Answered By Chase
How did you guys become a band?
Nick and I met in catechism class when we were 13 years old. My mom was actually the teacher and we would get kicked out of class together on purpose to go talk about music. She kind of figured it out that we became best friends. We started playing together then because I was like “I need a drummer!” and Nick was like “I drum!” and Nick was like, “I need a singer!” and I was like “Well I sing!” and we’ve been inseparable ever since. We’re like a platonic husband and husband duo, we have a full-blown creative marriage. Dan came into the mix three years ago and closed off the triangle. He became what we always needed.
What’s the meaning of the name “Half the Animal”?
Nick and I had tossed around a million ideas and they all were bad. One night he had texted me really late and he was like, “What about Half the Animal?” He was just on the phone with one of his friends in New York and his friend said, “If I’m half the animal you are, I’d be great.” In the creative world and how fast pace it is you have to rely more on your animal instincts rather than your human instincts because things pass you by too quickly.
Can you tell us a little something about each of you?
All three of us are mamas boys who are obsessed with the beach!
What is it like being in a band? And what’s the difference from being solo artists to being in a band?
I think everyone’s dream as a child is to do something as a career that you love and that’s what I get to do every day with my best friends. It’s a brotherhood. We are a complete creative family. We can lean on each other creatively all the time. We’ve been doing that non-stop since we started and it’s the most beautiful thing ever.
How would you describe your musical style as a band?
I would describe our sound as Southern California/Alternative Rock
What artists/bands are you influenced by?
Anyone from The Beatles to Foster The People to Sir Sly.
What’s the difference from your band and all the bands that have come before you?
The difference between Half the Animal and all the bands before us is that we’ve had the opportunity to be inspired by the amazing bands that came before us.
You guys recently released your new single, “Too Late”. Can you tell us how this song came about and the meaning of the song?
“Too Late” is something that we’ve all been through and it’s the little voice in your head saying “what’s done is done, rise from the ashes and start fresh.” It’s about getting away from the past and looking towards the future.
What was the process like creating the music video for “Too Late”?
It wasn’t in our hands, we had a bunch of people send in the treatments. We’ve always talked about wanting to do a video based off The Sandlot and after that, we were like okay this is the one, we don’t need to see anymore.
How did the idea for the music video come about?
We were inspired by the movie The Sandlot! You really can see that when the main character is afraid to jump off the high dive but then he sees the hot Wendy Peffercorn lookalike and says “screw it, I’m gonna jump.”
Any fun moments on set?
Going underwater with weighted belts was pretty interesting while trying to sing underwater.
What was your first thought about your new video?
I was pumped, it’s always cool to see the visual to what your mind made up musically.
Do you guys have a creative say in your music and videos?
We definitely don’t just sit back and let the producers do everything. We love to be there on the front lines with them. We’ve gotten the chance to work with the amazing Captain Cuts and Sam Martin, and we love to be there in the studio. We’ll go back and forth on different mixes and give our insight. We also take lots of notes during the process. The nice thing about working with Captain Cuts is that we’ve been working with them so much, it’s more of a family unit.
What do you hope to gain out of your music career?
I hope to gain more and more knowledge on crafting creativity and being more creative and also just to connect with people and have them connect with our music.
What’s the feeling you guys get when performing in front of your fans?
Like nothing else, it’s the biggest rush. There have been so many times when I’m having a super bad day and you go up on stage and all of it goes away. You’re there with people that support your music, which is amazing. To hear people singing your music with you and seeing how happy they are is my favorite feeling.
Does your fan base have a name?
We don’t really have one yet, but we think pretty soon we’re gonna have to have one of our fans figure that out for us.
How do you want your relationship to be with your fans?
We really want to be like family, where everyone feels like we’re approachable because we love hanging out after shows with our fans as much as we can. Even if we’re tired after a show, we still love doing that. That’s what made us tick when we were kids.
What social media platform do you use most to stay connected to your fans?
Instagram!
What was the craziest fan encounter you guys have had?
Other than the ones I can’t tell you about..people have gotten tattoos already even though our band is pretty new which is crazy to us. Just the amazing people that do things like draw pictures and make bracelets, that kind of stuff is just so sweet.
Will there be an ep/album out soon?
Right now we are just focusing on our new single “Magic”. We definitely want to release an EP or an album, it just has to be the right time.
What’s an average day for you guys look like?
That’s such a broad question. I’m like any other human, it depends on the day! Most of the time we’re constantly writing, we’re always at the beach surfing or at the studio. We have ties with the Find Your Grind Foundation, so we’re always doing stuff with them. We also love hanging out with our friends and family.
Where do you guys hope the band is in 5 years?
Bigger shows, bigger audience, bigger fan base and a million more songs. Being able to keep growing and putting out new music and having a career in it is a dream in itself.
Do you guys have any last things you want to tell your supporters?
We love you and we appreciate you driving extremely long distances to come to see us and give us love and sing our songs with us.
