Albums of Influence - Chad Vangaalen's "Soft Airplane"

Chad VanGaalen's DIY (Do It Yourself) production ethics and amazing use of non-standard arrangments has his 2009 album, Soft Airplane, finding more than a few spins on the ol' Oracle turn-table.

The fact that he plays nearly everything on this disc himself (including the amazing BANJOing on track 1), and is described as a "notorious home-body" on his bio is what made Soft Airplane one of the more influential albums I've heard in a while.

Chad also animates his own music videos. Check out the first video to hear my favorite track of his, and check out the second to see his animation skills at work.

Feel free to download his latest album "Soft Airplane" here for free, then head out and buy his other 2 albums, his side project album "Black Mold", and a couple t-shirts or something.







Other awesome Chad Vangaalen albums include "Skelliconnection".

Albums of Influence - Wu-Tang's 36 Chambers

This one is obvious.
Who hasn't been influenced even just a little bit by the Wu? This album is so simple and easy to digest, yet packs such a huge punch with its gritty streets-of-New-York story-telling, and raw 'creaky-old-piano' sampling that 15 years after its debut it's still better than 90% of the hip-hop coming out today.
At least 6 of the 9 Wu members are incredibly solid story tellers, making the fact that you've never been to the Bronx, or never seen a shorty's blood "all over the hot concrete" fine. You don't need to be a gangster to have the Wu make you feel what it's like to be a gangster.
The Wu brings you into the Big Apple, and into their lives in The 36 Chambers.

This is one of the most essential hip-hop albums ever made. Download it for free here, then go out and buy the other 300 albums the Wu and their associates have put out.

Wu-Tang Clan ain't nothin' to fuck wit'.



Other great Wu-Tang albums include Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Ghostface's Fishscale, GZA's Liquid Swords, The Wu's The W, and a whole load more. There are so many by now it's silly.

An Interview with Abdominal

Abdominal is your favorite MC's favorite MC. He's so good technically, lyrically, and word-playically that it's amazing hes not a thousand times more known than he already is.

Check out what he has to say about pizza, Satan, and trying to impress his lady-friend.

But first, head on over to his CBC radio 3 page and tune into one of his jams.

Animal Nation: Do you have any cats?

Abdominal: No...1 dog.

AN: How many cats does someone have to have before they're considered "a crazy cat person"?

Abs: 1

AN: Listen: It's December, 2012. The conspiracy theorists were right. There's a huge meteor the size of Canada headed straight for Canada. The Four Horsemen have arrived and they're hungover as heck and totally not looking to party. Satan shows up in your backyard, ready to destroy our planet and everything we've ever known, but he's willing to turn it all around if you can impress him with one of your songs. He's only interested in your music, and he's only got 3 minutes and 34 seconds of free time. Which Abdominal track are you going to use to blow Satan's mind?

Abs: "Heaven's Demon", which is a track off my last album ("Escape From the Pigeon Hole") that's, coincidentally enough, about me being a mercenary sent by God to destroy Satan. He probably wouldn't be too impressed but he might be scared enough to reconsider his dastardly plan.

AN: What is your favorite non-pizza pizza topping? I mean, what might we find on your favorite fantasy pizza that we might not normally discover on a Dominoes Deep Dish? (ie-perogies, Kraft Dinner, a skyfish...)

Abs: A second, slightly smaller pizza.

AN: That's amazing. What's been the strangest / most stand out recording or performing session you've experienced?

Abs: Playing in front of 10, 000 people at the Glastonbury festival in the UK was pretty stand-out.

AN: This question comes straight from our guest host and international superstar rapper extraordinaire, Ma$e...

Abs: Wuttup Ma$e.

Ma$e: If you had twenty-four hours to live just think
Where would you go?

Abs: My girlfriend's place (she might be reading this).

M: What would you do?

Abs: Make sweet, sweet love to my girlfriend.

M: Who would you screw?

Abs: See above (again, there's a 0.5% chance she might be reading this).

M: And who would you wanna notify?

Abs: Nobody really...sure they'd figure it out eventually.

M: Or would yo [sic] ass deny that yo [sic] ass about to die?

Abs: You ask some weird questions Ma$e.

AN: Seriously, Ma$e... I thought you were a preacher or some shit.... Anyway, anything else you want to mention?

