Kids and Animals

With justice, Kids and Animals will be one of the next big things in Seattle. In my world they already are. I will disclose right away that guitarist Adam Gaciarz is a contributor to this site so I will get that out of the way. I also want to get out of the way that these musicians are still in their late teens – not that this matters to me and it shouldn’t when listening to music – but there’s a lot more criticism of bands when they’re young. Either you’re in the camp that wants to take them down a peg or two just because you can or you want to encourage them for their potential development. I am really in neither camp but perhaps leaning more towards the latter. But don’t forget how young many musicians are when they put out their best material. Quite a few, like scientists (not all!) have hit their creative potential by the ripe old age of 40.

So, what do I like about Kids and Animals? Leland Corley’s edgy, yet coursing vocals and all the guitars are tender and wicked. I am going to write more about the songs in a review of their self-titled LP soon. -DAGMAR SIEGLINDE

See photos and review at: http://backbeatseattle.com/wordpress/?p=15259 - Back Beat Seattle

Of course I'm going to like Kids and Animals - the Seattle quartet have been known to perform with stuffed animals displayed onstage and, c'mon, that's just cute. The music's not bad, either - singer Lee Corley has a voice that's warm and familiar, but I can't put my finger on whom it reminds me of. While the more quaint pop songs are enjoyable, my favorite Kids and Animals songs are the ones that rock out a little, like "Family Meal on the Green Mile," which starts with a plunking piano and turns into a full-on guitar onslaught by the chorus. -MEGAN SELING

Source: http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/up-and-coming/Content?oid=1635273 - The Stranger

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Each and every Friday we offer songs by local artists.

Today’s selection, featured on the Morning Show with John Richards, is “Dirty City” by Kids and Animals from their self-titled, self-released debut album.

Today’s Song of the Day write up might just have to be filed under “Interview run amok in the best possible way.” Usually when I put out an email to bands with some interview questions, I expect to hear some well-practiced answers and occasionally some interesting insight into who they are as artists or possibly even some of the band’s dynamic.

This week was something different… Kids and Animals were uninhibited in their responses (to say the least). It could be due to the fact that half of the band just became of voting age (the other half hasn’t yet) but don’t take that at face value. This is definitely a collection of talented and intelligent artists and instead of giving them a condescending pat on the head, check out what they have to say, especially on underage bands in Seattle and being compared to your musical heroes. Unless noted otherwise, Adam Gaciarz responds:

Who are Kids and Animals?

It all began with Alex and Dylan being friends and wanting to play music. After saving up some cash, Alex bought a guitar, Dylan bought bass, and they would jam together on days after school. Alex met Lee in high school jazz band freshman year. Lee asked Alex if he wanted to get together and play music sometime, and they did. Lee, Alex, and their friend Connor got together and practiced a few times, and then played the very first Open Mic at Chief Sealth High School as a no-name band.

Since then, we’ve played with a seemingly never-ending list of drummers, and the reason is because they either ran out of time or they had to leave for college like James Kasinger who played on the album (not Chloe) but left to go to Washington State University. We love him, as a ridiculously epic drummer, and as a wonderful friend.

Where does the name come from?

The band semi-officially started out under the name A Copy Not Pretty, but we dropped the name relatively quickly, and changed it to Broken Vinyl. Our first show was at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center at a Youth Speaks Open Mic in June ‘07. In September that year, we played in the back of a moving truck during the West Seattle Parade –- that was fun. In February ’08, we played with Don’t Tell Sophie at Club Motor, which was a totally bizarre show, and we were super stoked ‘cause we love DTS, and it’s sad that they broke up. We kept playing shows at venues like Ground Zero, KTUB, The Viaduct, Studio Seven, and Skylark Café for little to no pay. At this point, our sound was… un-shaped.

In early October ’08, after a show at Ground Zero, the band changed their name to Kids Are Animals for a day, and the next day changed the name to what it is today: Kids and Animals. Since then, we’ve taken practice more seriously, and put our hearts a lot more into the band and what our goals were. Over time, we began to play at better spaces with better bands. The band’s sound started to have strong direction, an actual vibe, and we all started to have a better sense of Seattle’s music scene. We were super excited when we played at the Greenhouse with Pwrfl Power, The Oregon Donor, The Mission Orange, & The Braille Tapes in January ’09 –- it was our first DIY-show-house show.

