In November, New York-based band Hotline TNT reissued their 2019 compilation record, Trilogy, remastered and revamped with two new songs.

The rerelease came after demand from fans who wanted a vinyl pressing of the record. ‘You know how it is, nothing is ever as good as the first release out of any band’, the band's front man Will Anderson joked to me after I asked what sparked the rerelease. While a big claim that wasn’t said completely seriously, he makes a point, there is often is some charm to the first release that is lost in later releases, think Joy Division’s releases as Warsaw, The Breeders’, Pod, or Will’s example of TV On the Radio’s, Young Liars. 

Trilogy is defined by the band’s classic fuzzy guitars, and highlights the early stages of the band making great music with a more lofi, unpolished sound, laying down the blueprint for what was to come with their later releases. The compilation is great and for one made up of three EPs, the songs on Trilogy blend together near flawlessly.

When I listened to the reissue of Trilogy, I noticed that some of the song titles would make the base for great questions. When I started writing them, however, I realised it really was only a couple of them, alas, I continued with the theme. Here is an interview with Will Anderson of Hotline TNT, where (almost) every question is based on and includes the name of a song from their album Trilogy (there are a few bonus follow ups in there too).  

What’s Ur Sign?

I don’t have one. I’m just a mystery, man. I’ll never reveal the true origin of my star. It is kind of all over the sky.

Are U Faded?

Normally the answer is no, I am a straight edge, a gold star. Most of us in the band are, its three straight edge people and two of us are gold stars including me. But I was up late last night, my day still hasn’t really started, and it's four in the afternoon. So, I’m going to say, I am kind of faded.

Casper is a friendly ghost. Have you ever had any ghost encounters?

I have actually. I’m going to preface this by saying that I am not a supernatural person, I don’t really believe in ghosts and I think everything has a scientific explanation. When I was living in Vancouver, my then girlfriend, Lindsey and I were sharing one single bedroom with another person, so there were three of us in one room. It was very close quarters. Her aunt was a realtor and for some reason was trying to fill an apartment, she asked if we wanted to stay there for a while. We needed the space so we went to stay there for a bit.

The apartment was what they call in Vancouver a “Garden Suite” which is a real estate way of saying basement apartment. The whole building was vacant, and we were living in the basement. As we walked in, I felt something weird, like a presence of some kind, I ignored it, and everything seemed normal. Then weird stuff started happening. We are watching TV – I was watching Seinfeld for the first time in my life – and the TV turned off by itself. I was like whatever, no big deal, it could be the wiring, or the electricity could’ve gone out for a second, so I turned it back on. Then Lindsey’s aunt calls us and is like ‘Hey, did you guys go upstairs?’ we were like ‘No, why?’, the neighbour had just called her and said she saw someone upstairs in the house. We didn’t have access to that part of the house. Things at that point were starting to layer on top of each other and we started getting creeped out. Lindsey then goes to make nachos, she’s in the kitchen, I can’t see her and from the kitchen I hear a blood curdling scream. I ran in there thinking she just cut her finger chopping onions, but it sounded like something more intense by the sound of it. She had cut her finger, so we went to go to the bathroom and ran her finger under the faucet to wash the wound. We put a Band-Aid on the cut, and she turned her finger over so the side with the cut is facing the sink. The blood immediately soaks through the Band-Aid and starts dripping down into the sink, then sucks back up and the stain just disappears. I look at her and say, ‘Did you just see that’, she looks at me and says, ‘Did you just see that’. We were both shocked and didn’t have any idea about what happened, but we both saw it. It felt very supernatural especially on top of everything else that happened. We went to bed that night and I was like ‘You know what Lindsey, I can’t stay here. I’m going back to my house; you can come back with me if you want.’ Then we left.

That is so crazy, also the fact you are in a completely vacant building but living in the basement makes it even worse.

Yeah, that is my experience with my supernatural. I didn’t think I was going to be telling that story today.

You have a master’s degree in education, so I had a question about your note taking habits. What kind of Highlighter are you? Are you highlighting paragraphs or just key words and maybe a sentence here and there?

Well, I hate to fact check you there, but I didn’t finish my master’s degree, I got very close, but I have one class remaining. That class is a full year internship, meaning I have to be in one place the whole year. Right when I was about to do it was when we started touring, so I didn’t finish it and I don’t know if I ever will.  

Anyway, here’s my highlighter, it's orange. I don’t use it a ton, I use it more so when I’m making posters more than anything. It is so rare that I would have a page of text that I would highlight, I can’t remember the last time I used a highlighter to take notes, but I have it here on my desk. 

