Showing posts with label Animal Nation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Animal Nation. Show all posts
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Animal Nation | Sly Business - Headphones, Drum Machines, Beats
Download the entire album for free at -http://EveryDayInTheLife.com
Stream the entire album - http://youtu.be/yfkjcGdE6_U
Artist: Animal Nation | Sly Business
Album: Don't Grow Up To Be Like Us
Directed by: Christopher Lazar
Produced by: Christopher Lazar & Louvens Remy
Cinematography: Louvens Remy / Aaron Rivando
Edited by: Christopher Lazar
Record Label: URBNET
Animal Nation | Sly Business acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage (Canada Music Fund) and of Canada's Private Radio Broadcasters.
Funding secured by Kyle Kraft for KraftyEntertainment.com
TWOTHREEFIVEFILMS.
EveryDayInTheLife.com
iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/dont-grow-up-to-be-like-us/id639476633
bandcamp - http://urbnet.bandcamp.com/album/dont-grow-up-to-be-like-us
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Don't Grow Up - Track by track breakdown
A track by track breakdown by MC/Producer Garnet Clare (Tall Man).
1. Don't Grow Up To Be Like UsWe wanted something bouncy and fun for the title track, and we knew this was it as soon as we heard the guitar sample. This beat would fit perfect on a De La Soul or Tribe Called Quest album, and the break down's got all sorts of vocals from Jay and Silent Bob to Eminem to Willy Wonka and Big L, which all help make it more fun.
This was the first beat I made where I learned about semi-tones and pitch-shifting samples, and that just because you find a dope sample in G, it doesn't mean you can't use it for your song that's in E.
None of the samples in this song were in the same key, and it was fun learning how to make them fit together.
2. Throwing Knives
This was one of the original beats Mark and I made during our first recording session together. It was 5:30am, and we had just walked an hour home after talking our way out of a DUI. It's definitely got that late night smokey-studio vibe. (That night we created a couple loops with all the guitar, drums, horns, and keys. Those became the layouts for the first and second verses. Later on we added the bass, intro samples, more drums, and changed the arrangement.)
The lyrics are all about being on the road - "Four deep in a Queen-size bed, no sheets, no sleep for days, smoke weed on stage, no heat. Three-ways in JJ's living room, four nights in Saskatoon, and sold out every one of them."
3. Girls on Bicycles
Jeff Waters and I wrote this song together and it seemed like a good summer jam for the album. We also knew that we wanted to feature our Saskatoonian friends Pirate Fridays somewhere on the disc and thought their style would work great here.
Jeff and I left the track pretty bare (guitar, drums, chorus) and sent it out to a few friends to get some guest players. Pirate Fridays took care of the bass, and threw a bit of electric guitar in there, while Ben Fawcett added keys, and Sean Rose took care of the solo in the middle and the spacey intro.
I love the first lyrics of the first verse "I was sitting at the skate park, getting kinda day drunk, at the picnic table carved out for rolling J's on" because the picnic table at our skate park does have a perfectly carved out spot for rolling joints, and it is awesome.
4. Hookerfish
Another beat from the original session. This one was all Mark at the beginning, with Mike and I being a bit skeptical of the simple 808/rim-shot beat. Mark convinced me as soon as he spit his verse over it, and I spent the next few months finding more samples, cutting keys, adding more bass, and generally fucking with things until it was something I loved listening to. I wrote my verse from finish to start, with the last 2 lines coming from a short story I wrote two years ago while living in Halifax, "he told me good writing comes from bad living. I said 'I know. I need to start living so bad.'"
5. Headphones, Drum Machines, Beats
This was the first beat we made together for this album. Mark played the guitar line and I kept it simple on the keys. At first we used different drums, and I wasn't a big fan of the song, but Mike and Mark heard something in it and really wanted it on the album. We tried quite a few drum samples, and almost gave up before finding the one that made this track one of my favourites on the disc.
Still, it seemed almost too easy, so to challenge myself I ended up using 27 different drum tracks to create the drum solo after the verses.
