Hey yo, my name’s Alex Lahey and I am the lead singer and alto sax player for Animaux. In a few weeks, we’re launching our latest single, Paradise. Paradise is our second stand alone single released by us this year. Animaux has shared the stage with Trombone Shorty (USA), Eagle and the Worm, Set Sail, Saskwatch and the Vaudeville Smash, as well as performing stand-out sets at Moomba, St Kilda Festival, Pushover and Warrandyte Festival this year.
What’s your earliest memory of performing and who inspired you to start?
My earliest memory of performing would have to be playing recorder at my primary school assembly when I was about six years old. Now that I think about it, that was a pretty ballsy thing to do with all those big year fives and sixes watching!
My inspiration for performance probably came from watching copious amounts of the Wiggles as a young ‘un. Even to this day, if there’s any piece of news on the Wiggles, I feel obliged to keep up to date on their goings on.
You’re playing at COOLIES – A Fund Raiser For The Underprivileged on September 1 at the Evelyn. How did you guys get involved in this event?
Nathan, the man behind Coolies, asked us to be a part of the night. He explained the purpose and goal of the event and we thought it was such a great cause. We also find it very hard to turn down gigs at the Ev as it’s our absolute favourite venue.
Your latest single is being released in September also – what can we expect to hear from your new tunes?
We’re so excited to release our single! In fact, I’m answering this question as we wait for the tracks to be mastered. We were lucky enough to have worked at Sing Sing Studios with mixing extraordinaire Adam Rhodes (The Cat Empire, Angus & Julia Stone) on these tracks and the end product sounds super phat and polished. Our sound and songwriting has matured so much since our beginnings and I think that these recordings do justice to our development since the early days of Animaux.
‘Fess up. What records have you stolen from your parent’s record collection and why?
Lots of Bruce Springsteen, Dexter Gordon and Miles Davis. The other day I found this 80’s movie hits compilation in my mum’s collection and it’s awesome! All the tracks from Fame, Flashdance, The Breakfast Club and Ghostbusters are on it. I know it will come in handy one day.
What’s on heavy rotation on your iPod right now?
At the moment I’m really getting into this trio out of Toronto called BadBadNotGood. They’re a bunch of young dudes who play instrumental covers of songs by artists like Flying Lotus and James Blake, as well as their own compositions. The production and musicianship on their latest record is absolutely unbelievable. I’ve also been enjoying a whole lot of releases from local artists such as Francolin, Hiatus Kaiyote and Ainslie Wills. Listening to them makes me so proud to be a member of the Melbourne music world.
How do you like your music? On digital, CD, or vinyl (maybe even cassette)?
I always buy my music on CD. I much prefer the idea of a release being a tangible product rather than just a file on a screen. I would love to release something on cassette one day, just to start a revival – it’s got to happen at some point!
Do you have any particular ritual before you go on stage, or even a lucky charm you take with you?
Nothing particularly out of the ordinary happens before we go on stage. Just the usual horn section tuning and last minute beer skulling.
Because it’s more fun to do things together, which living Australian artist would you most like to collaborate with? Tell us why?
This will probably sound super predictable, but collaborating with Gotye would be unbelievable. He’s widely known around the traps as being a super nice guy and we all know he is an incredible musician. It would be amazing just to see how he works in terms of song writing and recording, let alone actually being a part of one of his compositions.
What is your band’s music the best soundtrack for?
A Sunday morning breakfast of poached eggs, avocado, potato rosti and tomato relish at Mixed Business on Queens Parade. Not for the omelette, though – that’s better eaten to the extensive range of Mariah Carey.
You recently played a residency at the Evelyn, what else have you got in store for 2012? Where can we catch you playing next?
After the COOLIES show, the rest of the year is going to consist of launching our single Paradise, a couple of festivals, a special birthday party that you’re all invited to and hopefully some more interstate shows. Make sure you get all over our Facebook for more details!