Abs: Buy my new album, "Sitting Music", as soon as it drops...which will be some time before 2050. Thanks for reading... peace, Abs.

AN: No, sir. I thank you for the lack of grammatical errors in your reply!

If you enjoyed this make sure to check out our Interview with fellow Canadian hip-hopper Josh Martinez, as well as our Interview with Mike "Armadillo Slim" Armitage.

Albums of Influence - Radiohead's "In Rainbows"

I was never really a big fan of Radiohead.
I was always under the impression that they were the type of band that made these huge sonic albums on computers, and then would be forced to play a completely stripped down version of the same song on stage.
That being said, it wasn't really the record "In Rainbows" that made me fall in love with Radiohead. It was the accompanying videoed studio sessions in which the band performed each song from their new album live. All of them. Live. And they sounded amazing. Even the songs with weird ambience, or a really glitchy Roland 707 (see video below).

After watching Radiohead make all of these amazing computer-like sounds live I couldn't help but be in awe of them.

Radiohead was also the very first group to release an album as a "Pay What You Want" download, much like we did with our album "Understanding More About Nothing Than Anybody Ever Thought Impossible or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Music".

Download the entire album for free HERE, or check out the entire "Scotch Mist" video HERE, then run out and check out a Radiohead show, as they put on probably the most amazing live show you'll ever see.






Other amazing Radiohead albums include: The Bends, OK Computer, and Kid A.

Albums of Influence - 13 and God (Self Titled)

The first time I heard this album I think it actually broke my mind.

Track 5 - "Afterclap" is just about one of the best songs I've ever heard. Especially considering the "Smash TV" samples they used in it.

Download the entire album for free here. (Needs WinRar to unzip.)
And then wait patiently for the New 13 & God album, or check out both bands from the 13 & God supergroup, Themselves, and The NoTwist.

Albums of Influence - The Rolling Stones' "Beggar's Banquet"

Simply put, this album is RAW.
This album goes to show that you don't really have to be the best musicians in the world (or that you can be too high on heroin to care?), to come out with an amazing, whiskey-soaked, blues album.
The guitars are off beat and all over the place, and their lead guitarist, Brian Jones, didn't even show up to half of the recording sessions, and yet, the raw emotion that comes out of this album, even on jokey songs like "Dear Doctor", is incredible.

This album was also one of the first records I heard that had epic 6 minute songs without any key changes. Key changes are hard. Key changes in hip-hop, where just about everything is sample based, are nearly impossible. This record helped show me how to keep songs moving, or how to change what you're playing without changing the notes...

Download the entire album for free here... and then go buy the other 21 albums, 50 some odd bootlegs, five hundred t-shirts, and official Rolling Stones Metal Detector.



Other great Stones albums include: Aftermath, Sticky Fingers, and Let it Bleed.

Albums of Influence - Eminem's "The Slim Shady LP"

This record was the reason my first two solo albums had "LP" attached to the backs of their titles. In fact, this record was the reason that I had two solo LPs in the first place.

This could very well be the most influential album (for me) that I've ever come upon.

Before hearing this album I'd had the Biggies, and the Naughty by Natures, but I'd also had the President's of the United States of Americas, and the Empire Records' soundtracks.
I'd always liked hip-hop, but it wasn't until I heard some nasally-voiced punk rapping about giving a girl too many mushrooms that it became the only genre of music I was interested in.
After hearing Eminem rap, I can honestly say I didn't listen to any other kind of music for a solid 4 years.

This album definitely wasn't as good as his follow-up, "The Marshall Mathers LP", but this one came first, shocked more, and packed one hell of an unsuspecting punch.


Download the entire alum for free HERE.






Other great Eminem albums include: The Marshall Mathers LP (!!), and The Eminem Show (sort of).

Albums of Influence - Deltron's 3030

After the intro, this album kicks off with its title track "3030". Though this 8 minute track is clearly the highlight of the album, the rest of the songs still stack up pretty very well, and do a great job of telling the story that is "Deltron 3030". The concept album premise is that Del Tha Funky Homosapien finds himself 1000 years in the future, trying to navigate his way though evil government run cities and over-powerful corporations, while also battling to be the Galactic Rhyme Federation Champion.

