Danimals sound like peanut butter with sherbet sparkles. Their looped tunes are twinkly and smooth, reminding me of Play School and Radiohead.
It’s fun electronica – simple loops of complex sounds with a vocal miasma that seeps through to the childhood fun strata of the mind. Jonti, the original Danimal, tells us things and we watch and listen. Come with us as we go through the round window for a story.
“The initial rough concept behind Danimals came about when I was really into the aesthetics of beat tapes that hip hop producers like Pete Rock or J Dilla would hand out to MCs. Tracks were really short, instantly engaging and pretty raw. And I wanted to hear that in a kind of pop context with Brian Wilson- and Stereolab-like arrangements. I haven’t stayed totally true to that concept, but I guess that’s what inspired it.”
Jonti originally performed a few shows with nothing but guts and a sampler, but this apparently didn’t go down too well.
“They were borderline slapstick! As a result, I asked a few friends to do some shows as an experiment. Instantly we were writing, fusing personalities and making something more abstract and better! The band includes Julian Sudek from Mercy Arms, Moses Macrae from Good Buddha, and my Sherlock’s Daughter bandmate Will Russell, who are all drummers and fingerpaint in their spare time.”
Jonti says it can get confusing with three drummers on stage, but says this is only because he still forgets everyone’s name. He would like to point out, however, that the band is not sponsored by Danimals Yoghurt Drink for kids, but is named after the same.
“That’s entirely intentional, you only see real ballers packin Danimals Yoghurt Drink. The chimp knows whats good.”
MusicFeeds entirely agrees with this statement. The chimp knows all. We domesticated primates have a pretty good idea of what’s what too. It seems the apes that Jonti displays his work to are all teeth and hoots after Danimals’ strange vibrations.
“I’ve only really showed my music to friends, other musicians, girls I liked, or whoever was around. And they’ve all been kind enough to save harsh criticisms for after I left the room.”
Danimals are still in the pubescent stage of the live music life cycle. Though receiving good response from crowds Jonti is aware that the band still has to go through the furious-masturbation, just-noticing-girls phase.
“Danimals band is gonna work on crystallizing the live set as it’s still pretty brand new. I’m thinking of compiling the best tracks I’ve recorded into an introductory album and then maybe writing and recording a new one with the drummers. Also cooking up some stuff with some MCs and singers abroad. Im also working on a solo live beat symphony thing. It’s worth mentioning that most of my energy will probably be going to the other band I’m in, ‘Sherlocks Daughter,’ for the next couple of months, so depending how caught up I get in that, none of these projects might ever get finished!”
Danimals’ next scheduled gig is on the 24th of June at Spectrum. These beats aren’t brutal, they’re buggy. If you like candy twitch, you’ll love Danimals.
