The Anchorage is a ska/alternative band from Salt Lake City, UT that formed in 2010.
History[]
Formation and Overkill (2010-2011)[]
During the summer of 2010, Jason Bohman & Derek Harman (at the time in the bands Super Hero & Back In Five respectively) started the band during a rehearsal for a Back In Five show in which Jason would be filling in on drums. While jamming between songs, they inadvertently wrote what would become the song "Antisocial". Due to a lull in activity with their own bands, they decided they wanted to pursue this project further with Derek on guitar and Jason on drums. They recruited Dylan Cox, (also of Back In Five) on bass and Erik Vorkink (formerly of Side Dish) on trumpet as well as Jason's long-time friend Benjamin Lambert on trombone. The band chose the name "The Anchorage" to symbolize the stability and reliability that they felt their prior projects had often lacked. At this stage, the band fleshed out 3 additional songs and in the fall of 2010 recorded the Overkill *Instrumental* EP as a tool to locate a lead singer.
The instrumental Overkill EP was released online as a free download and the band held open auditions for anyone who was interested in being the singer in the band - to audition they had to write vocals/lyrics for the 4 songs and present them to the band. The band auditioned several singers and ultimately never settled on any of them.
In March of 2011 while at a Lo-Fi Riot show, (in which future band-mate Evan Wharton was playing trombone,) Derek & Jason were fascinated by the keys player and the possibility of having someone who plays keys in the band. They contacted Jason's friend Scott Inkley (formerly of Storming Stages & Stereos) and he accepted the position of second guitarist & keys and Derek assumed the role of lead singer.
The band rehearsed heavily, wrote an additional 3 songs and played their first show on June 11, 2011 at Kilby Court. At the first show, they also re-released Overkill fully finished with vocals.
Bridges and Speak Your Mind (2011-2012)[]
Immediately after the band's first show, they set a goal to release their first full length album 5 months later (11/11/11) and got to work writing. They began tracking in September and finished recording the album a mere 1 week before the album release show which had already been booked. They cut it so close that Jason actually picked up the CDs from the manufacturing facility on the way to the show.
October 2011, lineup for Overkill, Bridges, & Speak Your Mind
On November 11, 2011 they released Bridges. The next month the group recorded and released a cover of Feliz Navidad.
The next year they played a substantial amount of shows around town and started writing new songs. In the fall of 2012, the band played a 2 night gig at the Fear Factory haunted house in Salt Lake City, and in keeping with the theme arranged a cover of Dead Man's Party by Oingo Boingo to play at the shows. In November of 2012 they decided to record a 3 song EP with their 2 new songs as well as the cover and on December 8, 2012 the band released Speak Your Mind. On December 12, 2012 the band played their first out of state show in Las Vegas, NV.
Lineup changes and Many Minds (2013-2014)[]
2013 was very active for The Anchorage as the band pushed for several larger shows, as well as begun writing for their next full length. In July of 2013, the group opened for RX Bandits and on the same day released the single Many Minds. This was also Dylan Cox's last show with the band as he left to serve a mission. The band began searching for a new bass player and in the interim, John Hoang from Show Me Island filled in on bass. Over the rest of the year, the group filmed their first music video for Many Minds, opened a sold out show at The Complex with Bastille & Hellogoodbye for the X96 Nightmare Before Xmas show, and in January of 2014 opened for Reel Big Fish at the Murray Theater.
In March of 2014, Scott Inkley played his last show with the band at the Loading Dock where The Anchorage opened for Suburban Legends. The next month, Derek met Mason Nagy and brought in his high school friend Justin Carter and they both joined the band (Mason on bass, Justin on guitar, keys, backing vocals) filling out the lineup again.
In July of 2014 the band played the Salt Lake stop of the Vans Warped Tour.
Regrow and more lineup changes (2014-2016)[]
In the fall of 2014 the group began recording their second full length album. The band finished recording and launched a Kickstarter to facilitate pre-orders of the album as well as to help fund the physical release. In conjunction with launching the Kickstarter, the band released a music video for the song Stereotype from the album featuring studio footage from tracking.