6. Mark Ejack
I actually made this beat for a local MC before we started the album, and started regretting sending it to him as soon as I emailed it. I really liked it and wanted to use it, so when he told me it was giving him writer's block I was stoked.
It was Mike's idea to write a song about "the loudest, most social person we know", and I wanted to use our signature Animal Nation back/forth rhyme style. We did an interesting thing with the back and forth part where it gets quicker and quicker. We both rap 8 bars each, then 4 bars, then 2 bars, then 1, then a half, finally going sentence for sentence at the end.
7. Cigarettes & Chocolate Milk
Based off a Hey Ocean sample that Mark found (left as-is in the intro of the track) I spent a few weeks practising my piano chops to get the pizzicato plucking sample just right. After that I added in the huge/simple piano chords after listening to The Heist too much, and combined a few different synth basses with a bass guitar to get some strange sounds.
Originally titled "The Get High Beach", I wanted to make this a fun song about a fictional place where you could do, find, or be anything you wanted. But with lines like "I'm looking for a Squirrel-suit, to go with my girl's boots. Not a suit for flying, I mean a suit made of squirrels, dude," it got a little too silly too fast.
Mark wanted to make it the intro song, with Mike scratching "Animal Nation" & "Sly Business" over the intro (Mark's vocal samples we intended to use were left in, un-cut).
We ended up using the first half of the song to feature some of my favourite lyrics on the album, and the second half to showcase our good friend DWhiz cutting the shit out of a few samples we sent him. Just to keep things on the squirrel-suit-silly side of things we took his cuts, and rearranged the end as to make it an invitation to a "Cigarettes & Chocolate Milk party".
8. Summer Love
This was the easiest song to make on the album. Even though there are at least 25 different samples throughout the song it all just fell into place, including the lyrics, which were written on the spot while we were recording. The song features our good friend Lozen who fits the vibe of the song perfectly.
I originally wanted to get kids to sing in the chorus, back and forth with the sample "Every morning" "Alcohol!" "Every evening" "Weeeed!" "Love, love, love, love, love you." But everyone else wanted to talk about love. Pft.
1. Don't Grow Up To Be Like UsWe wanted something bouncy and fun for the title track, and we knew this was it as soon as we heard the guitar sample. This beat would fit perfect on a De La Soul or Tribe Called Quest album, and the break down's got all sorts of vocals from Jay and Silent Bob to Eminem to Willy Wonka and Big L, which all help make it more fun.
This was the first beat I made where I learned about semi-tones and pitch-shifting samples, and that just because you find a dope sample in G, it doesn't mean you can't use it for your song that's in E.
None of the samples in this song were in the same key, and it was fun learning how to make them fit together.
2. Throwing Knives
This was one of the original beats Mark and I made during our first recording session together. It was 5:30am, and we had just walked an hour home after talking our way out of a DUI. It's definitely got that late night smokey-studio vibe. (That night we created a couple loops with all the guitar, drums, horns, and keys. Those became the layouts for the first and second verses. Later on we added the bass, intro samples, more drums, and changed the arrangement.)
The lyrics are all about being on the road - "Four deep in a Queen-size bed, no sheets, no sleep for days, smoke weed on stage, no heat. Three-ways in JJ's living room, four nights in Saskatoon, and sold out every one of them."
3. Girls on Bicycles
Jeff Waters and I wrote this song together and it seemed like a good summer jam for the album. We also knew that we wanted to feature our Saskatoonian friends Pirate Fridays somewhere on the disc and thought their style would work great here.
Jeff and I left the track pretty bare (guitar, drums, chorus) and sent it out to a few friends to get some guest players. Pirate Fridays took care of the bass, and threw a bit of electric guitar in there, while Ben Fawcett added keys, and Sean Rose took care of the solo in the middle and the spacey intro.
I love the first lyrics of the first verse "I was sitting at the skate park, getting kinda day drunk, at the picnic table carved out for rolling J's on" because the picnic table at our skate park does have a perfectly carved out spot for rolling joints, and it is awesome.
