This past week I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing the indie-folk band, Animal Years. The band has faced many trials and tribulations over the past couple years. The most impactful event for the band was having to reinvent themselves after parting ways with their record label.
I got to speak with the lead singer Mike McFadden and drummer Anthony Spinnato, and we chatted about barn studios, music scenes, and advice for budding indie artists.
It is hard to pick a favorite part to this interview, there were so many great moments. One of my favorite parts of the interview was when Mike, the lead singer, was talking about functioning without a label: “Before any band signs a record deal, they spend their whole existence without a record label”.
This is something I found so profound because a lot of the time a fresh-faced artist will find that they must sign in order to be legitimate or to make it, and it is important to remember that every single artist and band started out without a label. In addition, another favorite part of the interview was when I asked the band what advice they would give to aspiring artists, Mike recanted some great advice he heard about quitting:
“There was a guy, I can’t remember who he was but… somebody asked him what advice would you give to musicians or let’s just say an artist starting out? And he… his advice was one where he just said “quit”. And then he waited 20 seconds or whatever and he’s like “okay, well if you wanted to quit just from that then you really don’t want to be in it in the first place because there is no reason to quit when you are just making art and doing what you love.”
It is incredibly clear after interviewing Animal Years that this band is incredibly passionate about not just their music but the craft of music. In the 2021 music scene it can feel as if a lot of artists are just making music to make it and not out of a deep love for it, it was so refreshing to hear a band just pour their heart out about how much they love music. I am honestly incredibly excited to see what the band has in store for the future and will be eagerly hoping that Animal Years releases a vinyl so I can add it to my collection.
You can check out their discography on music platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.