Half The Animal – Too Late

By starrymag | August 31, 2018

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

 

A) I would describe our sound as Southern California/Alternative Rock.

 

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

 

A) Anyone from The Beatles to Foster The People to Sir Sly.

 

Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “Too Late.”

 

A) “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.

 

Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?

 

A) I think we’ve all had that time where we are holding onto something that we think we want, but it is slowly killing and aching us – whether that be love, any kind of relationship, or something in everyday life. There are too many times when we turn back and we lose what we could have had in the future. I think many people feel that way and that’s kind of what I wanted to portray

 

Q) How does the video for the track play into the message behind it?

 

A) It doesn’t we always just wanted to make a video inspired by The Sandlot. 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.” Instead of showing it constantly that he’s not going to jump, there was talk of having him not jump. I thought that didn’t make sense, even though it’s not in the song you gotta pick it up and face your fears.

 

Q) What is your songwriting process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?

 

A) On my own I’m always writing lyrics constantly, it could be one sentence or a whole entire page. For the most part, when we are writing songs it’s always changing. Sometimes it starts with a melody I’m going to sing, sometimes the lyrics or just a word, sometimes a guitar lick or a beat. We always keep it fresh and that’s why we always have fun with it.

 

Q) How much of hand do you have in the production of your music?

 

A) 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. They get our brains and we get theirs, so there’s less going back and forth. We’re a match made in heaven.

 

Q) You’ll be headed out with lovelytheband. What can fans expect from a live Half the Animal performance?

 

A) They can expect a bunch of new songs that we’re so excited to play! Also, a whole lot of energy and a whole lot of love. We love playing live.

 

Q) Will there be an EP or full album coming soon?

 

A) 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.

 

Q) Where some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you?

 

A) Before there were a lot of people coming to our shows we would pick our favorite place based off of our favorite coffee shops or bars we really liked in the area. Now, it’s all about the people. We love Salt Lake City, Denver, New York and at home in Los Angeles. Every single place that we stop it’s all about the people and the fans. People who hadn’t really heard much about us beforehand and then after them becoming fans is the most beautiful part of what we do. Meeting these great people that still go out to shows and wait outside early is beyond me; I love that so much.

 

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

 

A) Halsey or The 1975!

 

Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them?

 

A) Sir Sly, I’m loving all their new stuff. I’m also listening to lovelytheband, A R I Z O N A, Rex Orange County and Men At Work. Always The 1975 too, but everyone knows that about me.

 

I’m loving the way the lead singer of Sir Sly manipulates great melodies and amazing words with music that you wouldn’t think would go together. Also, lovelytheband has their own hole, it’s their sound. They don’t really sound like anybody else. Mitchy has such a cool voice and the words are great.

 

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

 

A) I think we’re lucky this day in age. Social media takes over our lives. We’re so lucky to get closer to our fans. Before social media, we couldn’t communicate the best way. I love being able to go live and talk to our fans and reminisce about certain shows. I also love asking “what was your favorite part of our show” or maybe what they didn’t like, so we can improve. Growing up, Nick [Gross] and I would always buy the live performance DVDs because there was the behind the scenes footage. I feel like you get that now with Instagram. People actually get to see what we’re doing. When I was a kid I always wanted to see what Brandon Boyd’s favorite pen was to use in his journal. Now, you get to see that stuff and people can ask you literally anything.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

 

A) 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.

 

 

All Questions Answered by Vocalist Chase Johnson

 

Watch The Video for “Magic:”