In late November ’09, we headlined a show at the Vera Project to celebrate the release of our debut full-length self-titled album. It was a great success, and since then, our “buzz” has been skyrocketing. Musicians, venues, and publicists have been talking to us and saying how they’re astonished at the maturity of our sound and how they would love us to play their shows. It’s just cool that finally, some of all this hard work is paying off.

You got your start at a young age right? How old are you guys now and how do you think Seattle treats young bands?

Kids and Animals are Leland Corley, 17, on guitar/piano/vocals, Alex Robkin, 18, on guitar/vocals, Dylan Bundy, 18, on bass/trumpet/vocals, Adam Gaciarz, 17, on guitar/tambourine/vocals, and Chloe Jenkins, 18, on drums/vocals

Underage bands in Seattle definitely get looked down upon. It’s a lot harder to be taken seriously, but half the time, bookers don’t even know our ages, so it’s okay I guess. We always try to act professional, be creative, find solutions to booking problems in a mature, fair way, and make, practice, and play music, just like anyone older than us would. People don’t expect to hear amazing music from young musicians and bands, but we want to show everyone that it can happen!

On the positive side, Seattle has got to be one of the coolest cities to host all-ages shows at. We’re super lucky to have a venue like the Vera Project - its mission, what it stands for, and the variety of wholesome shows they host are awesome.

What were the concepts and influences behind your debut album?

Leland: Having no money, our transition into adulthood, and staying up way too late.

What do you think of the comparisons Kids and Animals receives to such NW faves as Modest Mouse and Built to Spill?

Adam: We’ve been pretty positively surprised by some of the awesome bands people have compared us to, like for example The Pixies, or Wolf Parade. We’ve always admired and been inspired by Modest Mouse, their lyrics, dynamics, and Isaac Brock’s crazy vocals and screaming-into-his-guitar-action.

Alex: I think that comparisons such as those are both gratifying and a little frustrating. Both of those bands are obviously great, but it’s hard being compared to such established classics. Our approach to writing music is pretty unsophisticated: we try to write songs that we’d like to listen to. I think there is something to be said for such a straightforward approach - we don’t have to jump though a lot of hoops trying to convey a certain message with our songs. We just want to make experimental music that we like, slowly find audiences that enjoy the music we play, and have fun while we’re doing it.

What is “Dirty City” about? Anything you hope listeners will take away from this song?

Alex: I like to think of “Dirty City” as a pretty happy song. When I wrote it I was in one of those rare moods where you are just smitten with everything. It’s like puppy love for the whole universe; everything just seemed the same, you know? All matter originated in stars, from gold to garbage. We just don’t see the beauty in the garbage because we’re taught not to see it. So I guess I hope that listeners will hear this song and feel the same way I did when I wrote it. I hope that they’ll see the loveliness that pervades every corner of existence.

Alex & Leland seem to switch off on songwriting duties, how do you work as a band to develop songs?

Usually Alex or Lee think up the ‘bare bones’ of our songs, bring them to practice, play them, and hack at them till they’re somewhat presentable. It is not methodic whatsoever, and our songs tend to naturally evolve over time into both what sounds and feels good to play. Our songs are never really done being developed; we’re always revising and experimenting with all of them. For example, ‘Backyard’ is one of our oldest songs but we’re been adding and changing parts to it as recently as our last practice. I think always adding or changing something in our songs gives a certain vitality to our music and makes it more fun to play, because it never really is the exact same every time.

Who released your debut album?

We did. We recorded the album partially at Two Sticks Audio, partially at the L.A.B. Seattle Drum School with our friend Nemanja Bujisic, who we can’t thank enough for his tremendous level of caring, passion, sense of humor, and generosity. We bought blank 100% recyclable eco-friendly cardboard-like ‘Arigato Paks’ from Stumptown Printers in Portland for our packaging, and had our friend Trevor Basset screen-print his design on them, which we individually folded ourselves. For our actual CD, we bought bulk blank white-top CD-Rs, spray painted them blue, stamped them with an owl, and burned them each individually on Lee’s computer. Adam put together lyric booklets on this cardboard-like paper and we put those in there too. We are pretty satisfied with our debut album and the way it’s turned out -– it’s totally worth putting your heart into something and sticking with it through to the end.

