Two local men, John Lockwood and Richard Griesbaum, both of the greater Bradford area and graduates of Bradford Area High School, have created a metalcore band known as The Anxiety Effect and released their second single “Roots” recently on Dec. 13 to all global and major music platforms.
As of 6 p.m. on Friday the new single, which can be found on Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, Amazon Music, Deezer, Youtube among other streaming platforms, had received over 1,600 views thus far, since the song’s release on Tuesday.
According to Lockwood, “Roots” is one of several songs the duo began working on about two years ago.
“The foundation of the song came together back in the summer of 2020. Once we had what we felt was a solid arrangement on about four songs, we started the recording process in my studio,” stated Lockwood.
The duo’s first song, “Visions of Doubt,” was released this past June.
Concerning the artistic process behind releasing a global single from their northern PA local, it is a complicated process, explained Lockwood.
“Putting the songs together is a very long and involved process that we go through in my studio,” Lockwood explained. “While we both work on the arrangements of the songs, Rick is the creative force behind a lot of it. He writes the bulk of the music and then he plays all the main instruments on the recordings (drums, bass and guitars) and he performs some of the backing vocals as well.
“I perform all the lead vocals and write the lyrics,” Lockwood continued. “There is a lot of computer technology and recording gear involved, and I handle all of that. I’ve built a couple custom computers and modified a laptop that we record everything on depending on what the situation calls for. The writing process takes the longest. We usually have several 5 to 8 hour long writing sessions where we record rough ideas and then start piecing the song together from those ideas.”
Each of their two first singles was made up of anywhere from 40 to 60 individual tracks recorded onto Lockwood’s computer.
“Several instruments like the guitars and even my vocals are performed multiple times, with each performance on its own track. When we are happy with all the final takes for each one, we send them off to our producer Joshua Johnson in York, Pa., for the mixing process to start. Josh plays a huge role in how the final recording sounds. His job is to mix/blend all those individual tracks together into a final mix that everyone hears when it’s released.”
That is a lot of work for only two individuals to put into an endeavor, just utilizing free time. Between the creating and recording process, and handling the responsibilities of everyday life with jobs and families, it can often be a race against time, according to Lockwood.
“Rick is also in another band in the area called Darkwater Duo and they play multiple live events every week. So we’re always busy juggling schedules around. Patience is something you have to have a lot of to make this all work,” Lockwood stated.
However, it was music that initiated the relationship between Lockwood and Griesbaum in junior high and it seems that no matter what direction their separate live paths have taken them on, they still reunite to create together.
“Music has always been a huge part of our existence, and it’s helped us express ourselves over the years,” Lockwood explained further. “It’s also gotten us through some rough times. It’s a very therapeutic process. As the years passed, life took us in different directions, but music has always been a constant factor for both of us throughout various bands and projects. I don’t think either of us would live happy lives without it. It’s because of music that we have reconnected to this very day. Music is so powerful. It has a way of bringing people together, pulling emotions out of people, and helping people through hard times; and let’s face it, we’re all facing some hard times these days.”
The Anxiety Effect, which has brought Lockwood and Griesbaum together once again, has mostly garnished listens and views of their songs in the U.S. but according to Lockwood, recently they have received listens from places such as Greece, The United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Romania, Finland and South Africa.
“A lot of that is coming from our songs being added to things like Spotify playlists in different parts of the world. It’s exciting to see it grow and spread like it has,” stated Lockwood.
Moving forward, the pair of men plan to continue the recording process on a few other songs which they are hopefully to release throughout 2023.
“We are also looking for other musicians to come take part in all of this — in hopes to start performing live shows beginning next year,” Lockwood stated. “We would love to hit the road and play some live events throughout the region and beyond if it comes together. Until that happens, we will continue to write, record and release new music like we have been.
“I think music is an important element that everyone needs to have in their daily lives,” explained Lockwood. “Sadly, our world has seemed to turn its back on a lot of the creative and performing arts these days. If there is anything positive that comes out of what we are doing, we would hope that it inspires the younger generation to put down their mind numbing devices, and tap into their creative energy. I feel it’s an important element missing in the world today.”
For more information or to listen to the new single, visit www.theanxietyeffect.net.