Besides the whole "concept album" thing going on here, the most influential part of the album goes back to that same first track. "3030" is one of the only hip-hop songs I've ever heard that has real dynamic to it. The song changes and progresses as different samples and layers are added and taken away. This track manages to not get boring, not even for a second, throughout its 8 minute entirety.

I also just read the fantastic news that all three original members, Dan the Automator, Del, and Kid Koala, are making a sequel to Deltron 3030, entitled "Deltron 3030: Event II".

Download the album for free here, then anticipate the new one like crazy.





Other awesome albums by Del or Dan the Automator include Both Sides of the Brain, and the first Gorillaz album... although pretty much anything these guys do is amazing. (See Handsome Boy Modeling School, Hieroglyphics, Kool Keith's Doctor Octagonecologyst, etc...)

Albums of Influence - The Beatles' "Abbey Road"

The Beatles - Abbey Road

Everyone's heard of the Beatles before. I'm sure everyone's heard the Beatles as well. I think the first time I heard the Beatles was in Elementary school, when the entire class learned to sing "Yellow Submarine".
Abbey Road, however, was the first time I can remember that I actually listened to the Beatles.

I remember the first time I put it on, that first bass note and flanged vocals on "Come Together" were so magnetizing that I couldn't help but be sucked in to whatever else the album had to offer.

The most influential part of this album for me however, came after the flip. Nearly the entire second half of the album was blended together to create an epic 15 minute medley. This was the first time I had ever heard multiple songs, that all sound completely different, flow together seamlessly as if they had all been recorded in one take.

I've never been a huge Paul McCartney fan, but for the fact that he spent hours and days and weeks literally cutting up tape, and splicing it back together, completely without the assistance of Pro Tools, you've gotta give him props.
That, and he also invented sampling.


Download the entire album for free here.
Then make sure to head out and buy buy buy all the Beatles memorabilia you can possibly get your hands on.








Other great Beatles albums include Revolver, The White Album, and select songs from Sgt. Peppers.

Albums of Influence - Bike For Three's "More Heart Than Brain"

Bike for Three's "More Heart Than Brains"

I've always thought Buck 65 is creative and unique, but I was never really a fan(atic) of his work. I'd heard this song or that song, seen him play live (2nd best hip-hop show I've ever been to, falling right behind Wu-Tang's Raekwon), and had plenty a friend recommend one of his many albums to me, but I'd also always had a hard time getting deep into his work.

That all changed the moment I heard Bike for Three, a collaborative album between Belgium electro artist "Greetings From Tuskan", and Canada's own hip-hop (?) artist "Buck 65".

Buck has never been more emotionally raw, nor has his off-kilter rap style fit any piece of music more perfectly than it does on this electronic, yet fabulously musical, 15 track album.

With lines like "The homes we chose vs. the one that we imagined," there's almost more to what Buck isn't saying than what he is, lending your own mind back through a series of unchosen long-ago-possibilities of what could have been.

This album is exactly what hip-hop, a genre that's been churning out the same radio-friendly auto-tuned hit for the past 5 years, needs so badly. Bike for Three shows what hip hop could be if producers still cared about the music they were making, if rappers weren't solely driven by their desire for fame and fortune, and if consumers, my self included, dug past hip-hop's bland sludgy exterior that is mainstream rap more often.

Here's to hoping that this album gets all sorts of recognition, and wins every hip-hop award available this year, including any of the awards that our cash-in-hand-bribes and dark-alley-car-washings may have got us nominated for ourselves.
It's true. This album is amazing.

Download it for free here. Then rush out and catch Buck 65 live.






If you liked this album, make sure to buy Buck 65's "Situation".

Albums of Influence - Modest Mouse's "The Moon and Antarctica"

Modest Mouse's "The Moon and Antarctica"

"You can't have a favourite song on Dark Side of the Moon. You've got to accept it as a whole. You've got to listen to it in its entirety as a 'listening experience'."
I've heard more than one person, stoned out of their minds, say this about Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon".

That could just as easily be said about the Modest Mouse sonic masterpiece that is "The Moon and Antarctica". Although all of the songs do work on their own, the album works so well as a whole that it feels like you're doing it injustice to only listen to one or two songs at a time.