What music have you been listening to lately?

Alex: Haha, man, I don’t even know where to begin. I’ve been listening to a lot of Thee Oh Sees, Cat Power, and I’ve been really into the new Girls album, all artists with straightforward song structures and really, really good hooks. I’ve been revisiting Illmatic a fair bit as well. There is just so much to hold your attention in that album, and “Life’s a Bitch” has to be one of the best songs of all time.

Leland: The Avalanches, XX, The Unicorns, The Deadly Syndrome, Future of the West, Pink Floyd, and Bob Dylan.

Adam: Lately, almost every single day, I’m been bumpin’ cuts from SOL’s new EP. Besides that, I’ve been listening to The Rural Alberta Advantage, Broken Bells, The Books, Phoenix, Explosions in the Sky, Rooftops, Grizzly Bear, Feral Children, Colonies, Conservative Dad, etc.

What’s one thing that all of Kids and Animals can agree on and endorse as the best thing ever?

Chubby cats purring. Seriously, so awe-some.

What’s next for Kids and Animals?

We’re planning to keep playing shows regularly for a while, then take a break to record an EP with a more experimental, lo-fi sound to it. Although we must admit we’re a little bummed about not getting into EMP Sound Off this year, we feel like we’re well on our way without it.

We’ve got some cool shows coming up but would like to mention our guitarist/manager Adam is setting up BirthDIYfest 2010, an annual one-night all-ages concert which celebrates the NW Do-It-Yourself creative community, on Friday March 19th at The Vera Project. Besides an awesome line-up (BOAT, Kay Kay & His Weathered Underground, Feral Children, and The Next Door Neighbors), there will be tables with local DIY organizations, all-ages venues, record labels, radio stations, etc. For more info, visit www.myspace.com/bdayfest.

Published January 15, 2010 by Leigh Bezezekoff, KEXP 90.3FM

Source: http://blog.kexp.org/blog/2010/01/15/song-of-the-day-kids-and-animals-dirty-city/ - KEXP 90.3FM

Published in The Stranger December 2008:

Their name is Kids & Animals, and they come from Seattle, WA. Their main influence is apparent by just one listen to the song "46th Street".

They totally love Modest Mouse. This is a live performance, the mix is a little shakey, but they're not bad. They have a couple more songs available via MySpace too. They're a little loose, it's not perfect, but maybe the reason I like it is because they sound like the band I would've wanted to have when I was a kid and first started listening to Modest Mouse and Built to Spill and all that. Or maybe I just like it 'cause they have a lot of cute pictures of animals where the album art would go.

They're playing the Skylark Cafe January 4th with Black Whales, who I love and adore (and who have a free EP available at blackwhales.com). -MEGAN SELING

Source: http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2008/12/16/meet_this_week_s_band_of_the_w - The Stranger

Live Show Review: BirthDIYfest featuring BOAT, Kay Kay And His Weathered Underground, Feral Children, Kids And Animals, The Nextdoor Neighbors

Friday March 19th @ The Vera Project | Seattle, WA

Official Website: http://myspace.com/BDAYFEST

When I first heard about this show at The Vera Project, I immediately read it too quickly and assumed that it was a show for someone's birthday. Coincidently, Adam Gaciarz of Kids And Animals was celebrating his 18th birthday this evening.

The show in itself was a celebration. DIY, short for do-it- yourself, "is a term used to describe the creation, alteration or reparation of something without the aid of experts or professionals," as given by Wikipedia definitions. For years, we have watched our favorite local musicians and bands do just that. This year's BirthDIY fest featured five extraordinary local bands each producing their own unique sound. March 19th was a celebration of our local bands doing what they do best: playing their music, working hard to create their own successes, and not letting anyone instruct them otherwise.

The Nextdoor Neighbors were the first to kick off the show and resembled sister duo Tegan And Sara with added electronic beats similar to Lights. Though the pair gave off a youthful vibe, they were not afraid to express themselves a la Ke$ha. Their beats were sometimes so enjoyable that I'm sure Kid Cudi wouldn't mind using it on a future track.

