Meet Ani Ces - Upcoming San Antonio star

This weekend I had the cool chance to sit down with Ani Ces, a musician from San Antonio, Texas. Our conversation is written below.

What is your name and where are you from?

My name is Vic Garces. I'm from San Antonio, Texas, but I go to school in Austin and am hoping to fully relocate there by the end of the year.

What is your artist name and how long have you been playing music under this name?

I make music under the name Ani Ces. I front a rock band called Other Plans but, with all of us spread across the country at the moment, my main focus is on this solo project. I put out my first album at the end of 2019 and am currently working on my second!

How did you get into music?

There are so many artists in my family. I was raised on the value of communication, artistic expression, and really good music. I think I always had this inclination for songwriting, and performing is a good outlet for this teen angst I appear to have built my entire personality around (ha! At this point I'm done kidding myself), whereas songwriting is more of this inherent method of expression, like a second language for me.

How would you define your own musical style?

Something that I take for granted in my music is that I started my education in classical music. I was a choral singer from around ages 7-18, and my first instruments, in fact, were flute and oboe. And I was one of those hardcore band kids in school. God, I was insufferable. But while the others actively listened to Bach and Debussy, I was listening to '70s rock and 2000s indie. You can hear the rock n roll in my classical music as much as you can hear the classical in my rock n roll.

Who are your influences?

I have to give my parents credit for largely contributing to my musical influences. My mother, who loves The Beatles, Tom Petty, and Janis Joplin, would often wake my family by blasting oldies while cleaning on the weekends. My father loves Oasis, and always researched the bands that the Gallaghers would trash in interviews. I have vivid memories from around 2007 of sitting in the backseat of our old car, singing along to Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, U2, The Strokes, The Killers, so many more. Without a doubt, they've been the biggest figures in my musical influence. Of course, I cannot stress enough how much the other artists in our local music scene have influenced my development as a musician. Bands like Ready Revolution, Dream Place, The Frog & Bandit, Noise Quota, and sleep well. are just a few that come to mind.

What was your most favorite moment as an artist?

I'm not sure if I would call it my favorite, but a moment that always sticks out for me is this one rehearsal I had with my first band. I remember playing this stripped, bare-bones version of this big rock song I'd had in my head. I looked up at the guys, and will never forget this look they all had on their faces. When we played it as a full band, it was the first time I'd heard any of those songs in my head translated into reality with these amazing musicians. I'd never felt anything like it before.

If you could open up for any band or artist in the world, who would you choose?

Any of the artists I mentioned before would definitely be on the list of who I'd like to open for. Yeah Yeah Yeahs would be really cool, too, or Nico Vega--if they ever got back together. Karen O from YYYs and Aja Volkman from NV are two amazing, killer performers, who I admire and, admittedly, attempt to emulate. To play with them would be unreal. Catfish and the Bottlemen are a relatively newer band from that genre family that has The Strokes and Arctic Monkeys and bands who have really impacted my life. I'd love to perform with them as well.

What is the best part about being a San Antonio musician?

There's nothing like the San Antonio music scene. Granted, I've only been active in it for about three years--one of which was spent in a pandemic--but meeting the people that I know, collaborating with the musicians I have, has been such a gift. And being in a city like San Antonio, with our amazing culture and environmental influences, the sheer creativity and passion produces an energy unlike anything I have ever experienced.

What are your musical aspirations for the future?

I want to provide a platform for marginalized voices to be as loud as they can. As a queer, Chicanx, child of public school teachers from the southside, I know all too well what it's like to not be listened to. I see it every day, experience it so often. Music is my voice. It is the vessel through which I take every time I have felt that silence, that feeling of powerlessness and helplessness, and demand to be heard. Through my music, I can be loud. It is a power I am so lucky to get the chance to feel, and anyone who wants to should be able to feel it as well. Even in music I have experienced this silencing, this dismissal of who I am, because of my class, because of my gender, because of my sexuality, because of the color of my skin, because of who my parents are and are not. But it only yielded more from me. I've begun to consider the possibility of opening a music venue, maybe a recording studio, that can be easily accessible to people who, like me, felt at any point that there might be any obstacle standing between them and being heard, and give them the resources they need to translate these ideas into a powerful reality.

Lastly, where can our readers find your music?

I have music on all platforms as Ani Ces. My Bandcamp page has a few extra releases that I have yet to make available elsewhere. My band, Other Plans, is also on all streaming platforms. Both projects have contributed to compilations by labels and media collectives that you can find all over Bandcamp.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3vnKR5oX57CkNrY6sNB6DB?si=WFCYTeMHStiAlh7TgSEcyA

Bandcamp: https://ennaciv.bandcamp.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vicgarces/