For a band that (at the time) only had 3 people in it, there are an amazing amount of layers on this record.
This was one of the first records I ever heard that made me think of combining multiple vocal takes onto one track. Or double-tracking guitars, while putting warm and heavy effects on one channel, while leaving the other raw and cold. This was the first record I ever heard that made me start experimenting sonically.

And with lyrics like:
"Well a 3rd had just been made, and we were swimming in the water/
Didn't know then, was it a son, was it a daughter?/
When it occurred to me that the animals are swimming/
Around in the water in the oceans in our bodies/
And another had been found, another ocean on the planet/
Given that our blood is just like the Atlantic/
And how"
It's hard to not start thinking about how our entire universe as we know it could be contained within a single cell of a single creature living in an infinitely larger universe. Or even that the blood in our bodies could just as easily be a whole other type of universe in itself millions of other creatures, infinitely smaller than yourself.

All this from a couple indie-punk-rockers from the mid-NorthWest.
And how.



Download the entire album for free here. If you dig it, buy their 'Moon' follow up album "Good News For People That Love Bad News". As well as a t-shirt. And a hat.



Other Modest Mouse album honourable mentions include, but are not limited to: Good News for People Who Like Bad News, The Lonesome Crowded West, and Building Nothing out of Something.

Albums of Influence - Atmosphere's "Lucy Ford"

This album was such a huge influence on me when I first heard it that it literally and completely changed the music I listened to, the people I hung out with, and the way I lived my life.
This album taught me that you don't need a "dope whip" or "bling"to meet girls, and that 50 Cent, despite having been shot 9 times, isn't really that cool.
This album is like the "Velvet Underground" of hip hop. It's so basic, and yet so captivating at the same time. It was the first record I ever heard that made me think "You know, I bet I could do this too..."


You can download the entire album for free here.
If you dig it, make sure to buy their next album, check out a show, or buy some Atmosphere merch.
Slug needs a new pool.

Here's Slug (the vocal half of Atmosphere) turning a threat into one of the best love songs ever written.


Other Atmosphere album honourable mentions include: Seven's Travels, Sad Clown Bad Dub II, and When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint That Shit Gold.

An Interview with Dan Mangan about things...

I've been doing a lot of music-based 'research' lately.
By which I mean, I've been sitting on my lumpy and unforgiving couch, eating entirely too much cold pizza, sedating myself with anything and everything I can find, and listening to non-stop CBC Radio 3. Basically I'm trying to bring out my inner Brian Wilson, without really immersing myself in the whole 'being really good at music' thing.
On a positive note, after having heard what seems like an infinite amount of new independent Canadian artists on CBC, I've found a couple I've really taken a shine too.

Dan Mangan, pictured above, while not busy sugaring random people's coffee, makes really good music, and recently became one such artist.

When I first heard his song "Sold", I thought he sounded like a sadder, lonelier Barenaked Ladies, if the Barenaked Ladies had spent their entire music careers chain-smoking, and shouting at things.
That said, Dan Mangan isn't emo. Dan Mangan doesn't write cheesy songs about having a million dollars, and Dan Mangan totally prefers puppies with heads to puppies without heads.

Make sure to click on any of the above links, or this one*, to check out Dan's song "Sold".


Animal Nation: What is your favorite thing ever out of: Puppies Without Heads, Acid Rain, or Rainbows Made of Shades of Grey?

Dan Mangan - Puppies without heads - because at one point, they were puppies WITH heads, and those are really cute.

AN: If you could be anyone, ever, for a day, out of the following people, whom would you be, and why? Rambo in the middle of fighting off 50 machine gun clad jungle warriors with no weapons other than your bare Rambo hands, The Terminator while he’s slowly being lowered into hot lava while giving a thumbs up to John Conner, or Vince from the ShamWow infomercials, before he got his tongue bit off my a hooker, but after he smoked too much crystal meth.

DM:Definitely the Terminator - because there was glory in his sacrifice to the Connor family - and because he was rad.