4. Hookerfish
Another beat from the original session. This one was all Mark at the beginning, with Mike and I being a bit skeptical of the simple 808/rim-shot beat. Mark convinced me as soon as he spit his verse over it, and I spent the next few months finding more samples, cutting keys, adding more bass, and generally fucking with things until it was something I loved listening to. I wrote my verse from finish to start, with the last 2 lines coming from a short story I wrote two years ago while living in Halifax, "he told me good writing comes from bad living. I said 'I know. I need to start living so bad.'"
5. Headphones, Drum Machines, Beats
This was the first beat we made together for this album. Mark played the guitar line and I kept it simple on the keys. At first we used different drums, and I wasn't a big fan of the song, but Mike and Mark heard something in it and really wanted it on the album. We tried quite a few drum samples, and almost gave up before finding the one that made this track one of my favourites on the disc.
Still, it seemed almost too easy, so to challenge myself I ended up using 27 different drum tracks to create the drum solo after the verses.
6. Mark Ejack
I actually made this beat for a local MC before we started the album, and started regretting sending it to him as soon as I emailed it. I really liked it and wanted to use it, so when he told me it was giving him writer's block I was stoked.
It was Mike's idea to write a song about "the loudest, most social person we know", and I wanted to use our signature Animal Nation back/forth rhyme style. We did an interesting thing with the back and forth part where it gets quicker and quicker. We both rap 8 bars each, then 4 bars, then 2 bars, then 1, then a half, finally going sentence for sentence at the end.
7. Cigarettes & Chocolate Milk
Based off a Hey Ocean sample that Mark found (left as-is in the intro of the track) I spent a few weeks practising my piano chops to get the pizzicato plucking sample just right. After that I added in the huge/simple piano chords after listening to The Heist too much, and combined a few different synth basses with a bass guitar to get some strange sounds.
Originally titled "The Get High Beach", I wanted to make this a fun song about a fictional place where you could do, find, or be anything you wanted. But with lines like "I'm looking for a Squirrel-suit, to go with my girl's boots. Not a suit for flying, I mean a suit made of squirrels, dude," it got a little too silly too fast.
Mark wanted to make it the intro song, with Mike scratching "Animal Nation" & "Sly Business" over the intro (Mark's vocal samples we intended to use were left in, un-cut).
We ended up using the first half of the song to feature some of my favourite lyrics on the album, and the second half to showcase our good friend DWhiz cutting the shit out of a few samples we sent him. Just to keep things on the squirrel-suit-silly side of things we took his cuts, and rearranged the end as to make it an invitation to a "Cigarettes & Chocolate Milk party".
8. Summer Love
This was the easiest song to make on the album. Even though there are at least 25 different samples throughout the song it all just fell into place, including the lyrics, which were written on the spot while we were recording. The song features our good friend Lozen who fits the vibe of the song perfectly.
I originally wanted to get kids to sing in the chorus, back and forth with the sample "Every morning" "Alcohol!" "Every evening" "Weeeed!" "Love, love, love, love, love you." But everyone else wanted to talk about love. Pft.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Animal Nation & Sly Business - Don't Grow Up To Be Like Us [Album Release]
Animal Nation loves Sly Business and Sly Business loves Animal Nation.
After spending the last 3 years touring and drinking and singing and laughing and partying together it seemed inevitable that the two bands would join forces and make an album together as well.
The idea for the album came about in a High school parking lot in Invermere, BC. Both bands were elegantly wasted and shooting bottle-rockets and Roman Candles at each other while waiting for that night's venue to open up for sound-check. High school was just getting out and a small group of kids timidly strolled towards the two bands.
What the kids stumbled upon was a drunken, dusty, freestyling, mudfooted mess that looked equal parts horrifying and one-hell-of-a-good-time. "Where'd you guys get those fireworks?" they asked.
The kids ended up leaving, arms full with stickers, CDs, condoms, pins, and whatever other merch the bands could dig up, and, of course, fireworks.
Never one to miss an opportunity to light underage people on fire, the bands shot their remaining explosives at the departing group, laughing maniacally and screaming after the kids as they ran off away from a barrage of bottle-rockets and Roman Candles, "Hey kids... Don't grow up to be like us!"
Download the album for free, above, before it costs money.
-Animal Nation
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Don't Grow Up To Be Like Us (upcoming album release!)
