We've been meaning to for a while, so we're glad that we finally got some time to strip away all the music behind our WCMA nominated album "The Basement Tapes vol.1" and let you guys mess around with the vocals.
Recreate the music, throw one of our verses into your uncle's new Storage Wars themed hip-hop album, whatever. Get weird.
Send the finished products to theanimalnation [at] gmail.com and we'll listen to them a bunch, and if they're dope we'll show all our friends.
We just got back from Toronto where we had an awesome show with More or Les, Wordburgler, Philly Moves, and Prolific.
While we were there we shot a music video with director Chris Lazar and his crew. It was awesome. He had secured a grant through Much Music and come up with an entire concept, screenplay, everything, so all we had to do was show up on set and "be as animated as possible".
The weekend before that we had an awesome time in Saskatoon and Regina at the Western Canadian Music Awards and the Breakout West Festival. We played a Saskatoon show at the bar named after our song, The Fez, and played two awesome shows in Regina at O'Hanlons and Pure Ultra Lounge. We hung out with CityReal all weekend as well as Victoria based artist Georgia Murray and her partner DJ D-Whiz, and played a couple shows with each of them. They were all so rad. We definitely made good new friends for life.
(Left to Right - D-Whiz, Georgia, Tall Man, Armadillo Slim, CityReal, Cody PowerFuck)
The video will be out on November 8th, and will be screened in Whistler at The Savage Beagle, alongside our good friend MC Lozen's CD release party.
Come check out the new video, pick up a copy of Lozen's new album, and have some drinks with us, Garbage Joe, our Lasagne Monster, and the rest of the gang!
Fall Tour Dates: Oct 17 Kamloops - Heroes Pub w. MC Lozen Oct 19 Kelowna - Grateful Fed w. MC Lozen Oct 27 Squamish - The Ruddy Duck w. MC Lozen Nov 8 Whistler - The Savage Beagle - Video Premier w. MC Lozen Nov 10 Vancouver - The Electric Owl w. Oddisee Nov 11 Whistler - Garfinkel's w. Oddisee
Having just come home from Toronto for NXNE, and playing a sold out 10 000 person festival on Vancouver Island in July (including appearances
by KD Lang, and Emmylou Harris, Buffy Saint Marie) the band is hitting
the road again for their third major tour this year.
Kicking off in Whistler for the start of this year's Crankworx
festival, the band will be traveling as a three piece again as guitar
player Jeff Waters is back from back surgery and on the road again!
Animal Nation will also be traveling with Saskatoon band Sly
Business, fronted by guitar player/singer/MC/amazing-guy Mark Ejack.
In September the band is set to play 2 shows at the Western Canadian
Music Awards in Regina (Breakout West Fest) to go with their WCMA
nomination (best hip-hop album).
Dates:
August
Thursday 9 - Whistler - Longhorn w. Sean Rose
Friday 10 - Harrison Hotsprings - The Layback Lounge w. Ali Milner
Saturday 11 - Golden - Rockwater
Monday 13 - Calgary - Dicken's Pub (Moved from Sunday)
Tuesday 14 - Creston - Snoring Sasquatch
Wednesday 15 - Osoyoos - Sage Pub
Saturday 18 - Whistler - Tapleys w. MC Lozen, Sean Rose
Animal Nation will be heading out to Toronto in June for for a screening of our self-shot/ edited/ directed/ starred-in music video at the NXNE film festival. Check it out below. We've got a string of dates along the way to help pay for gas, so come on out and buy an Animal Nation toaster. We'll keep show postings updated as they're confirmed.
May -
18 - Harrison - The Layback Lounge
26 - Fernie - The Northern
27 - Penticton - Voodoo’s w/ White Dress Star
June-
1 - Kelowna - Doc Willoughby’s
2 - Cranbrook - Friendz
4 - Banff - Rose & Crown
9 - Sault St. Marie - The Grande Theater
11-17 - Toronto - NXNE Festival
18 - Ottawa - Zaphod’s
19 - Montreal - Jello Bar
23 - Edmonton - The Haven Social w/ Mayday and the Beatcreeps
July-
6-8 - Comox Valley - Vancouver Island Folk Festival
In August our good friend Mark Ejack of Sly Business fame will be moving to Vancouver, and we're going to start work on our new joint album - Animal Nation & Sly Business - Don't Grow Up To Be Like Us (tentative title).
Peace! -A.N.
Animal Nation's Somebody That I Used to Know premiered at the 2011 Whistler Film Festival, and has been chosen to be screened at the 2012 NXNE Film Festival in Toronto in July.
The new Animal Nation album - The Basement Tapes Vol.1 - will be released at the end of the month, followed by a string of shows we've dubbed "The Uncle FezTour" (previous tours include the MolesTour, and the Moles2our), but you can listen to the whole thing now in the above youtube window!
The Basement Tapes Vol.1 takes old Animal Nation favourites that have slowly evolved throughout the years to adapt to our ever-changing live set, and has them recorded properly in our basement level studio.
Some songs are live-set staples that get played at every show (The Fez, Wooden Rollercoaster), some are classics that never got the proper attention they deserved when released the first time around (The Corner of Broadway), and some are banjo driven re-interpretations of previous hits (Party Animals Reprise).
We'll be taking this album on the road and we want to hang out with you and your crew.
Let's party. Check the dates below, find the show closest to wherever you're at, and come join the circus.
Here are a couple live in-studio vids we made for "Wooden Roller Coaster" and "The Corner of Broadway".
Spring tour dates:
Mar 29 Penticton Voodoo's
Mar 30 Rossland The Flying Steamshovel
Mar 31 Nelson The Royal
Apr 04 Lethbridge The Slice
Apr 05 Calgary The Shamrock
Apr 06 Saskatoon Amigo's
Apr 07 Saskatoon Scratch Club
Apr 08 Banff The Rose & Crown
Apr 09 Golden Rockwater Bar & Grill
Apr 10 Invermere Bud's Bar & Lounge
Apr 12 Revelstoke Regent Inn
Apr 19 Whistler Doc Branigan's
Apr 21 Whistler Savage Beagle
Apr 21 Whistler Telus Ski and Snowboard Festival
Apr 27 Pemberton Pemberton Hotel
The Basement Tapes Vol.1
...takes old favourites that have changed and changed throughout the years as they've been adapted to work within our ever-evolving live show, and has them recorded properly in our makeshift basement-level studio.
Fellow musician and close friend Jeff Waters (far right) has joined us this time around to sing and guitar around as well.
We'll be taking the album on tour and playing it all live. It's going to be fun, and you're going to have fun, and we'll all smile until our mouths feel like hurt. (or else...)
Listen to the track "The Corner of Broadway" from The Basement Tapes Vol.1.
And then see how we do it down below in the "live in studio" version of Wooden Roller Coaster.
