio. To have a collaborative success is something unexplainable. Joy & excitement is definitely heightened when shared.
Who doesn’t love DISNEY! Tell us about your time with their TV network ABC Family.
ABC Family actually found me through youtube! They asked me to come into their building to play music for them. I brought my guitar & sang them some songs. I had no idea what was happening but I just showed up. I was so nervous! They ended up bringing me on to write & sing five songs for the network which ended up being used in multiple series. I’m so grateful for them & the people I met.
We love fashion and it’s obvious you do too. You are always ahead of the trend. Where are your favorite places to shop?
Awh thanks!!!! I love shopping around in London, NYC, TOKYO gahhh. Sometimes it makes me sad to live in LA haha.
How would you describe your fashion ethos?
I love to be comfortable & hate matching in the typical way someone would match something. I like blending masculine & feminine something sexy with something not. A comfortable colorful stylie non-conformist.
We straight up love the fact (and are a little jealous) that your grandmother is Cloris Leachman! Is she as funny and fabulous as she seems?
OMG, yes she is both fabulous & funny!
Has she ever been to a nightclub to see you perform?
There’s been times in the past she’s seen me perform yeah, just not recently in the clubs haha.
Any fun stories to share? How has she influenced you?
Her sense os fun is a big influence. A silly memory is being in a restaurant with her & literally as we’re following the hostess to our seats she steals multiple french-fries off someones plate. I was like, “Grandma you can’t do that!!” At first the person was like WTF but then he realized who she was & all was well…you can tell by this story she has done this multiple times & will not stop now no matter how many times I tell her not to.
We really love and appreciate your music and talent. We also can’t think of you without “Reverse Skydiving” getting stuck in our head! Do you know when you have a “hit” on your hands?
When we made Reverse Skydiving I knew something big was about to happen. I don’t think I realized how huge of a track it was going to be, but I definitely had that gut feeling though.
What was your most recent “proudest” moment as an artist?
Theres been a few this year honestly. I started the year with a massive tour. I performed my first show with my band. I signed to Ultra Records & so far the first release “So Hot” (MK & Nightlapse remix) has over a half a million plays on Spotify alone! I guess my proudest moment overall however, is being able to give myself the chance on any given day to look back & really take in everything I have accomplished so far. I work extremely hard & I don’t give myself enough credit. I always feel like there is more to do. But what is it worth if I can’t revel in my accomplishments?
That is certainly a lesson for all of us. To take the time to enjoy where we are and what we have done. We love checking out new releases. What do you have in the works?
have a few releases in the pipeline for end of the year. Can’t give too much info out yet. But stay tuned!
Indeed we will! What is your 2019 theme song? Can be a real song or a made up title!
The first song that comes to mind is Hurry by Teyena Taylor so I’m gonna go with that :p
Well hurry up and get to Halcyon! We can’t wait to shower you and the crew with LOVE!
EEEE thank you! We can’t wait to throw it down at Halcyon w the Gari crew!!
GARI SAFARI
Gari Safari: the live electronic experience by Anabel Englund (Hot Creations, Defected), Human Life (Exploited, AVOTRE), Matt Ossentjuk (AVOTRE, Dilate, My Favourite Freaks Music) and Mont Blvck (Jackson Englund & Diego Cuevas)
Gari has spread its reach from its Los Angeles roots (Warehouse Events, Standard Rooftop, Mondrian Pool) to markets including New York (Output), Miami (Townhouse Rooftop), San Diego (Spin), Denver (Club Vinyl), San Francisco (Audio), Boston (Bijou), Mexicali Mexico (Sunsound), Quito Ecuador (BPM Club) and Montañita Ecuador at the legendary Lost Beach Club. Past guests have included: Santé, Russ Yallop, Tåches, Jozif, Harvard Bass, Jesse Perez, Marymoon,
ANABEL ENGLUND
Born to a musical family, her father is American actor and singer Morgan Englund, her grandfather the director-producer George Englund and her grandmother, Academy Award-winning actress Cloris Leachman. Leachman inspired her granddaughter to become a s..
She made her first foray as a performer at the Christian youth group she attended aged 16, and became as a singer/songwriter at Disney-owned US TV network ABC Family supplying theme songs and other material for television shows. During 2010 and 2011 she wrote and performed largly piano-driven ballads both on her own and as part of a duo named Suburban Nightlife. In late 2012, she met producers Lee Foss and Jamie Jones, and, together with Mark Kinchen (MK), she collaborated on their song “Electricity.” The house track was lauded in the electronic music community and added to rotation on BBC Radio 1’s Essential Mix playlist in January 2013.
The success of the single raised Englund’s profile and she took part in the sessions that would become the 2013 album “Different Sides Of The Sun” by British-American electronic/house Hot Natured’s. She featured on three tracks: “Reverse Skydiving,” “Mercury Rising” and “Emerald City.” Remixes of these songs also highlighted Englund’s contribution, while the album reached 44 in the UK album chart in September 2013. Englund has performed with Hot Natured at major music festivals around the world while she also collaborated with Kinchen and Foss on the Pleasure State project.
In June 2014, Englund announced she had signed a record deal with Three Six Zero, and is currently working on her solo debut album. She also signed a modeling contract with Britain’s leading agency Models 1.
