The Animal In Me is
Laura Vierra: vocals
Shane Gould: vocals
Phil Bates: guitar
Daniel Flores: bass
Kori Harrington: guitar
Namor Nalupta: drums
Our very own Billy Lever got the chance to sit down with the band's vocalists Shane and Laura, on the first stop of their tour in support of Our Last Night, October 22nd in Portland, Maine to conduct an interview! Listen to the raw uncut interview on the player below!
RBR: "Alright, so you've recently changed the band name from Deadlines and Diamonds to The Animal In Me to reflect the sheer ferocity of your sound. But how do you think the fan reaction to the change has been thus far?"
Shane: "Uhmm.. actually I don't even know. I mean... it's kind of one of those things where I think some of the people, a lot of the people like think it's really cool. Some people didn't like it, I mean we've got a few comments that where like "I liked Deadlines & Diamonds better" but I think for the most part a lot of people think it's really cool, I mean it allows us to say TAIM which is pretty cool, "Tame the animal in me" and stuff like that, so... I mean, so far I'd say it's been good... it's half and half... But we're somewhat of a new band still, so it kind of really doesn't even matter."
RBR: "In early material from your project The Threats you had a much softer sound. How and when did you decide to take the music of The Threats in a heavier direction?"
Shane: "Uhmm.. I think it was - I mean basically what happened was when Laura and I started making music. We started out as just an acoustic project... and it was not necessarily because we just wanted to be an acoustic project. It was literally because we were the only two people. Like all the previous bands I'd been in, I'd been in with uhmm... ya know with my brother and stuff like that. So you know, we didn't have any members and at first it was kind of like we just wanted to see what we could do. Ya know, I knew she had a really good voice so we started writing stuff, and we wrote a few acoustic songs and after that was kind of like, we were like; well we could do a lot more band stuff. Ya know, we'd just record it all and see if that picks up any... Now we did that for a while, we played ya know a bunch of acoustic shows. And it was kind of like, it wasn't really what we were portraying. We kind of liked some of the heavier music, I mean that obviously for me, I was in Quick And The Dead, and stuff I guess... I've always liked ya know, the heavier stuff so uhmm... Basically it was one of those things where eventually, I think we were just kinda like okay ya know what, lets just write whatever it is we wanna write and not care about the fact that we don't have band members. And once we did that - at the same time though we were very like adamant about staying true cause like ya know when it came to The Threats, we're a band that still loves to write like ya know choruses and melody and stuff like that. We like heavy stuff but not just straight ya know screaming and all that stuff so one of the things we wanted to do was maintain the chorus value of The Threats but bring it to a level of heavier more kind of like intense music.
RBR: Shane, how long have you and Laura known each other. And when did you decide that you two should create music together as a team?
Laura: Uhh.. we met in 2009, I was actually living with my room mate Michael who was in the band The Advantage with Shane. And uhmm... I used to just kind of wrote my own stuff on my Garageband. When ya know I had a couple beers and I was at a party and I was a little drunky. I was like look at this song I made - and you boys like it.
Shane: She sent me a song and it was her singing into a Macbook, no - it's like I record music so for me it's like I know what it takes to like edit and make things things sound good. And there was nothing on her voice, it was just straight her singing into a computer with a guitar and it sounded perfect. And I was just like, dude this is exactly something that I would want to be a part of. In our genre of music it's very rare to find a band that has singers that can sing. So uhm... generally ya know, you have to have some kind of chorus or hook so you can ya know, get people in there to sing. But it's kinda hard to find the heavier band with good singers... So when I heard her I was like dude, this is...
Laura: Which is kind of funny cause you know even when you were still in The Advantage and I would see you, we joked about how we should be a harmonizing acoustic duo and then after The Advantage got done.. We did that.
RBR: There was a Threats song by the name of "I Set Myself On Fire" which was seemingly unreleased, do you guys and gal still play that song... And more importantly, will it be on the upcoming release from The Animal In Me?
Shane: So uhmm. wow... Cool, that's awesome. That was actually kind of the first, the very first kind of heavy-ish song that we wrote. Was that one. And we kind of put it up on the Threats things and apparently you were the only person to hear it. That's kind of awesome. But that was kind of the start of it and then after that, we ya know changed the name and everything. But yeah, with that it's funny you mention it because we're actually in the midst of of re-recording it and re-doing it -
Laura: Changing it up to fit our style mostly.
Shane: Yeah, kind of to be more up to date. and so it won't be on the upcoming release but when we do actually release a full length we're gonna put it on there. So it's in the works.
RBR: Will the upcoming release be an EP like originally planned or a full on full length album, since I believe I had seen that you guys were back in the studio recently.
Shane: Well uh, it's going to be an EP.. We did six songs so it's going to be an EP, it's completely newly recorded stuff. The only stuff that people have heard from it so far is "I Created A Monster". So that's pretty much it.
RBR: Laura, how does it feel being the only female in a primarily male band. There are many stereotypes and labels that I feel often become associated with women in metal. How do you personally overcome these labels and shine on as an individual?
Laura: Uhmm.. I mean being with the band, it's definitely different . It's kind of cool being the only girl I guess but I'm just a regular girl, I like girly things...
Shane: Dude, she's not that metal.
Laura: I'm not that metal, definitely not. I still like pop music and I definitely have a style of my own. But I think ya know, I can sometimes put myself differently than other female artists tend to put themselves. Yeah, there's a band that we used to play with them a lot and their singer is kind of more standoff-ish than me and people seem to notice stuff like that. But yeah, I'm just an average chick.
