Most frequent collaboratorJürgen Engler · 12 tracks
GenresElectronic RockSynth-rockAlternative Rock
Artist
88%
Authorship
Holds writing credit on 121 of 137 tracks
Does The Anix write their own songs?
Yes, in both of the project's forms. The Anix started in 2001 as a Los Angeles band formed by Brandon Smith with Bryan Lareau and Oscar Gutierrez, and the official biography credits Smith as the front-man and songwriter through the band years, while the lineup around him kept changing between the 2004 debut An Illusion of Time and the 2017 album Ephemeral. After Ephemeral the band ended and The Anix became a solo project with Smith as its only member, signed to FiXT. Since then he writes the lyrics and the music, produces the recordings, sings them, and plays guitar, bass, keyboards and programming himself. The trailer album Order / Disorder carries the credit in its plainest form: written by Brandon Smith, produced by Brandon Smith. Asked by FiXT about his song Shadow, he said that every lyric written and every song produced is the side of himself he tends to keep from the public.
By the Numbers
11
Studio Albums
137
Tracks Credited
88%
Self-Written
25
Years Active
37
Collaborators
Authorship Breakdown 121 / 137 self-written
Who wrote the songs?
Across all 137 tracks: how many The Anix wrote alone, how many they co-wrote, and how many were written by others. The bracket marks every track they hold any writing credit on.
The Anix has a writing credit88%
84%
4%
12%
Sole author115tracks84%
Co-written6tracks4%
Outside writers16tracks12%
Role Fingerprint how they contribute
The Anix's roles across the catalogue
Share of all 137 tracks where they are personally credited, by role.
Lyricist (words)88%
Composer (music)88%
Producer63%
Performer100%
Member Credit Breakdown share of tracks each member is credited on
Percentage of all 137 tracks, across every album, where each member holds a credit - split by role.
Member
Period
Lyrics
Music
Production
Performance
Brandon Smith
2001-present
88%
88%
63%
100%
Oscar Gutierrez
2001-2005
1%
0%
0%
19%
Bryan Lareau
2001-2006
1%
0%
0%
20%
Chris Yarber
2004-2008
18%
23%
0%
27%
Nik Lawhorn
2004-2008
0%
0%
0%
11%
Logan Smith
2005-2018
0%
0%
0%
8%
Greg Nabours
2008-2011
0%
0%
0%
7%
Chris Dinger
2009-2018
0%
0%
0%
0%
Nikolas Musolino
2013-2017
0%
0%
0%
0%
Authorship Over Time writing credit per album
The Anix's writing credit per album, in release order. Hover any bar for the album.
avg 88%
100%
100%
100%
0%
93%
100%
90%
100%
93%
91%
100%
2004An Illusion of Time
2005Play, Dance, Repeat
2008Demolition City
2011Sleepwalker
2017Ephemeral
2018Shadow_Movement
2019Hologram
2020Graphite
2022Revenge
2023Nightvision
2024Voltage
Early · 95% written
Mid · 96% written
Late · 94% written
Authorship by Decade track-weighted
100%
2000s
An Illusion of Time, Play, Dance, Repeat +1 more
90%
2010s
Sleepwalker, Ephemeral +2 more
96%
2020s
Graphite, Revenge +2 more
Authorship Spectrum pure performer to complete author
Where The Anix sits on the scale from a pure performer (0%, sings songs written by others) to a complete author (100%, writes everything). The bright marker is their catalogue authorship score, plotted against other artists on the site.
The Anix
Other artists on the site
Reference artists spread across the scale, closest by genre and era.
Demolition City is listed once, under its 2008 release. Wikipedia counts the 2022 remaster as a separate studio album, but it is the same songs re-recorded rather than a new record, so listing both would show the same tracks twice; the remaster is what finally published that album's per-track writer credits, and it is cited as a source on the 2008 entry. The remix albums, compilations and EPs sit outside the studio catalogue and are not listed.
Bubble size = tracks worked on together. JE Jürgen Engler · TC Tomas Costanza · J Julien-K · AD Amir Derakh · JM Justin Merando · GM Gerard McMann
The Authorship Story
Data Insight
The Anix has become one person's project, and the credits track that shift precisely. The 2004 debut was written collectively, all twelve tracks shared, and Brandon Smith now carries 121 of the 137 tracks here. Shadow_Movement in 2018 is the turning point: fifteen tracks, all his, no other writer. Guitarist Chris Yarber is the only other substantial voice at 31 tracks, all of them from the band years. One gap is worth naming rather than reading as silence: ten of the twelve tracks on Sleepwalker have no documented writer in any source, so they are unknown rather than uncredited.
Quick Facts
Band, then one personThe Anix was a band from 2001 to 2017 and has been Brandon Smith on his own since 2018.
Label homeSigned to FiXT in 2018, the independent electronic rock label run by Klayton of Celldweller, Scandroid and Circle of Dust.
Plays it all himselfBrandon Smith is credited with vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass and programming.
Written for trailersOrder / Disorder (2019) was made with the Los Angeles trailer music company Position Music for film, TV, trailer and game use.
On screenWarning Signs, from Sleepwalker, plays over the credits of the animated feature Mass Effect: Paragon Lost.