Animal Nation & Sly Business - "Don't Grow Up To Be Like Us" - April 20, 2013 - URBNET Records
Animal Nation loves Sly Business and Sly Business loves Animal Nation.
After spending the last 3 years touring and drinking and singing and laughing and partying together it seemed inevitable that the two bands would join forces and make an album together as well.
The 8 song album combines production from the 2 bands, interweaving vocals from all 3 MCs, and features guest vocalists and musicians from across the country.
The album, appropriately titled, captures the essence of what it is to be a group of young touring musicians.
Broke, deprived of proper sleep and nutrients, and absolutely loving life to the fullest.
See you on April 20th!
-Animal Nation
Thursday, October 25, 2012
The Basement Tapes - Calling All DJ's
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.
Get at it - http://animalnation.bandcamp.com/album/the-basement-tapes-the-acapellas
Sunday, October 2, 2011
New Music Video - Somebody I Used To Know
Hello friends.
This is the first music video for our recently released album "Tall Man 2: Every Day In The Life".
I spent the better part of my summer creating this video.
I shot, directed, starred in, and edited it all myself. It took 7 months, which included 3 months of pre-prep that I spent gaining 30 LBS, to get up to my initial goal weight of 200 LBS.
Watch it here.
After reaching 200 LBS I shot once a week over a 4 month period, losing roughly 5 LBS each week, until I reached my final goal weight of 140 LBS.
I wanted to see if I could make each scene transition into the next without any notice of physical change, but to have a huge change in appearance from the start of the video to the end.
This video was absolute hell to make. Gaining the weight was almost the worst part. Sitting at my dinner table having just eaten a foot-long Sub, getting ready to start in on my steak dinner, knowing that I had another full meal to eat afterwards. Face ghost-white and sweating, shoving never-ending amounts of food down my throat, and not enjoying a single bite of it.
That was ALMOST the worst part.
If you haven't already - make sure to download this song, and the album it's a part of for FREE at http://EveryDayInTheLife.com
Thank you,
-Garnet "Tall Man" Clare
This is the first music video for our recently released album "Tall Man 2: Every Day In The Life".
I spent the better part of my summer creating this video.
I shot, directed, starred in, and edited it all myself. It took 7 months, which included 3 months of pre-prep that I spent gaining 30 LBS, to get up to my initial goal weight of 200 LBS.
Watch it here.
After reaching 200 LBS I shot once a week over a 4 month period, losing roughly 5 LBS each week, until I reached my final goal weight of 140 LBS.
I wanted to see if I could make each scene transition into the next without any notice of physical change, but to have a huge change in appearance from the start of the video to the end.
This video was absolute hell to make. Gaining the weight was almost the worst part. Sitting at my dinner table having just eaten a foot-long Sub, getting ready to start in on my steak dinner, knowing that I had another full meal to eat afterwards. Face ghost-white and sweating, shoving never-ending amounts of food down my throat, and not enjoying a single bite of it.
That was ALMOST the worst part.
If you haven't already - make sure to download this song, and the album it's a part of for FREE at http://EveryDayInTheLife.com
Thank you,
-Garnet "Tall Man" Clare
Friday, September 9, 2011
EveryDayInTheLife.com
MIDNIGHT RELEASE!
Stream and Download the new Animal Nation record on your smartphone or comp for FREE now at http://EveryDayInTheLife.com/ !
I've Never worked harder on anything in my entire life. This album took me 2 and a half years to create from front to back - from producing the tracks, finding the samples, playing and recording the guitars, banjos, pianos, harmonicas, keyboards, and everything else, to writing and recording the lyrics, to mixing everything, and everything in between. The album took me from my hometown of Whistler, BC where I created the music for this project, across this hugely vast country to Halifax, where I spent 6 months living with Mr. and Mrs. Smith on Compton Street. Riley and Meaghan Smith were/are amazing friends, and I had such an amazing time living with them, getting to know them and all their close friends really well. They were the best hosts I could have asked for. Halifax was where I wrote all the lyrics for the album. Almost entirely at the west end of South Street on a small hidden beach, basing the story for the album on my life back in Whistler. It's amazing there. I'll always have a seat in my heart saved for Halifax. I then drove out to a small town in Ontario called Woodville where I shacked up in a little restored barn to record all the lyrics I'd just finished writing. I've never worked harder on anything, or been more passionate about anything in my entire life. Check this album out.