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Next up were Kids And Animals, a band where age is merely a number. Every song was driven by powerful passion, whether it was via busting out the pseudo cowbell or letting out a shriek here and there, proving that music was no joke to them; it was much more serious. Typically, you would assume that the sudden outburst would come from just the vocalist, but no, it is coming at you from all directions, from all members of the band, which I'm sure is more fun for them. They may be young in age, but their sound is beyond their years and similar to that of The Honorary Title.

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Feral Children had a set-up like I had never seen before. Stationed on the stage was not one, not two, but three drum sets. At first, I asked myself if three were necessary assuming that it might get sloppy. Contrary to prior belief, though, it synchronized their sound and managed to keep it organized.

I suppose I am biased with Kay Kay And His Weathered Underground, considering that I have seen them countless times. Regardless, their set is different each time, and I still continue to find myself engaged and mesmerized with their music. Kay Kay are crowd pleasers, and everyone that comes out to see them knows that they are guaranteed to have fun at their show. Audiences are always welcomed and invited to participate. Lead singer Kirk Huffman summed up the purpose of BirthDIY fest best, by saying, "Record labels are doing what we can do ourselves."

Lastly, BOAT closed out BirthDIY fest with a bang when the lead singer had stepped out onto the floor covered in Christmas lights. For some time, I have been concerned about where the local Seattle music scene was headed. The number of attendees at all-ages shows at teen centers have been dwindling while other bands in the Seattle area have been on hiatuses. My doubts were put to rest after seeing the turnout of BirthDIY fest. The music business has never been an easy breakthrough, but that has not stopped any of the five bands featured. Slow and steady will win the race.

Reviewed on 03/19 by Katie Nguyen

Source: http://www.redefinemag.com/music/reviews_concert_2.php?artist=BOAT,-Kay-Kay-And-His-Weathered-Underground,-Feral-Children,-Kids-And-Animals,-The-Next-Door-Neighbors&id=1615 - Redefine Magazine

If there's a poster-band for the all ages scene in Seattle, Kids & Animals is it. They have a Modest Mouse-meets-Okkervil River sound and have already self-released an album last year that found heavy rotation on KEXP. Songs like "Solstice"—with harmonic, choral vocals balanced with noisy, busy instrumentals—sound like the creation of someone who has been around the scene for years. But the members of Kids & Animals are still kids, with an energy that appeals best to young fans who put more emphasis on the way music feels than how it sounds. The band's live shows are chaotic but lack polish. With more practice--and maybe a little age--singer and guitarist Adam Gaciarz will truly earn the Built to Spill comparisons he's already received.

-PAIGE RICHMOND

Source: http://www.seattleweekly.com/events/kids-and-animals-941361/ - Seattle Weekly

Okay everyone, if you haven’t already, get that ridiculous Seattle stereotype out of your head. Alright, now we can proceed. Kids And Animals are from, you guessed it, Seattle. The track “Car Running” is off of their debut self-titled self-released album. According to their Myspace page the CD is individually spray painted, stamped and burned by the band themselves. This level of devotion and desire to produce something yourselves free from any outside influence is quite a rarity these days. Among all of the packaged, insincere, target marketing going on it’s hard not to get lost in clouds.

“Car Running” is almost scary upon its initial start with the instruments coming in all at once is unexpected post piano introduction. Vocalist Leland begins with “hold it out you know” and is a bit off key. I must say that he picks it up on the next few words and the band begins on an almost Fugazi-esque five and a half minutes. Honestly though, vocalists singing off key is the last of my worries and should be last of yours too. Some of the greatest musicians have had their time in the spotlight with voices that are consistently hard on the ears. Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, and Nico are among the greats pegged for just that. Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard tried to convince Mark Arm to take singing lessons while together in the seminal band Green River. Arm went on to form Mudhoney which, in my eyes, are still today one of the best bands out there.

Getting back to Kids And Animals. The snare drum alone on “Car Running” punches you just as hard as the rest of this lovely and sometimes sweet tale of confusion and love. The Shins’ “Caring Is Creepy” stands alongside “Car Running” with that same sort of swing and again another popping snare that makes you blink with every hit. Bassist Dylan plays around, inside and out, weaving among the song with a reckless abandon. Dylan is “in it”, to quote Natalie Portman’s character in Garden State. It’s when you can see, or in this case hear, someone going beyond the surface of the song.

