Biography
Laying buzzy sheets of guitar across direct, driving melodies, Hotline TNT fuse their shoegaze roots with an underlying pop current and lyrics drawn from lived experiences of life and relationships. Guitarist and songwriter Will Anderson started the project and remains its sole creative force in the studio, where he handles every decision, while the act swells to a four- or five-piece unit for live performances. Anderson first crystallized the band’s approach on the independent 2021 album Nineteen in Love before expanding its scale and force on the 2023 Third Man Records debut Cartwheel.
Raised in Wisconsin, Anderson began attracting notice after moving to Vancouver, British Columbia, where he launched the band Weed, whose sound merged shoegaze textures with stoner-rock weight. Following Weed’s last release, the 2017 album Born Wrong Love, the group disbanded, prompting Anderson to sketch ideas for a fresh endeavor. After settling in New York City, he introduced Hotline TNT through the four-song 7-inch “Cool if I Crash” in June 2018; shortly afterward came the remix-and-demo collection More Fire, presented as a mixtape assembled by DJ Big Poison. Three further More Fire installments surfaced from 2019 to 2021. Several singles appeared next, and Anderson, who had tracked most material alone or with shifting collaborators, assembled a performing lineup that included fellow guitarists Jack Kraus and Maria Sepulveda, bassist Sarah Ellington, and drummer Mike Ralston. In 2021 the band issued its debut album Nineteen in Love on its own imprint before Smoking Room took over distribution. The record earned strong notices, and Hotline TNT kept touring, now featuring a revised road roster of Anderson and Ralston alongside guitarist August Beetschen and bassist Olivia Garner.
Anderson endured a personal upheaval when his parents ended their thirty-year marriage, an event that left him questioning his own circumstances and connections. He moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and began composing and recording a follow-up Hotline TNT album, again performing every instrument. As the band’s profile rose, Third Man Records extended a deal, releasing the resulting sophomore LP, Cartwheel, in November 2023.
Raised in Wisconsin, Anderson began attracting notice after moving to Vancouver, British Columbia, where he launched the band Weed, whose sound merged shoegaze textures with stoner-rock weight. Following Weed’s last release, the 2017 album Born Wrong Love, the group disbanded, prompting Anderson to sketch ideas for a fresh endeavor. After settling in New York City, he introduced Hotline TNT through the four-song 7-inch “Cool if I Crash” in June 2018; shortly afterward came the remix-and-demo collection More Fire, presented as a mixtape assembled by DJ Big Poison. Three further More Fire installments surfaced from 2019 to 2021. Several singles appeared next, and Anderson, who had tracked most material alone or with shifting collaborators, assembled a performing lineup that included fellow guitarists Jack Kraus and Maria Sepulveda, bassist Sarah Ellington, and drummer Mike Ralston. In 2021 the band issued its debut album Nineteen in Love on its own imprint before Smoking Room took over distribution. The record earned strong notices, and Hotline TNT kept touring, now featuring a revised road roster of Anderson and Ralston alongside guitarist August Beetschen and bassist Olivia Garner.
Anderson endured a personal upheaval when his parents ended their thirty-year marriage, an event that left him questioning his own circumstances and connections. He moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and began composing and recording a follow-up Hotline TNT album, again performing every instrument. As the band’s profile rose, Third Man Records extended a deal, releasing the resulting sophomore LP, Cartwheel, in November 2023.
Albums