The album is FREE, and not because it's an EP, or because it's a mix-tape, but because it's SO FUCKING GOOD, and I just want you to hear it.
Please listen to and download Animal Nation's "Every Day In The Life" for free at EveryDayInTheLife.com
-Tall Man
Animal Nation
EveryDayInTheLife.com
Monday, August 8, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
New Album - Every Day In The Life - coming this fall on UrbNet.
Hello friends!We're going to be releasing a new album in the fall. It's going to be one of two solo albums by Animal Nation.
It is going to be so freaking AWESOME.
I did all the production on it, and I learned a bunch of instruments making it, and recorded all the vocals in this creepy old barn in a run down town called Woodville in Ontario, and I moved to Halifax to write all the lyrics, and I wrote nearly every day at a hidden little beach at the end of South Street, and it's a concept album! A real concept album! Not a concept album in the sense that Sgt. Peppers is a concept album, but more so in the vein of Prince Paul's "A Prince Among Theives". An album that tells a story from start to finish, and nearly every song connects to the next song, and I spent way too long in my house being really antisocial making it, and I had this really cool girlfriend at the time who I left for some reason because I couldn't do anything but think about making this album and now I kind of regret it a little maybe, but it's cool, because it is so freaking AWESOME.
Change it to 720p for better sound quality.
I'm in the middle of making a music video for my favorite song on the album right now. It should be done around September. I'm filming it myself. I have no idea what I'm doing.
Until then, above is the other half of Animal Nation - Mike's favorite song on the new record. The track is called "Brush Your Teeth (Ch-ch-ch-ch)", and pays a serious homage to the man that steals kids hearts (not literally), Raffi.
Make sure to check out the CBC radio3 Animal Nation site to hear new music by us as well. We might just happen to have an EP coming out together in the fall that I'm not really supposed to mention...
Soon!
It is going to be so freaking AWESOME.
I did all the production on it, and I learned a bunch of instruments making it, and recorded all the vocals in this creepy old barn in a run down town called Woodville in Ontario, and I moved to Halifax to write all the lyrics, and I wrote nearly every day at a hidden little beach at the end of South Street, and it's a concept album! A real concept album! Not a concept album in the sense that Sgt. Peppers is a concept album, but more so in the vein of Prince Paul's "A Prince Among Theives". An album that tells a story from start to finish, and nearly every song connects to the next song, and I spent way too long in my house being really antisocial making it, and I had this really cool girlfriend at the time who I left for some reason because I couldn't do anything but think about making this album and now I kind of regret it a little maybe, but it's cool, because it is so freaking AWESOME.
Change it to 720p for better sound quality.
I'm in the middle of making a music video for my favorite song on the album right now. It should be done around September. I'm filming it myself. I have no idea what I'm doing.
Until then, above is the other half of Animal Nation - Mike's favorite song on the new record. The track is called "Brush Your Teeth (Ch-ch-ch-ch)", and pays a serious homage to the man that steals kids hearts (not literally), Raffi.
Make sure to check out the CBC radio3 Animal Nation site to hear new music by us as well. We might just happen to have an EP coming out together in the fall that I'm not really supposed to mention...
Soon!
-Tall Man!!!
Nas - I Know I Can remix on MPC1000 and SP-303
Here's a quick Nas - I Know I Can remix I did a couple weeks ago with my MPC1000 and SP-303.
Word!
Every Day In The Life. Coming soon.
Word!
Every Day In The Life. Coming soon.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Animal Nation + CBC Radio 3 = (heart based emoticon)
Animal Nation spent the day, the other day, in Vancouver, within Canada, at the CBC Radio headquarters with Radio 3 host Lisa Christiansen talking about how awesomely cute she thinks we both are. (It's a mutual feeling.)Check out Animal Nation's BIG DAY OUT with CBC Radio 3 host Lisa Christiansen!