AN: Going to the hospital rules. It’s Universally loved. Out of the following, what is your favorite reason for being at the hospital:
a) You’ve just had your pelvis run over and broken by a drunken police officer, and it was all his fault. You’re going to cash in huge, and the only downside is that your legs have been replaced by metal rods... above the penis.
b) It’s abortion day at the old abortion mill, and they’re handing out dead fetuses, and the Food Bank is closed, and you’re hungry.
or! c) You’ve got perfect health, and you’re driving a fancy car that totally attracts millions of ladies, but you’re going to visit your girlfriend, and she’s got AIDS, and somehow you don’t have it, but she’s definitely planning on forcing sex on you when you get there, and she’s got nice boobies, and you’re not going to be able to say ‘no’.

DM: What kind of blog is this again?

AN: Captain Planet rules. He's our hero! He's going to take pollution down to zero!
But what’s the deal with 'Heart'??!
Q'est-ce que fuck?
What would the 5th element be if it were up to Dan Mangan?
Earth, fire, wind, water, and ___________?

DM: Internet.

AN: Anything else you want to talk aboot?

DM: Nah, I'm good.

AN: Perfect, 'cause I've gotta take a dump.

*All links go to the same place, so don't bother trying anything tricky, wise-guy.


If you enjoyed this make sure to check out our interviews with other Vancouver musicians such as Billy the Kid, Ali Milner, or Josh Martinez.

Moka Only quits hip-hop?

Yesterday I heard Moka Only, 90's-00's underground hip-hop pioneer and sensation, was stepping down from the hip-hop... 'thing'... to focus on other projects.

I sent him a message wishing him well, and asking him if this was true, and this was his reply.

Animal Nation:

"
Moke!
I heard you're quitting the hop... Congratulations! (I think..?)
I just wanted to say thank you for being a huge inspiration! You made Swollen huge and famous, and you made those records so much more fun to listen to..
And thanks for letting us open that Whistler show for you 2 years ago at Crankworx!
That was a huge honor..
Hope you're off to bigger and better things!
Keep er easy,
-Steige
"

Moka replied:

" Thanks brother.. but don't beleeev it.. i will NEVER quit..no matter how crappy the industry gets.. i made a post sayin i quit hiphop but didnt mean quitting the music.. i meant im just not gonna be going throo the normal nettworks anymore.. hip hop promoters and all that.. all this rap shit.. man, its always a bunch of people rippin ya off and all that.. im fallin back in with my jazz doods and it works cus thats the kinda music i been doing all along.. dirty underground jazz hip hop.. but no, i wont stop.. you just gonna see me pop up in more unusual places. "

Even though I haven't popped in "Lime Green" or "Codename: Scorpion" for a while, it's still kind of sad to hear that one of my major influences in the past is stepping down.

Here's hoping that Moka has nothing but great things coming his way.
Thanks Moke.

-Animal Nation

Peak Season! October 19th premiere!

Hi!

There's a new MTV show revolving around the action and drama of 6 local "Whistlerites".. (someone that's lived in Whistler, BC, Canada for more than 3 days).. which will be airing on Oct. 19 on MTV Canada, as well as on MTV.ca
This show features lots of our friends, as well as music by Animal Nation, AS WELL AS a few guest appearances by Animal Nation, including parts of our performance from the 2009 World Ski and Snowboard Festival!

I also voiced the trailer, as can be seen here!

Make sure to check out all the excitement at the official Peak Season web site.

The show features plenty of super cute Whistler girls, and also features our good friend Dre Morel, who we interviewed a few months ago, and who MTV interviewed recently as well!

Pictured: Super Cute Whistler Girls!

From left to right:

Lauren Horton: The Wild Card - Lauren will punch you in the face, steal your boyfriend, and make you wish you were her, all at the same time.
Elle Hetherington: The Transplant- Elle is the typical Australia/Whistlerite that... well... I don't know Elle personally, but most Australian girls are sluts.
Steph Just: The Shredder / The Local - Born and bred Steph Just will do just about anything to get the gold, and go home with the prize money. Amazing rider, and even better humam being. Also good at getting in cat fights.
Amanda Scheller: Self described as "........" - I don't really know anything about Amanda. I've never met her. She used to go out with our friend Dre, but now she goes out with some dude with a pony tail...


Rad,
-Steige.

Animal Nation's "Party Animals"

Animal Nation's "Party Animals"!



This video was made by Blair Richmond of http://imperialpnd.com
This beat was made by Linus Stubbs - http://myspace.com/linusmuzic
This song is featured on Animal Nation's 3rd album - "Understanding More About Nothing Than Anybody Ever Thought Impossible or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Music"

Thank you very much!

