Interview with Half the Animal
The So-Cal, 
alt-pop group that makes up Half the Animal are up and coming in the music world, but have already landed dates with Silversun Pickups, Big Data, Chromeo and more. Supporting their recently released EP, Shapes, Half the Animal are making waves with an ever growing fan base. Alyssa Howell was able to catch up with them and you can read their conversation below.
Being a fairly new band in the industry, for those who aren’t quite familiar with you yet, mind introducing yourself?
We’re Half the Animal. We’re from Los Angeles and we play pop rock music and have a lot of fun doing it.
So before getting to talking about your debut release, how and when did Half The Animal form? What inspired you to start this project?
Chase, our singer, and I have been playing music since we were teenagers in high school. We grew up in Laguna Beach together and started a band called Open Air Stereo and ended up having some really cool success off of that band. We had a show on MTV and were signed to Sony out of high school, it was a great introduction to the music business. Open Air Stereo was definetely more rock driven and we wanted to rebrand a new project with a new name and a new sound. We had grown up a lot as people and felt it was time to try something new.
What is your initial goal when you first started piecing this project together?
Write the best songs possible that mean the most to us and hope that it resonates!
Being from Los Angeles, which is somewhat a heavy music scene, did being from there spark any inspiration in your Sound as a band?
I think you can hear the Southern California influence in our music for sure. We’re beach kids that grew up surfing and skating. Whether its through Chase’s lyrics or just through the way we structure our songs and recordings, you can for sure feel the southern california style in there.
You all recently released your debut EP, Shapes, can give us a brief description about some of the songs on this EP? What/who are some inspirations behind them?
Babylon is our single and was the first song we wrote as Half the Animal. We wrote 15-20 songs in a little over a year and wanted to release the four songs that felt the most diverse. Saturday Night is a super upbeat fun pop record and If You Want My Love is a stripped down version of something a little bit more left-field. Divided is another one of the tracks that feels super anthemic and powerful.
Would you say this EP has defined your sound as a band?
It’s definitely a great start that we’re super proud of. We don’t want the sound of our band to be locked in to anything so specific and think that’s a cool way to approach things. Music is so diverse these days and fans are quick to respond. At our core we’re an alternative pop rock band that puts on a really exciting live show that feels real.
What do you want to accomplish with Half The Animal and your debut EP?
We want to make a splash onto the scene with quality songs that mean a lot to us. We’ve worked really hard as a group since we were teenagers. It means a lot to have this vision finally hit the universe. We’re exciting to get out and really tour these songs and continue to release new music.
If you could change anything about this EP, whether it’s removing said song or adding said song, what would those changes be?
We wouldn’t change anything.
What are some future goals you have before 2017 ends? Any new music? Touring?
We’re hoping to drop our second EP by September and also tour our faces off this Fall into 2018. We’re jumping on the Find Your Grind Tour this Fall which is my tour for the non-profit organization I’ve run the past two years. We hit high schools around the country and help kids create lives around their passions and strengths. It’s really badass.
Is there anything else you would like to say to your fans before closing out this interview?
Check out our Youtube Channel and our Instagram. We have some hilarious content to scroll through plus a new original series we just dropped called Animal Life that documents the past 8 months of our lives making this EP. It’s the inside look into our band and what we’ve been up to. I feel like bands don’t do that enough, so we gave it a shot.
Interview by: Alyssa Howell
