“We wanted to create something that was a bit different,” Dave (bassist) of We Are Animals explains as he talks about the dynamics of the band. The four-piece rock group are based in London and at every show come on stage wearing animal masks to a revamped edition of In The Jungle, whilst every audience member is given a free mask to join in the party. Aptly named, they have set the bar high for everything they do, it’s hard to believe that they haven’t released their debut single, yet.
Sitting in a small pub in Old Street we begin to talk about the start of the band. Growing up in Derby, they came about when one of Josh’s (lead singer) friends wanted to start a band. He was then introduced to Dave who agreed to play rhythm guitar. Before long it became apparent that the rest of the members didn’t have the passion to drive them forward. “The other two were kind of just in it to look cool in front of our friends, but us two were really passionate. We’d be on the phone for hours talking about ideas,” explains Josh. After breaking away, they found Tom who became their new drummer alongside Steve who is now the lead guitarist, making up We Are Animals. The dedication that these four have is evident by the fact that they kept it going whilst being scattered across the UK at university and now they balance full time jobs with the demanding time that an unsigned band has to sacrifice to succeed.
The re-birth of the band came when they hired Steve and he made up a mock EP cover which was heavily animal themed. “When he (Steve) joined the band there was a new injection of energy” Josh explains, “I think it set the bar for us. If a song doesn’t have the sound or the edge that a band called We Are Animals should have, then we won’t perform it.” It’s already clear that the animalistic values are a great representation of the four piece, it gives them a brand that will make them stand out at a gig before they even begin to play. “We wanted our shows to be memorable” Dave explains “A lot of the gigs we play at our level have poor sound quality so it’s good to have something that will keep people interested.” We agree, it would be hard not to be intrigued by four guys walking on stage as a goat, a pigeon, a horse and a baboon but when you realise that their sound carries a vibe that fans of any music would like, it’s hard to believe they’re not more well known.
On the 17th February, which is coincidentally lead singer Josh’s birthday, their first single Swings and Roundabouts will be released alongside a party to celebrate the launch. There will be a few different things to break up the set but we haven’t been told exactly what these are however, rest assured, the animal theme is going to be as strong as ever. Alongside songs that we have already heard, they will be playing a track that they have never played live before so it is set to be a really good night. The event will take place at The Spice of Life in Soho and you can buy tickets by visiting their Facebook page. The song itself is based upon the idea of somebody putting more effort into a relationship than the other and slowly beginning to realise that it isn’t good for you. “Funnily enough, I didn’t like the song at first” confesses Dave but after re-working it, it now has the strength to be really successful.
Of course, what would a single be without a video to go along with it? We were very excited to discover that theirs will be a story for the band. Made by Steve, the video is split into three different sections. The first part will be making a joke of a stereotypical boyband which will include them walking together pretending to look cool, this will be followed by live footage from a gig they played last year at the Barfly in Camden. This will be a really great chance for people to get an idea of what the band are like live. “We had a GoPro camera, some video cameras and all sorts of friends running around the stage” says Josh, so it’ll be a great representation of them in the act. The final section of the video is within the rehearsal room where all of the song writing takes place so that people get the chance to see the energy they put into making their songs happen.
The song writing process is important for any artist that wishes to be successful but doing it all on your own can sometimes present challenges. Inspired collectively by the likes of Green Day and Metallica, Dave talks about how he likes to write songs that people will be able to relate to as it helps to blur the line between an artist and a fan. When writing songs it can be difficult for them to meet up and play together so usually Dave will begin by writing some lyrics and putting them into their shared dropbox before the others chip in and add the melodies and instrumentals until they’re all completely happy with the final product. There’s obviously a lot of going back and forth but it’s refreshing to see the commitment between them.
Out of all the gigs that they have played so far we wanted to know their favourites. Josh begins to talk about the one they used for the music video itself as it was the best sound that they’d ever had which made it even more rewarding. “It was one of those gigs where it was so good that it was just a complete blur” and as soon as people saw the masks they wanted to stick around. Nodding in agreement, Dave reveals how much he enjoyed that gig too however his favourite was awarded to one in Southport as it was about the size of an O2 Academy. “It’s quite sad really, me and Josh used to have this chart where we would rate the gigs we had played based on the sound and how well we played” and that was definitely one of the best ones.
After the release of Swings and Roundabouts it will be all about preparing the second single. There will be a further song released just before the summer break and this will be followed by the start of putting together an album. We are told that there is going to be a cover released shortly too which is not something you’d not expect from a band like them at all, unfortunately we are none the wiser as to what this could be but if their remix of In The Jungle is anything to go by, it’s going to work really well. As always we have left the link to all of their social media below and we’d definitely recommend joining the animal party.
[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN28nO8nPWw%5B/embedyt%5D
Grab your tickets here:
17th February – The Spice of Life (Soho) – https://www.fatsoma.com/hotvox/ixqur5aw/hot-vox-presents-we-are-animals-dirtythumbs-shivers-little-boy-lost-kid-conventional
Social Media:
Twitter: @WeAreAnimalsUK
Facebook: WeAreAnimalsUK
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/weareanimalsuk
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