If you’re looking for your next song of the summer, look no further because Saint Blonde are here to help you. The alt-rock quintet have delivered yet again with their brand new single “Gimme My Flowers,” a song that is guaranteed to be in your rotation for the rest of the year. Balancing supremely catchy melody with intense lyrical content, Saint Blonde are making dance tunes for the thinking person. Alongside this new single and video, I was given the exclusive chance to speak with singer Hunter Fitch about the new single, where it could fit within the world of anime, and when he realized he truly loved anime. Tell us a bit about your new single, “Gimme My Flowers!” Hunter Fitch : “Gimme My Flowers” is a middle finger to the fair-weather well-wishers who only show up once you’ve sort of climbed out the other side of the tunnel. It calls out the social media sympathy parade, refusing belated bouquets and serves as a reminder that validation delivered after the fact is just another performative gesture. RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Life of Agony's Alan Robert Announces New Releases, Talks Anime Inspiration Was anime on or around while you were writing or recording the song? Or is it typically around when you’re writing music? Fitch : I would say that’s probably a bit of a stretch. Sometimes we have stuff playing during the early stages of demoing stuff out, but there isn’t typically anything playing when it's time for me to write, especially if it's lyrics or melody stuff. That being said, when I’m in a heavy writing phase I try to balance a lot of “input and output” (consuming stuff versus making stuff) to avoid getting burned out. A lot of that input naturally ends up being anime just because that’s my preferred thing to watch. Can you tell me a little about your anime journey? How it started and where you are now? Are there genres you gravitate toward? Fitch : Obviously, anime wasn't nearly as accessible as it is today when I was younger. There weren't a ton of stations that played anime, especially not sequentially so there was definitely a larger barrier of entry to enjoy the medium. Pokémon and whatever Toonami played were pretty much my introductions to anime. There’s a ton of different genres I like, but my favorites seem to always be in the fantasy or dark fantasy genres ( Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End , JUJUTSU KAISEN , Chainsaw Man , etc.) Which series made you realize you truly loved anime? Fitch : I would say Pokémon but all the purists would probably yell at me for that haha. I think the first two anime series that I binged that really stuck with me were probably Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop . That and watching a lot of Miyazaki films when I was younger cemented anime as a serious art form to be consumed versus just something in 30-minute segments at a time. I was turned off by a lot of late ‘90s/early ‘00s shonen stuff as a kid just because it was impossible to watch in sequential order without spending a lot of money on VHS and DVDs. The internet allowed me to start enjoying full series runs as I got older. RELATED: Marty Friedman on Playing the Nyaight of the Living Cat Theme Song Did you get into music around the same time as you got into anime? Or were they separate from each other? Fitch : They were separate for sure. Music has been a part of my life since the beginning. Anime was something I started to enjoy around my early teens. Unless you count the original Pokémon series, because I started watching that as it came out. Did you ever learn anything about music or art from watching anime? Fitch : Anime definitely did a good job of bursting the music bubble I lived in when I was a kid (and even now). Anime tends to have a wider range musically than a lot of Western media, especially depending on genre. A lot of my first exposure to jazz, orchestral music, different modes, different ways to write a pop hook, an entirely different language are all because of anime. I can comfortably say without anime there would be a huge space missing for me creatively. Why do you think anime fans are drawn to alternative music and vice versa? Fitch : It makes sense considering being different, outcast or othered is a pretty common theme in a lot of anime. I don't know if this has any correlation or not, but when I started to enjoy anime, it definitely didn’t have the cultural relevance in the US that it has grown to have now. It was seen as a weirder, more niche interest that wasn't always considered very cool. Freak solidarity? I’m not sure. Always seemed like two weird lil peas in a pod to me. RELATED: Sleep Theory's Cullen Moore: Here's How Anime Shaped Me Who are some of your musical inspirations? Have you been inspired by any anime openings, endings, or OSTs? Fitch : This is a loaded question and will defer to just listing my absolute favorite anime and anime-adjacent music and leave that to others: The Entire Cowboy Bebop Soundtrack – SEATBELTS All of the Samurai Champloo OST Records – (Impression, Departure, Masta, Playlist) Lost In Paradise ( JUJUTSU KAISEN Ending) – Ali, AKLO Kijutsushi no Baire – Yoshihisa Hirano (Or any of the other Hunter x Hunter soundtrack stuff) Kickback – Kenshi Yonezu Creepy Nuts – Bling-Bang-Bang-Born ( MASHLE: MAGIC AND MUSCLES ) The Divine Visionary Candidate Exam Arc (OPENING THEME) Creepy Nuts – DAN DA DAN Opening Any of the Miyazaki/Ghibli Soundtracks If “Gimme My Flowers” could be used in an anime, what type of show would it be? Fitch : As much as I want to say a cool, edgy dark fantasy one, that would probably be better suited for some of our other songs. I think “Gimme My Flowers” is brighter sounding and would probably fit better in a modern action/comedy or slice-of-life if anything. Maybe something like Sakamoto Days ? Can you tell us anything about more new music coming? Fitch : Yes, I can tell you that there is more new music coming! RELATED: The World Through the EYES of "Spinner" Is there anything you’d like to plug or say to the Crunchyroll audience out there who may not be familiar with your music? Fitch : Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End should have won Anime of The Year and I'm using this platform to state that instead of anything else about the band. But I hope you like our music and check us out 🙂