Make sure to download the song and the album below, and Pay Whatever You Want.

Understanding ARTings!

Hi friends!

Oh! First off - The Party Animals video should be online by the end of the week!

But back to... Bandcamp.com, and more specifically http://animalnation.bandcamp.com, recently included the ability to download album art when you download an album from their site.
We've uploaded all the album art for both our new album "Understanding More About Nothing Than Anybody Ever Thought Impossible or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Music", as well as our previous EP, TimeZone.












The cover art for "Understanding..." was done by a Japanese artist named Taka Sudo - Tifdyl.com, and the booklet cartoons were drawn by Kent Osborne, who used to be one of the main writers for the Sponge Bob Square Pants TV show and movie!












"Understanding..." is a 'pay what you want' download, so if you haven`t already, make sure to head over to http://animalnation.bandcamp.com right now to cop that. If you've already downloaded the album, but didn't get the art, and you want the art, search in your email for 'bandcamp', and re-download the album, or if you deleted the email, head back over to http://animalnation.bandcamp.com now!












Thank you!

Hope you enjoy the artings. They are quite fun to us!

-Steige.

Basti Made Me Do It! - New [EP] w. CamoBear Records!

Hi!

Hihihihihihihihi!

Our new EP, to accompany our Brand new album - UNDERSTANDING MORE ABOUT NOTHING THAN ANYBODY EVER THOUGHT IMPOSSIBLE, should be releasing fairly soon. This [EP] will either be 5 or 6 or 7 songs, of which the majority were written during the making of "Understanding...", as well as 3 tracks that we wrote specifically for the [EP], and were recorded during 3 weeks in July/August when our good friend Sebastian Hochstein came to visit us!

We will be releasing it digitally through CamoBear records, which is owned by underground hip-hop sensation Josh Martinez, which is pretty freakin' cool, because he was the guy that got me into underground hip hop in the first place!

We'll still be ugly and broke, but at least we'll be one step closer to achieving 'starving artist' status.

We'll let you in on all the important updates as they occur..

Okay,
-Steige.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: International super-babe, and photo genuis extraordinaire Paige Harley has finished making the cover art for said [EP], which I hope to get online, and all over your pretty little face, as soon as possible.

Super secret information update: This whole blog post was just a clever way of linking back to old interviews and articles on our own site?
Sure.
What?
No.
Jiminy. Billy the Kid. Shad K.

Brandon Semenuk, an Interview with Freerider Extraordinaire

I never had a younger brother growing up. I never had anyone to blame for taking the last cookie out of the cookie jar, or anyone to take the rap when Mom's fine China accidentally ended up all over the hardwood floor.
Fortunately for me, I did have a best friend, and next door neighbour, that had a younger brother.
Unfortunately for my best friend's little brother, he would be an easy target for all our teenage angst.
Fortunately for my best friend's little brother, AKA Brandon Semenuk, he grew up way tougher, stronger, and infinitely more handsome than both myself and his older brother. He also gets way more girls than us, drives around in a car worth more than my life, and gets paid to travel around the world to do what he loves.
Did I mention that he's only 17 years old?

Steige: What's your favorite thing about CrankWorx?

Brandon Semenuk: Seeing and riding with all my friends for almost 2 weeks.

S: What's your least favorite thing about CrankWorx?

BS: Big line up's!

S: What is your ultimate fantasy pizza? Extra points for putting an entire meal on a pizza. (ie - A bacon and eggs with a side of hash browns pizza)

BS: Pizza with Bacon, ham, 3 cheeses, BBQ sauce and a side of yam fries.

S: That sounds amazing. I think you should sell that one to Fat Tony's! Besides pizza money, what motivates you to launch over 40 foot gaps and land on hard packed dirt on a machine that weighs less than the computer I'm writing this on, and could easily crumple in half at any time?

BS: It's fun and I like the challenge.

S: What's going through your head right before you 360 tail-whip off said jumps?

BS: Just focusing on the trick and making sure I land it.

S: If the sky wasn't blue, what color would it be, and why?

BS: Brown 'cause the reflection of the dirt.