What joy!
What fun!
http://r3.ca/0DRK
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Summer Tour Wrap Up (See You In Febuary!)
Bless your heart.Thank you so very much to everyone that got stoked on our tour with us.
We had so so so so so much fun nearly everywhere that we went. We did shots until we couldn't move, and then we did shots until we were sober, and then we did more shots just because it gives you a reason to shout things incoherently. We managed to talk our way out of 3 arrestings, 6 parking tickets, 1 slow speed chase, and multiple other po-po run-ins. We fell down stair cases, and fell off of stages, and fell for girls that we knew we'd never see again, and we still managed to make it home in (mostly) one piece.
Thank you so much if you partook in any of our shennanigans. They were way too much fun, and we can't wait to come back in 4 months and do it all over again.
If you didn't get a chance to listen to our music live or fling your bra/panties at us (I'm looking at you, gentlemen), make sure to head out to your local record store TODAY and pick up our latest LP "Understanding More About Nothing Than Anybody Ever Thought Impossible" on vinyl. The vinyl edition is only a couple bucks more than the CD edition, and comes with an amazing 12"x12" Taka Sudo wall piece, a 12 page Animal Nation comic-book-style album insert by Sponge-Bob -Square-Pants write Kent Osborne, and a free mp3 download of the album, so that you can LEARN ALL THE WORDS, and come join us on our next tour in Febuary/March!
We made sure to get records in the following shops.. If your favourite record shop isn't on the list, let them know that they NEED TO STOCK ANIMAL NATION, and then let us know, and we'll send them a couple albums! Rock!Toronto: Sonic Boom on Bathhurst & Bloor
Montreal: Encore Records on Sherbrook & Oxford
Saskatoon: Vinyl Exchange on 2nd Ave & 22nd
Vinyl Diner on Broadway & 12th
Momentum Skate Shop on 8th & McCool
Edmonton: Sound Connection on 124th St. & 109 Ave.
FreeCloud on 101 St. & 108th Ave.
Calgary: The Heritage Record & Comic Shop on 11th Ave. SW & 14th St. SW
Nelson: Urban Legends on Baker & Ward St.
Vancouver: Red Cat Records on Main St. & 27th Ave.
Zulu Records on 4th Ave. & Maple
Beat Street on Hastings & Richards
Whistler: Foto Source in Whistler Village Square
And, of course, there's always iTunes - http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/animal-nation/id192463240
We're planning a small scale tour in Febuary / March for Western Canada. If you live in or around BC / Alberta / Washington, get yourself stoked, get your friends stoked, get your dog stoked, and get to partying right now!
You're gonna need to build up that tolerance if you're wanting to party in Animal Nation.
-Tall Man
Animal Nation.
Links:
Myspace: myspace.com/animalnation
YouTube: youtube.com/animalnation9000
Twitter: twitter.com/animalnation
Bandcamp: animalnation.bandcamp.com
Basti iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/album/basti-made-me-do-it-ep/id367497037
Animal Nation Doesn’t Know Anything Blog: http://animalnationdoesntknowanything.blogspot.com/
Friday, September 24, 2010
Summer Update #3 / Animal Nation on Wax
My bandmate's back, and you're gonna be in trouble.
Mike, along with our longtime friend and new-found road manager Jeff Waters, landed in Montreal last night.
It's time to party.
Our first show is set for next Thursday in Ottawa on September 30, and we've already put all sorts of fun new things together for you and yours.
These shows are going to be amazing, and full of way too much awesome, and assuredly absolutely horrible for our health, so make sure to check out the dates to see when we're playing in your city, and then COME ON DOWN as if we were Rod Roddy, and Drew Carey never existed.
Along with new music, new instruments, and new friends we've also got a couple new items to display proudly on the merch table.
For the first time Animal Nation will have their critically acclaimed album "Understanding More About Nothing Than Anybody Ever Thought Impossible or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Music" available on vinyl.
-The 12" vinyl albums come with a full colour 12-page Animal Nation comic-book-insert drawn by Sponge-Bob Square-Pants writer Kent Osborne.-The vinyl album also comes with free mp3 download of the album so you can easily rock it on your iPod or cassette player and send it to all your friends internetically.
