Get to know Animaux

After a solid year of relentless gigging in 2012,
Melbourne pop/funk seven piece Animaux
have gone from strength to strength. We had
a chat with the band’s singer, sax player and
Monash music student, Alex Lahey about the
Simpsons quoting, cat lovin’ group that is
Animaux.

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Who makes up Animaux?
Animaux is a group of seven young individuals
who share a passion for genre confused music
and hummus.
On the drums is Adam Engel, an avid aviation
follower. When not beating and bashing his
prized drums, he can be found taking photos of
his cat, Austin. Will Base was born with Base
in his name and a bass in his hands and with
the nimblest fingers in the land, Base-o is a
force to be reckoned with. On the guitar is Sam
Jeffreys, a Kramer haired, and guitar wielding
character. Sammo has a thirst for Top 40
bangers of any era that cannot be quenched.

The one and only female band member,
Alex Lahey takes care of lead vocals and alto
sax. When not with Animaux, she divides
her time between quoting copious amounts of
The Simpsons, consuming poached eggs and
being a Sloth enthusiast. On the keys is Bill
Black: The king of backing vocals and afterschool
tutoring. Big Blacko has the capacity to
unleash killer JT-style melodies, so you’d better
watch your back!

Manning the tenor sax is Ollie
Whitehead: Part-time fence builder, full-time
sax man. There’s no crossing this guy when
he’s armed with his trademark snap back, and
a frothy in hand. Off stage, Animaux’s resident
red head and trumpeter Alex Woolford, enjoys
learning about the stock market and car
insurance. On stage, he pulls moves to rival
anyone’s aunt at their mother’s 50th.

You describe your sound as a mixture of funk
and pop, but did you experiment with other
genres before the Animaux sound was born?
I don’t think that there was much experimentation
with other genres, rather experimentation
with song writing methods and styles. I believe
the genre/s that come through in our music are
more a product of the way we write and arrange
our tunes, as opposed to sitting down and
saying “let’s write a reggae tune,” or, “let’s write
a deep funk song”. We formed after playing
together for years in various big bands and jazz
ensembles, playing little to no original music.
So we’re exploring song writing as a group but
it’s something we all really enjoy doing and feel
we’re getting better at!

Three short years have passed since you
formed and you’re now supporting The
Cat Empire on March 22nd! Any special
preparations for this show?
When we first started Animaux we created a
list of all of our ultimate goals as a band, and
on the top of that list was to one day support
The Cat Empire. The feeling of realising that
collective goal is incredible!
Preparations for that particular show will
involve the usual Sunday arvo rehearsals in
St Kilda, along with the plethora of shows we
have booked before The Cat Empire gig. A
Mighty Ducks-style pep-talk and band huddle
will probably take place just before we take the
stage too.

Apart from The Cat Empire gig, what’s
Animaux looking forward to in 2013?
We’re in the middle of a two month residency
at the Evelyn Hotel in Fitzroy at the moment
where we’ve been sharing the stage with some
killer supports. We always have so much fun at
the Ev – it feels like our home ground. We’re
also super excited to be playing the Hills Are
Alive festival in March alongside names like
New Navy and Saskwatch.

Can we expect any new Animaux tunes soon?
We’re currently in the pre-production phase of
creating our upcoming EP, due in mid to late-
2013. We’re really excited to get an extended
release out there that we’re all really proud of,
and that will turns some heads.

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Want to see these groovy cats in action?
Animaux’s Wednesday night residency at The
Evelyn Hotel has been extended until the end
of March.