Animal Kingdom
'Everyone seems to be convinced that we're either from Iceland, Scandinavia or North West America!'
London quartet Animal Kingdom follow up their limited single release 'Chalk Stars' this month.
'Tin Man' is out on 6th July, and is a taster for September's debut album, recorded with Fleet Foxes and Shins producer Phil Ek. We posed some questions to the band during their tour with Silversun Pickups.
You've been Animal Kingdom for two years - what were you doing before then?
Two of us were gun running in Bolivia and Geoff was an ice cream salesman. Rich was a professional wrestler in a junior Mexican league.
How did you come together as a band?
Rich and Wayne started off acoustically and then met Hamish through art college friends. Geoff and Hamish were old school/band friends and completed the line up.
Has your sound evolved at all since you've been together?
Hopefully we've developed as musicians and we've got a lot louder over the years as we've got deafer.
How did you come to work with Phil Ek, what did you learn from him?
Our manager Cliff was a big fan of the Band Of Horses records and put us on to him. Phil's a great guy and an inspiring producer to work with, you can hear from his records - Fleet Foxes, Shins - that he has a good ear for vocals and a big Seattle beard to boot. For such a young producer he definitely knew what he wanted and didn't let us cut any corners with our playing.
What was it like to go to Seattle to record the album?
Really amazing. When we heard that Phil didn't really like to travel to make a record we were like, "what we gotta go to the States? Sweet!" Seattle's a great town and everyone we met seemed to be involved in music one way or another. It's small enough to get to know the locals and seek out the best bars but also has a lot of natural beauty and wilderness to get lost in. We hired out an apartment on Capitol Hill overlooking the Space Needle for the three month duration of the session and got into it from day one.
What are your personal favourite songs on your debut?
Rich: 'Signs & Wonders' for the sound of the drums and guitars.
Wayne: 'Bright Lights'
Hamish: 'Into The Sea'. This was one of the later tracks and felt pretty fresh before going into recording it. It's a nice brooding, lyrical journey and is fun to play.
What drives your songwriting?
Dunns bakery in Crouch End.
What have been some of your favourite experiences of life on the road?
We were driving round in a 1950s pedalo car on a lake in Switzerland last week surrounded by mountains after playing Interlaken. That was pretty fun. Playing to a packed out Thekla, an amazing venue on a boat in Bristol.
What have been the highlights of your European festival appearances?
Rock Am Ring was pretty cool, about the size of Reading And Leeds but set in a giant race track in Nuremberg. The Germans know how to have a good time.
What do you think about the comparisons that have been made with other bands? Are there any that you find mind-boggling?
It's weird, so far we've had quite a few journalists cite bands that we've barely heard of and everyone seems to be convinced that we're either from Iceland, Scandinavia or North West America! But generally we've had some nice comparisons with bands we respect through different musical eras that we all enjoy.
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