TMRX recently sat down with St. Louis, Missouri's
Young Animals for an interview. This band is one of our favorites and very active. Stream their latest record and get to know them better here.
How Did Young Animals form as a band?
Joey and Quinn were in a math rock band in early college, it broke up, and when Quinn really missed being in a band/writing music he hit up Joey and wanted to do another math rock band. Nathan and Quinn had played together in some bands in high school. Nathan (Nathan had been in metal bands, but started to get more into twinkly music, he said he wanted to do stuff more like American Football and Tiny Moving Parts). We had a few bassists, didn’t work out. Only instrumental and used fill-in bassists for a lot of shows for about a year (not a lot of shows because Quinn was going to school in San Fransisco, so he was just writing the album). Recorded the album in August 2016 (just Quinn Nathan and Joey - the Lo EP was a fill-in bassist, a friend of Joey’s) when Quinn came back, adamant on finding a permanent vocalist and bassist. Messaged and tried out several vocalists, never worked out. Found Olivia’s ad on Craigslist looking for a band in June of 2017 and worked out. Put an ad on Craigslist for a bassist and found Tommy in September of 2017. Neither Olivia nor Tommy had any idea what math rock was, Olivia was just looking for a band to write original music with, Tommy was looking for a challenge to what he had been playing beforehand.
What bands or musicians have influenced your sound the most and why?
Tiny Moving Parts, American Football, Rooftops, Foxing, Delta Sleep, Paramore - in high school, for Quinn, he was getting bored with metal, was shown Math Rock and realized that was what he wanted to write. For Joey, Paramore was one of his favorite bands in high school and their drummer influenced his drumming a lot. Overall, these bands are those we look up to.
So are those your favorite bands then?
They are in our top bands, but our tastes are spread out among all our members.
Who or what inspires your musical creativity the most?
Quinn - depression, artist (Quinn went to school for art when he is making food art, he makes good music, feels it’s intertwined)
Tommy - had a 40hr week job, though it was a myth getting your soul sucked out by a corporate job, wanted to expand self - corporate bullshit inspires him
Joey - his friend in high school that unfortunately passed, bases everything off of Quinn
Olivia - write off of my depression and anxiety, life issues, bands are a huge influence (delta Sleep, foxing, pool kids)
Nathan - depression, anxiety, needed an emotional outlet to be creative. The guitar is his outlet.
What are you trying to convey through your music?
Technicality while also having fun. Playing music that we enjoy playing. Music that pushes us as musicians, but is still catchy and is palatable for to an audience. Getting someone to live vicariously through us. Music that brings emotion to the table while showing that there are others out there that feel the same thing and we are here for each other. Sense of community.
Tell me about the most fun you've had playing music live & where would you like to play/tour in the future?
Most fun - either the house show at Honey & Salt’s place in Austin, TX or opening for Tiny Moving Parts in Columbia, MO. Everyone has been so inviting to us, it’s always amazing.
What’s next for Young Animals?
Touring northeast in September, working on material for new EP. Touring in the future - west coast, Europe, Canada, Mexico
Follow Young Animals here: https://www.facebook.com/younganimals
Photo Credit: Visual Memories Studio
photo credit: @jjmillerphoto