Shane: It think goes somewhere with people that whenever there is a girl in this type of genre, like they feel they have to portray themselves as the heaviest like metal artist, they're one of the guys.
Laura: That's not my style as all.
Shane: That's kind of one of the things, that she doesn't do that. And that comes across as like "Ah, she's just still a girl, she's a singer". I think people kinda like that.
RBR: Shane, do you ever miss playing in Quick And The Dead, or atleast playing the style of music you did in the band?
Shane: Uhh... Well I mean, yeah, every now and then. Because that was one of those things where I guess it depends on which CD because every CD was kinda different. Our first CD was ya know, like semi in there like Underoath, The Used. and then it became a little bit more heavier for one CD I think... And then much more soft, kinda like Going Home is a little bit not as you'd expect. So I think it's one of those things where I have very fond memories because it's like you know me and my brother started that band so it's like I was always in a band with my brother and it was very fun, we went on a lot of tours together and stuff. So it's like, oh yeah it's great to think about that stuff. I think I have more fun overall in this band. Like I love my brother to death but pretty much me and him butt-heads all the time because we're brothers, it's a little brotherly tension. But yeah he's in a band now, he does his thing, I do my thing. So it's kind of cool, I was in a band growing up with him forever, we'd been in like four or five different bands together before we broke up. So it was one of those things that kinda, once we're not in a band anymore and it's kind of like we're older it's like nice to think back. But yeah, we went our separate ways and we're still cool.
RBR: Does it surprise you to know that there are Quick And The Dead fans, or more generally fans of yours this far north?
Shane: Yeah, yes.. I mean, it's one of those things where it's like I've never considered myself like doing a whole lot. Like I make music solely for myself, if other people like, that's great. But for the most part it's like I make it for me, so when I find there's somebody anywhere, even if they're in our hometown who likes something that we're doing, that's still... It doesn't matter where it is. I mean, it's crazier to think about it being on this side of the country but it's no matter what, it's still just awesome. It's great. So..
RBR: Do you still do Mendelsen in your free time? Or is that over with now because The Animal In Me has become your main priority?
Shane: Oh man, uhm.. Good question. Mendelsen is something that I'd love to continue doing. Mostly because, basically what happened was, was when I was in Quick And The Dead. You know, I'm one those people I write new stuff every single day, always writing.. I can write albums and albums and albums full of stuff. And some of 'em might be crap and some of 'em might good or whatever. But it's just that I'm always getting ideas. So when I was in Quick And The dead, there was a lot of stuff that I would always continually write that I was like - I can't, this doesn't go with the band. So I started my own thing just basically as an outlet to be like hey, there's also this type of stuff. But with this, I think this is the only band that I've ever ever kind of went full force with where I'm like I have to be focused on this thing. It's like I wanna be able to tour, I wanna be able to get music out there, I wanna be able to meet new people like yourself. And the only way to do that is to really be focused on what it is you're doing. And the other thing is too, is just we've picked up management and booking agents and they expect so much of your time in terms of writing stuff for what they're trying to get out. That's there's very very minuscule amounts of time for me to be going and writing for other projects and doing other things. So I'm sure once that calms down, once our band is able to get out there and tour full time or whatever. I would definitely go back to doing stuff cause it's just, it's in me. You know it's playing on the home plate so.
RBR: So what should we be on the lookout for in the future of The Animal In Me?
Shane: I think for the next year pretty much we're gonna release our EP which is just, we just finished it and all of the artwork's done so we're gonna get that packaged and all that stuff and then it'll be done. And then pretty much we're just going to tour as much as possible, that's kind of like our goal is just to be out on the road as much as possible, meet as many new people, play as many new places. Ya know, build up a following... And yeah, that's pretty much it so that's probably the future.
RBR: Is there any words of encouragement you'd like to say to young musicians just starting out?
Shane: Absolutely, this is something we've been talking a lot lately... I mean, before we got picked up by our managers and our booking agent and stuff, we were looking at a bunch of other booking agents and managers and stuff. But one thing that you realize is that you know, there's people who will always will think "Oh they're not heavy enough, oh they got a girl singer. Oh they're too heavy, or it's too heavy for the pop kids and it's too soft for the rock kids." I think the thing is that I can tell kids is that it doesn't matter at the end of the day, it's like live your dream because there's going to be ten thousand people who are going to tell you exactly what to do. And I know because lot of people have told me "Oh quit Quick And The Dead, and just do Mendelsen. Mendelsen sucks, just do Quick And The Dead." so it's like do whatever you wanna do, do what makes you happy, do what you actually want to project to people. And I think when we picked up our managers that we currently have and the booking agent, they knew exactly what we were doing, they didn't ask us - I mean besides our name change, they weren't like "yeah change your music, change your style, change this, change your haircuts." they literally were just like "We're investing in you because we like what you're doing." so the biggest thing I'd say to young people trying to get into music or any type of thing, do what you wanna do because there's a bunch of people who will tell you because they have no talent themselves, what you should do. Don't listen to those people just do what you wanna do. Live your dream.
RBR: Good luck on the tour you guys, and Shane... I have some words of encouragement for YOU, the audience "I believe you will break their hearts."
Laura: Oh... That song.
Shane: Awesome, thanks, really awesome.
CHECK OUT THE ANIMAL IN ME'S LYRIC VIDEO FOR THE FIRST SINGLE "I CREATED A MONSTER" OFF THEIR DEBUT EP - COMING SOON!!