Old album, new masterDemolition City was remastered and reissued through FiXT on July 15, 2022, with previously unreleased demos and songs added.
Creative Fingerprint
From 2001 to 2017 The Anix was a Los Angeles band whose guitarists, drummers and synth players rotated around founder and songwriter Brandon Smith, and since 2018 it has been Smith by himself, writing the songs, producing the records, singing them and playing the guitar, bass, keyboards and programming that used to be other people's parts.
The Story
The Anix is an American electronic rock project from Los Angeles, formed as a band in 2001 by Brandon Smith with Bryan Lareau and Oscar Gutierrez. The lineup turned over repeatedly across the Demolition City and Sleepwalker years, and since 2018 it has been Smith alone, writing, producing and playing everything. The FiXT records from Shadow_Movement onward are the ones that put the project in front of a wider audience, largely through sync placements in games and trailers.
Frequently Asked Questions The Anix
Does The Anix write their own songs?
Yes, in both of the project's forms. The Anix started in 2001 as a Los Angeles band formed by Brandon Smith with Bryan Lareau and Oscar Gutierrez, and the official biography credits Smith as the front-man and songwriter through the band years, while the lineup around him kept changing between the 2004 debut An Illusion of Time and the 2017 album Ephemeral. After Ephemeral the band ended and The Anix became a solo project with Smith as its only member, signed to FiXT. Since then he writes the lyrics and the music, produces the recordings, sings them, and plays guitar, bass, keyboards and programming himself. The trailer album Order / Disorder carries the credit in its plainest form: written by Brandon Smith, produced by Brandon Smith. Asked by FiXT about his song Shadow, he said that every lyric written and every song produced is the side of himself he tends to keep from the public.
Is The Anix a band or one person?
Both, in sequence. It was a band from 2001 to 2017, with drummers, guitarists, bassists and synth players moving in and out around Brandon Smith. Since 2018 it has been his solo project, and he is listed as the only current member. Live shows are the exception: former drummer Logan Smith and former guitarist Chris Dinger came back to play live in 2022.
Who is Brandon Smith?
He is the Los Angeles composer and producer who founded The Anix in 2001 and now runs it alone. He started on guitar at ten, playing the surf riffs his dad had on in the house, then got more interested in drum machines, synths and digital recorders, and says layering organic and electronic instruments so they sound like they come from the same world is his biggest fascination. Before The Anix broke through, labels hired him as a touring musician for their bigger pop acts, which is how he learned the business. He is self-taught in the music, the design and the video work.
What instruments does Brandon Smith play on The Anix records?
Vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass and programming. Guitar came first, at ten years old, and the machines came after. Since 2018 there is nobody else on the records, so whatever is on a track, he played it or programmed it.
Who else has been in The Anix?
Oscar Gutierrez played drums from 2001 to 2005 and Bryan Lareau played guitar, bass and backing vocals from 2001 to 2006, both from the founding lineup. Chris Yarber (bass and synthesizer) and Nik Lawhorn (guitar) were in from 2004 to 2008. Logan Smith, Brandon's brother, drummed from 2005 to 2018. Greg Nabours played synthesizer from 2008 to 2011, Chris Dinger played guitar from 2009 to 2018, and Nikolas Musolino played guitar from 2013 to 2017.
Why did The Anix stop being a band?
The change came in two steps. In 2016 the group set out to reinvent itself, shifting away from being a touring band and into a studio project, and spent a full year on that before releasing Ephemeral in March 2017. In 2018 Brandon Smith finished the change by signing with FiXT on his own, and the band did not continue past that point.
Does The Anix work with other artists?
Rarely, and on his terms. Smith has said he prefers working alone because he works fast and intense, and that stopping to send a song out and wait for someone else's input disrupts the process for him. Amir Derakh of Julien-K is the exception he names, because Derakh gets parts back to him the same day. Julien-K turns up on Your Lies Are Like Fire, Antilife and Crawl, and there are tracks with INHUMAN, Intrelock, Becko, Daedric and HIGHSOCIETY.
Who produces The Anix records?
Brandon Smith does. The band-era exception is Sleepwalker in 2011, which Cleopatra Records had produced by Jurgen Engler of Die Krupps. Order / Disorder in 2019 spells the current arrangement out on the release credits: written by Brandon Smith, produced by Brandon Smith.
Does The Anix make his own artwork and videos?
Yes. Smith has directed The Anix videos for Enemy Eyes, Resident One, This Machine, Die With You and Crawl, and he describes his work as producing his own music, making remixes, producing other artists, and creating music videos, album art, ad campaigns and merchandise. Designing clothes and accessories is his hobby outside music, which is the same eye pointed somewhere else.
Has The Anix written music for film, television or games?
Yes. Order / Disorder, released in 2019 with the Los Angeles trailer music company Position Music, was written for film, TV, trailer and game use, and it was the first full-length epic and orchestral trailer album from the project. Warning Signs, from Sleepwalker, plays over the credits of the animated feature Mass Effect: Paragon Lost. Smith has also described landing the main theme song for a DC Comics video game that had a national TV campaign attached.
The Anix