Contirbutor
Following the release of their debut self titled album, Music Is 4 Lovers caught up with production duo Animal Friend to delve deep into the creativity that spawned this sublime collection.
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MI4L: Your debut album, ‘Animal Friend’, has just hit the stores with a great response coming through. What inspired the name of the album and the duo itself?
AF: The name just bubbled up from our collective unconscious. There is a lot of instinct and intuition in what we do. When our larger band went through some changes years ago, we started experimenting with dance music, and we had to keep going. This is our first album as a duo, and the music we arrived at was years in the making. We wanted to introduce ourselves to a wider audience with a self-titled release because it’s just simple and direct. And the name still slaps.
MI4L: How do you divide the responsibilities in the studio? For example, does one of you focus more on production while the other handles songwriting?
AF: We create everything together. Lyrics, production, tasty beverages and snacks. When we perform, Jasper operates the sound and Anne operates the mic 😉 .
MI4L: Let’s jump deeper into the studio, are you more hardware or software orientated?
AF: Sequencing, drums, and mixing happen in software, but all of our synth sounds come from a rack of vintage units from the 80’s. We go pretty light on effects, mostly eq, compression, and reverb/delay.
MI4L: What would you say is the most used plugin/hardware across this collection of tracks?
AF: The Roland MKS-7 is the center of our sound.
MI4L: Were there any tracks that didn’t make the cut for the final selection, can we expect to hear them at any point?
AF: Yes, we focused on the ones that worked best in our live shows over the past few years. Music can be fleeting, we might try to find old tracks again but we usually like to just make new ones.
MI4L: What is the story behind the artwork, it’s certainly an eye-catching piece!
AF: Thanks! We were lucky enough to be introduced to the collage artist Rachel Eaton. She makes such captivating pieces and everyone should check out her work. The photos we gave her are from a photoshoot we did with our friend Krescent Carasso, a fierce beauty behind the lens.
MI4L: How did your relationship with the label come about?
AF: Through mutual friends in the music scene here in SF. Everyone ends up meeting everyone at some point :). After Manny (DJM3, GreenGorillaLounge) booked us to perform for one of his Club Closed productions over the pandemic, he reached out and said, “I want to make a record with you guys.” I mean, love at first sight hello!
MI4L: Have you had a chance to test the tracks on the road? How has the response been so far?
AF: The album release party we had at Monarch SF was a DELIGHT. People were grooving on the dance floor, that’s why we do it! We are getting much love from all around the world too, like from Bill Brewster, Acid Pauli, Beth Lydi, Palo Osuna, Timmy Byrne at Kiss FM (Australia) and Ben Mabon at Coast Radio. Much appreciation to everyone <3
MI4L: Which artists out there are your priority list to collaborate with?
AF: We are still lining up some of the remixes, so keep an eye out…
MI4L: What more can we expect to hear from you this summer?
AF: Buckle up for those remixes! Tracks that you’ll be able to mix into your sets and sass out even harder to.
Download & Stream Animal Friend’s debut album here.