-And, of course, the album features the 12"x12" cover art drawn by Whistler/Japan artist Taka Sudo. The album is worth buying for the album art alone. They make for great wall art, 12"x12" stain coverer-upper, huge-ass rolling tray, fly-swatter, Slap-Chop replacement, etc, so there's really no reason to not have 3 or 4 or 5 of these in your collection.
We'll be selling these almost exclusively at our shows, so make sure to come by and get yours soon! We're ridiculously excited about having our music on wax, and absolutely can't wait to find one in the $0.50 bin at Value Village one day.
Basti Made Me Do It! has also finally been pressed into CD format, which will be available at shows as well.
We're really excited about this, and about this entire album, and I didn't mean to overshadow it with the news about our other album, but shit, we've got our music on wax!Make sure to download both of these albums on iTunes before the shows, so you can help us out when we stumble on a lyric, or stream either of these albums at CBC Radio3 today! Now!
See you soon.
-Tall Man!!
Animal Nation
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Summer Update pt.2 / Tour Dates!!
Hi!!How's your summer going? I hope it's good! Mine's going really well.. I think Mike's summer is stressed the eff out, but hey, mine's going really well!
We've confirmed most of the dates for our upcoming tour, and will should have the rest confirmed in a few weeks!
They're all posted on our myspace page, our facebook group thing, as well as our CBC page (where you can stream our entire new album!).
The shows are posted at the bottom of this post as well! Hope to see you out at some or, perhaps (!!>??!?!), all of the shows!
Here's a few pics of the barn I've been recording in... It's absolutely amazing here, and also incredibly lonely, but besides facebook and cheap celebrity slam websites I don't have too much to distract me, and am getting lots done..
And I promise ONE more amazing ultra-rad summer update by the end of the month! It's going to be the best update yet, and it's totally awesome, and it makes me all sorts of happy thinking about it!
See ya soon, bud!
| The Mercury Lounge, downstairs | Ottawa, ON, CANADA | ||
| The Therapy Lounge | Brantford, Ontario, CANADA | ||
| The Bread & Circus Theatre | Toronto, Ontario, CANADA | ||
| The Fez | Saskatoon, SK, CANADA | ||
| TBD | CALGARY, ALBERTA, CANADA | ||
| New City Compound | Edmonton, Alberta, CANADA | ||
| Fernie Hotel | Fernie, BC, CANADA | ||
| Spirit Bar | Nelson, BC, CANADA | ||
| The Flying Steamshovel | Rossland, BC, CANADA | ||
| The Rockwater Bar & Grill | Golden, BC, CANADA | ||
| TBD | Banff, AB, CANADA | ||
| Upstairs Cabaret | Victoria, Alberta, CANADA | ||
| The Media Club | Vancouver, BC, CANADA | ||
| Garfinkles | Whistler, BC, CANADA |
-Tall Man!!!
Animal Nation.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Very exciting summer update pt. 1
Oh my! It's a super exciting Animal Nation "I wonder what the heck those guys are up to" update!!Mike recently moved down the street to Vancouver and has been DJing the city red, MCing random parties and clubs, and writing all sorts of new material.
I've been living in Halifax for the last 3 months, looking for the Wizard, meeting all sorts of amazing people, having tons of awesome adventures and huge jam sessions, and working on new music for a concept album tentatively titled "Every Day In The Life".
At the end of the month I'll be driving out to Ontario to set up a studio in a refinished barn to start recording vocals for said album.
Near the end of September Mike and I will be meeting up in Montreal to record more vocals, and prepare for our upcoming tour.
Tour you say?!? Tour indeed!!
Starting October 1st Animal Nation will be touring from Montreal back out West to Whistler over the course of the month.
We'll post dates soon! But if you're living in or near or around any sort of Canadian city get stoked now, because we're gonna be partying and drinking and musicing our faces off all over your town real soon.
Hey America!! Don't feel left out! We're planning on heading down your lovely little West coast soon too!
We've also got a couple other super secret updates that we'll be revealing in the next little bit. Stay tuned! We've got fun things a'comin'!