If you were to make a Picture Disk for Trilogy and you could choose two images to put on either side of the record that encapsulates the band best, what two would you pick?

Well, Trilogy, is from the before times of the band, the Minneapolis era of the band. So, I would probably find some photos of “Garden Suite” shows, basement shows, sparse crowds, recording dungeons, tiny bedrooms and four track cassette warping. I would put those images on the picture disk.

Calling Out 2 U is a song on the album, who would you call in the case of an emergency?

I’m going to give a shoutout to my emergency contact. His name is Graham Hunt, he lives in Maddison, Wisconsin.

Who is your all-time holy Trinity of bands?

My Bloody Valentine, Hüsker Dü and Teenage Fanclub.

What about your current holy Trinity?

I can’t stop listening to this new album by Daryl Johns, he plays bass in Mac Demarco’s band. ML Buch, that’s my girl, she’s still my number one. I couldn't stop listening to that album all year, I got my Apple Music Replay, and she was in there. I’ll throw Nourished by Time in there too.

What was your top song this year?

It’s not what you might think, my top song was “If You’re Too Shy Let Me Know” by The 1975. We were talking about doing a tour together. Matty Healy and I messaged back and forth for a little bit and talked about playing some shows. He heard Cartwheel and he liked it. I was vaguely aware of them, but I hadn’t delved into their discography, and I did after that, then The 1975 became my running music. 

You crossed Country Mile’s from Vancouver to Minneapolis to New York where you live now, what sparked the moves?

Well, Canada I couldn’t overstay my visa any longer. I’m from Wisconsin and only have American citizenship. I had some student and work visas, but I couldn’t renew them anymore. That’s why I went to Minneapolis, I started Hotline there. I saw some more opportunities both socially and professionally, then made the jump to New York five years ago.

Are you more of a fan of Antonio Banderas in The Mask of Zorro or Puss in Boots?

I think I did see The Mask of Zorro when it came out but since I can’t remember it, I’m going to say Puss in Boots.

Have you ever had an awkward Wrong Number encounter?

We’ve all done it, texting a picture to what you think is one group chat but then it includes someone who wasn’t meant to be there. I’m trying to think of a specific time it happened recently [laughs], there’s one that comes to mind but I can’t put it on the record.

You guys have been touring quite a bit. Do you have any Tour Tattoo stories?

I have been trying to get rid of my tattoos. I am trying to think if I have got one on tour before. All I can think of is that our drummer for a few years, post Trilogy, is a tattoo artist he goes under the name Meaty World, we talked about doing tour tattoos a lot when he was in the band. It is always just one of those things that gets talked about a lot but never happens.

What is the song about then if it isn’t about Tour Tattoos?
It isn’t really about getting a tattoo, it is about making a permanent mark on someone’s life or having someone make that mark on you. No matter what happens, if you’re in contact or not just someone who is always going to be a part of your life. 

What do you think the relationship between two Lawyers in Love would be like?

Well, my parents are about my lawyers, that song is kind of about my parents. They’re actually divorced now, so it’s not really a love story. The title is a nod to a Jackson Browne album also called Lawyers in Love. It is like many things, something I thought would be a funny title, that I never ended up changing.

Alright, it's December, the year is almost over, pretend you’re the head of music worldwide and your album of the year is the Proven Winner. What is the album of the year 2024?

I’m going to go with Daryl Johns’ self-titled album and I’ll give some flowers to my boy MJ Lenderman for Manning Fireworks because that one is in the conversation too, but I’ve got to give top honours to Daryl.

You use the letter “U” multiple times in song titles, Never Anyone but U is one of those times. What is the reason behind the stylistic choice? 

It is a nod to Prince, one of my Minneapolis heroes, he always liked doing that. I’ve gone back and forth over the years being like, is that too playful to just have the letter U but I was like you know what it’s fine, so we still do it on occasion.

How about the “4” in 4 Shadow?

No big reason behind that, I just thought it looked cool. A lot of the stuff in this band is just like ‘Oh, I think that’ll look cool. I’ll do that’.

What is the biggest L you’ve ever taken?

I just don’t see life that way, you know. When I take an L, I’ll always be able to see that silver lining and it turns out to be a positive thing and I’m really glad I took that L because now I’m in a better place. It’s cliché but it is a better way to go through life. Actually, I would say my biggest L is not finishing my master’s degree because I spent a lot of money, have loan debt and have no degree.