S: Then you could ride in the sky too! In a town full of amazing talent and 20 000 bikes that all cost more than 6 months worth of rent, what do you do to stand out?

BS: I don't really try to stand out. I just ride my bike for fun, and it's cool that my riding has stood out as much as it has.

S: Which breakfast-cereal-spokesperson/mascot/animal/monster can you relate to most? Are there any breakfast cereals you eat strictly based on whoever's on the front of the box?

BS: Tony the Tiger, 'cause I also believe practice makes perfect. But I always buy Honey Nut Cheerio's.

S: You've eaten those forever! I remember your Mom would lose her sh-- whenever she came home and we'd eaten all the Cheerio's! What's your career highlight to date?

BS: - 1st Crankworx Colorado 2008 and 2009 - 3rd Crankworx Whistler 2007 and 2008 - 1st Red Bull Rampage - 1st Claymore Challenge

S: What's the best piece of advice you can give to up and coming riders that want their own pro model seat and ultra rad car?

BS: Do what you love.

S: Perfect! 'Cause I loooove drinkin'! What's your very first memory involving biking?

BS: My brother pushing me around a grass berm in our backyard on his beat old Specialized Hard Rock.

S: I think one of my first memories of you riding is when you got your first adult size bike. It was at least a thousand sizes too big for you, and you could barely reach the pedals, and you were still keeping up to your brother and me on all the trails.
Imagine you find out that everything you've ever known, your entire life as you know it, has all been but a dream. Would you want to wake up if you didn't know what was on the other side, and if you knew you couldn't come back here?

BS: Tough call. If I could go with other people I probably would, but don't think I would do it by myself.

S: Hey! Just like that one song by that one band that wrote a bunch of songs about lots of different stuff and things!
Here's a picture of Brandon winning last week's CrankWorx in Colorado. Seventeen years old, and he's already carrying around huge bottles of champagne!
I love it!

Sebastian Hochstein and The Pillow.

Sebastian Hochstein is our friend from Germany. Sebastian Hochstein is part of the production group Nic & Jaq. Sebastian Hochstein is also very good for Animal Nation's motivation as will soon be revealed in the 5 track EP we've been working on during the last two weeks he's been hanging around in Canada!
We also went to the Aquarium yesterday!!!
Rock.

Here's a song called "The Pillow", which, surprisingly, is a song about a pillow, and will be featured on our new, as of yet untitled, EP.
(If you have any name suggestions send 'em in!)
So far we've got:
"Basti Made Me Do It"
"The Thirsty Boys"
"General Electric Brand Dishwasher Detergent Doesn't Really Do It For Me Like It Used To"




Steige: Between the cigarette burns and the red wine stains, our couch cushions have definitely seen better days. Do you prefer sleeping on the side covered in burn holes, or the side that’s permanently red-wined?

Basti: You guys should know you made me sleep on the ground right next to your washing mashine...so don’t bother me with those couch questions. I need to see my chiropracter.

S: If you died tomorrow, and believed in re-incarnation today, and were brought back to life as a cushion, which type of cushion or pillow would you be, and why? (ie-throw pillow, couch cushion, fancy decorative pillow, sleeping pillow, etc.)

B: Doesn’t really matter as long as Tyler West wouldn’t have his girl done on me!

S: Tell me about your worst couch surfing adventure? Was it because of the shoddy quality of the pillows?

B: It was that night that Reid had (way) too many wildcats and died on the sofa next to me...

Triple dolphin jump. No big deal...

S: Would you rather your sleeping pillows be gangster pillows or emo pillows? Do you prefer them hard or soft?

B: I prefer them soft, so i think it needs to be an emo pillow, eh?

S: Since you’re a vegitarian, would you prefer if I didn’t call it a cow-ch? Should I instead maybe call it a ‘squash’, or a ‘zuchini...ch’?

B: Call it falafel...ch, dude.

S: You’ve spent the last 2 weeks sleeping on the floor next to our couch. This, right now, is the first time that I’ve told you that our couch folds out into a bed. How does this make you feel?

B: See question 1), bastard!


If you enjoyed this, make sure to stay tuned for our collaboration EP between Animal Nation and Sebastian Hochstein (Nic & Jaq) coming out in a week or two! Also, make sure to check out our Interview with Nic & Jaq!!