March 2015, lineup for Regrow
On April 7, 2015 the band released their second full-length album Regrow. In May of 2015, Justin Carter abruptly quit, and the group chose to remain a 5 piece for the time being. They continued to play many shows throughout the year and in August of 2015, Benjamin Lambert played his last show with the band, transitioning to a backup role due to scheduling conflicts and Evan Wharton stepped in on trombone. In November of 2015, Mason Nagy played his last show with the band as he moved out of state.
In December of 2015 Jake Bills joined on bass guitar. In April of 2016 at the 1 year anniversary of the release of Regrow, the band released a music video for Deep Sleep.
Back to a 6 piece and What We Go Through (2016-2019)[]
November 2017, lineup for What We Go Through
After a few months of writing and working on new songs, long-time supporter of the band and friend Myles Lawrence of the band She's Got A Gun joined on tenor sax, bari sax, and secondary guitar. The band continued writing songs and playing shows, including sharing the stage with ska legends Big D & The Kids Table and Save Ferris, and began recording new music in the fall of 2017.
On December 14, 2018, The Anchorage announced their EP What We Go Through and released the music video for the first single, Donny featuring the song's namesake, Derek's dog Donny. On January 18, 2019, the band released the music video for the second single, Where I Want to Be. What We Go Through was released on February 8, 2019.
Wild Stories (2020-present)[]
June 2021, lineup for Wild Stories and Dead Man's Party
In early 2020, the group began working with Utah based producer Joel Pack and started recording songs for their 3rd full length album. Prior to this point, all of their music had been self produced and self recorded. In May of 2020, Erik Vorkink quit to pursue other interests and Tyler Webb stepped in on trumpet.
On April 1, 2022, The Anchorage released the single Live with Death along with a music video. On May 6, 2022, the band announced their 3rd full length album Wild Stories along with Love Drunk, the second single & music video from the album, and opened preorders for vinyl (the first music from The Anchorage to be released on vinyl). On June 3, 2022, the group released the music video for Force of Habit, the third single from the album. Wild Stories was released on July 1, 2022. A music video for the fourth single, When I'm in the Grave was released on August 5, 2022.
On October 7, 2022, the band released a re-recorded version of their cover of Dead Man's Party that was engineered and mixed by Derek.
Discography[]
Studio albums[]
- Bridges (2011)
- Regrow (2015)
- Wild Stories (2022)
EPs[]
- Overkill *Instrumental* (2010)
- Overkill (2011)
- Speak Your Mind (2012)
- What We Go Through (2019)
Singles[]
- Feliz Navidad (2011)
- Many Minds (2013)
- Dead Man's Party (2022)
Music Videos[]
- Many Minds (2013)
- Stereotype (2015)
- Deep Sleep (2016)
- Donny (2018)
- Where I Want To Be (2019)
- Live with Death (2022)
- Love Drunk (2022)
- Force of Habit (2022)
- When I'm in the Grave (2022)
Members[]
Current[]
- Derek Harman - lead vocals, guitar (2010-present)
- Jason Bohman - drums (2010-present)
- Evan Wharton - trombone (2015-present), backing vocals (2020-present)
- Jake Bills - bass guitar (2015-present)
- Myles Lawrence - tenor sax, bari sax (2016-present), guitar (2016-2023)
- Adrien Baldwin - guitar (2023-present)
- Bobby Alger - trumpet (2023-present)
Former[]
- Erik Vorkink - trumpet, backing vocals (2010-2020)
- Benjamin Lambert - trombone (2010-2015)
- Scott Inkley - guitar, keys, backing vocals (2011-2014)
- Dylan Cox - bass guitar (2010-2013)
- Mason Nagy - bass guitar (2014-2015)
- Justin Carter - guitar, keys, backing vocals (2014-2015)
- Tyler Webb - trumpet (2020-2023)
Timeline[]