Two and half minutes in to “Car Running” we have a quiet/loud piano interlude blowing through with guitar splashing its way between a build up and break down. Eventually this turns into an almost jazzy, hardcore triumph which may bring you to tears in a anthemic, spiral of a conclusion. Of course, there is no conclusion, “we shout into our freezing hands, keep our legs moving”. The track ends with a lone piano, dancing its way out. We’re left as so many songs have left us before, with wonder. Kids And Animals are playing now, so go!

January 19, 2010 by Brad Tilbe

Source: http://www.adequacy.net/2010/01/kids-and-animals-car-running/ - Adequacy.net

As an advocate and child of the Seattle music scene, I’ve grown up listening to bands with a high level of energy. Bands that put focus and passion into every note and play every show like it might be their last. Kids and Animals are my newest fixation. I want to claim them for my own. I want to be someone who can say they can saw them back in the day, when they were still finding themselves and making a name in this city. Before the big tour, before the Pitchfork review, before the hype has set in.

I met with Kids and Animals earlier this month literally minutes before they opened for Hockey at Neumos. It’s an understatement to say that playing Neumos is a right of passage for any band trying to go places. The level of excitement was high to say the least.

JM: OK lets start this out and try and be professional. State your name and instrument of choice:

(From left to right in the photo)

K&A: We are…

Leland: Vocals, guitar, and piano
Chloe: Drums
Alex: Guitar
Adam: Guitar
Dyland: Bass and trumpet

JM: Here you are at Neumos. Are you excited? Who the hell are you anyways? I want to get to know the real Kids and Animals. An intimate perspective.

K&A: We are so stoked to be playing here! Hockey is a great band. We’ve been playing together for years now with the exception of Chloe (on drums), who is the newest member. We are from West Seattle. It’s kind of out there, but we enjoy playing Capitol Hill and all over the city.

JM: Tonight’s show is all ages, and you’ve built up a reputation of being an all ages type of band. What do you think of the under 21 scene?

K&A: We’re all under 21 so it works out. The oldest one of of us is 19. We’ve played Comet Tavern and other places that are 21 and up, and have loved it. The all ages scene is Seattle is great. We are big supporters

JM: I see that you’ve played Vera quite a few times

K&A: We love the Vera Project. We did a CD release show there and have done a lot of screen printing in their lab. We’ve also put together BirthDIYfest and Vera was happy to host the show.

J.M: BirthDIYfest? Explain

K&A: It’s a weird story. We found out that Adam (guitar) and Kathy from The Nextdoor Neighbors had the same birthday. We we’re like this is amazing, we have to make a show out of this. It’s become an annual event and gets bigger every year. BirthDIYfest was us, The Nextdoor Neighbors, Boat, Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground and Feral Children. It’s just a good excuse to get bands, local record labels, and fans to come together for an event. At this years event some random anarchist group came in and they were really cool. Like one big happy family.

You can see videos and photos and info from BirthDIYfest 2010 on the official MySpace: http://myspace.com/BDAYFEST

J.M: Sounds like my kind of event. You need to keep me in the loop for next year. How did you come up with the band name?

K&A: We came up with our name, because check it out: both kids and animals are pure, they have this ignorance = bliss idea around them, kids can be so happy and so sad, and just because they don’t know. same with animals. kids and animals can so easily be put in awe. There is an article out there that pretty well explains our name choice.

(the article Animal Attraction: Why Kids and Animals Get Along can be found here)

Kids watching animals and learning from them lets them understand them, and get a new point of view in life, and see that we are all animals, we, humans, are mammals living on this earth in unison, and we need to take care of each other, and help each other out! We want people to realize they need to be caring and nurturing to each other.

J.M: Thanks for sharing. I feel like a legit journalist who is digging behind the scenes to get the real answers. Bringing the info to the people. Now that I’ve got you here, can you fill me in on a little bit of insider info? Any future tour or recording plans?