-Tall Man!
Animal Nation
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Albums of Influence - Animal Nation's "Basti Made Me Do It"
Our latest recording "Basti Made Me Do It!" is probably my favourite Animal Nation album to listen to. It doesn't necessarily contain our best material, (although the songs did turn out very nice,) but it was more so the process of creating the songs that makes them seem so special to me.Last summer our good German friend, Sebastian Hochstein, traveled out to Canada and spent nearly three weeks with us in our home, just a couple hours North of Vancouver.
Sebastian brought with him a CD that had over 30 completed beats that he wanted us to turn in to an EP by the time he left. We ended up making 3 brand new songs, and re-working 3 songs that Mike and I had previously tried to record during our 'Understanding...' sessions.
It was so much fun working with Basti. We clicked. We'd hung out before (Mike and I traveled to Germany a few years ago to do a couple shows out there, and to meet up with people we'd worked on our TimeZone album with), but this was the first time Basti and I got to work together behind the boards.
Back in Canada Sebastian was more than willing to spend countless hours behind mixing boards, tweaking tracks, playing with fx, recording and re-recording vocals in really unorthodox ways, and trying out all sorts of new things that occasionally worked in our favour.
We must have spent a solid 9 hours over 2 days just working on the bridge for 'Reason'. It didn't work out the first 8 times we tried recording it, but what I loved about working with Sebastian was that we would try it over and over until it did work. Not until it was 'good enough', because for the most part 'good enough' is the same thing as giving up. We'd try it again and again until our house had mics in the bathroom and the kitchen, wires covering all our windows and exits, and I was screaming through a cardboard tube. All in an effort to get something that we loved, rather than something we deemed 'good enough'.
I learned more about production in those 3 weeks than I had in the previous 3 years.
Thank you Sebastian.
I can't wait to head over to Germany to start work on our next project with you.
Check out one of the tracks "Pillow Talk" below.
It's a song about what it's like to be a pillow.
Or, steam the whole album at CBC Radio 3 here.
Then head over to iTunes, or CamoBear Records to purchase this little ditty. It's the only album we haven't given away for free. It's just that good.
Oh! ps - The incredibly talented and beautiful Paige Harley did the art work for the album. Read her interview with us here, then email her at floating.down [at] hotmail.com to hire her for your next project.
She's amazing.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
New EP on CamoBear Records! OUT TODAY!
Basti Made Me Do It! is the follow-up [EP] to the recently-released, full length LP, "Understanding More About Nothing Than Anybody Ever Thought Impossible". While half the songs for "Basti..." were written during the making of "Understanding...", the other half were conceived during Sebastian "Basti" Hochstein's three week trip to Canada.Head over to CamoBear records NOW to check it out!
Thinking Basti would want to check out the offerings of Beautiful British Columbia, the two members of Animal Nation prepared for a week of hikes, bikes, and sights, and wound up spending the majority of the trip writing tracks to satisfy Basti's never-ending lust for new and exciting music, as suggested by the opening track, "Hey Mr. Basti!" - "...and we thought that when he got here he'd want to see the sights, but the only thing he wanted to see was us write.” Although the intro track is more of a set-up track to detail the rest of the album, it's far from filler, and contains some of the best back-and-forth rhyme-schemes that Animal Nation has produced to date.
The third track, "Reason", was the first track recorded for the "Understanding..." album, but never managed to get the attention it deserved. With Basti helming the wheel Animal Nation not only managed to complete this track, but also managed to make this ethereal sounding song one of the best on the album.
On “I Think I've Been Here Before (In Another Pair of Shoes)”, Animal Nation asks “What's in a path, but a past way to live?” This theme presents itself throughout the album as Animal Nation tries out more new production techniques in these 6 songs than they have in their last 3 albums combined.
Basti acts as the motivation behind this EP as stated in the intro track, “Basti made me do it, and we’re really glad he did.”
The amazing art work was also done by the wonderful, and talented, and wonderfully talented Paige Harley.
Head over to CamoBear Records now to check it out!
Monday, September 28, 2009
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!
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
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.
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.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
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.
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.
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