K&A: We have some big plans for the future that are still undisclosed. I can say that we are looking to go on the first real tour sometime this summer, probably in August. We are working on a new album now and can’t wait to start recording it. We are recording it in a home studio and have a lot of time to really mess around with different ideas. We write songs as a communal all-team thing. One of us comes up with a beginning skeletons bare-bones ’song’ and then we play it over and over, fixing things and mending them til it sounds and feels awesome to us.

J.M. When’s the next show?

K&A: We’ve got a show July 20th at the Comet Tavern with The Non and Ambulance. We have another one planned August 7th at the Sunset with Smile Brigade for their CD release, which is amazing

J.M. Thank you so much for taking time to chat. I look forward to watching, listening and stalking you in 2010.

Kids and Animals know how to deliver. Their set was high energy and never let down. The level of musicianship and on stage chemistry was impressive. They have the confidence of a band who knows who they are. They are influenced by acts like by Built to Spill and Cymbals Eat Guitars, which make for very fair comparisons. Their demeanor and poise reminds me of several bands who’ve only recently reached new levels of success and recognition. California outfits Avi Buffalo and The Morning Benders are the first that come to mind. Pay attention to Kids and Animals. They’ve only scratched the surface of their potential. This is going to be fun to watch.

Kids and Animals self titled LP is available now. Order a copy here or pick one up at any Sonic Boom or Easy Street Records location.

-JASON MKEY, CultureMob

Source: http://culturemob.com/blog/interview-with-kids-and-animals - CultureMob

"Stream Kids and Animals' New Album in Its Entirety"

Kids and Animals, a local Seattle indie rock band, just made an eight-song debut, the release of which they're celebrating at the Vera Project this Friday. The band has subsequently uploaded all eight of the songs from the band's debut to their MySpace page.

While there's no denying that Kids and Animals ooze with potential -- there's an intriguing proggy aspect to their songs that I dig -- their lyrics are packed with literal descriptions and hyperemotional mooning, which implies they were either written by a teenager or someone who's just emerged from the haze of adolescence. Like half the bands I listened to when I was 16, they've got this sort of earnest pop punk songwriter thing going on that I'm having trouble identifying with at 24.

But if Kids and Animals guitarist Adam Gaciarz' Facebook page doesn't lie, then he's a senior at West Seattle High School, which makes it totally okay for them to write songs like teenagers: because unless he's the youngest guy in the band by several years, they are teenagers. Teenagers who are miles ahead of their peers (I'm e-mailing Gaciarz right now to find out exactly how old these boys are, and will update accordingly.)

When it comes to the instrumentals, Kids and Animals bear little resemblance to pop punk. The melodies are catchy without being too repetitive, and the song structures are far from basic, which is good. Only problem is, there are instances when the band is obviously trying to tackle music advanced enough to seem as if it's a little bit of a reach for the band to play comfortably.

The guitar parts are technically ambitious, but maybe a little too ambitious: while there seems to be some deliberately messy cacophony coming from the guitar, some of the jarring moments in the music and in the rhythms sound like mistakes, not artistic choices. Half a beat makes a difference; so does half a step.

Some of that cacophony seems deliberate, but it's pretty obvious that the album's messiness isn't all calculated. That said, it's pretty much always better to try something hard and occasionally fudge it (and unless you are an anal-retentive, classically-trained musician you might not even notice these infrequent, minor technical missteps) than writing overly simple songs to make sure you play those songs perfectly every time. And those occasional imperfections are endearing as the stuffed animals who tend to share the stage with the band. Stream the album and let me know what you think. -SARA BRICKNER

http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/2009/11/listen_to_kids_and_animals_new.php - Seattle Weekly

Kids and Animals peaked at #8 on KEXP's Top Northwest Music Chart for the week of 11/27/09 - 12/03/09.

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Airplay on KEXP 90.3FM:

Blind Spots (live) | 2 plays
Dirty City | 18 plays
46th Street (live) | 1 play
In The Morning | 1 play
Solstice | 3 plays
Monster's Heart (live) | 1 play

( updated 4/13/10 )

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Searchable KEXP Playlist: http://tinyurl.com/y5cnao4

Source: http://kexp.org/programming/charts.asp?chart=5&chartMonth=12&chartYear=2009 - KEXP 90.3FM