Project Description
Interview with VICTORIA JENKINS of FRAGILE ANIMALS
Sunshine Coast trio Fragile Animals are a band who have been making waves recently. The band gained over 42,000 streams along on their single ‘Home’, been featured on a number of Spotify playlists and even caught the attention of Home and Hosed host Dom Alessio. That’s all before releasing their killer debut Light That Fades, which is now taking them on the road down the East Coast this November.
I got to talk to vocalist Victoria Jenkins about the band’s humble beginnings, their debut EP and their first ever interstate shows.
.
“We know it’s a tough industry so we were just wanting to put it out there and see what happens, and we’ve been really happy with how things have gone so far. So, we really feel quite lucky.”
.
.
.
So, first of all, how did Fragile Animals form?
So we kind of started a bit over 12 months ago. Me and Dan had known each other for a little while, and he had a bunch of material that he’d written. He came to me and I had played around with vocals on it and that’s how we met Kyle. So then, he got involved and then, it’s all gone quite quickly from there.
.
You guys have a more sultry dark sound compared to other indie rock bands in the industry right now, who would you say are your inspirations musically and lyrically?
I guess we all draw from pretty varied things, and I guess that’s why it gets a bit confusing by the time it comes out of us. I mean, my favourite band is Radiohead but that probably doesn’t come through a hell of a lot. I know, Kyle is super into Ryan Adams. Once again, probably doesn’t come through so it’s all a bit weird and we’re sort of into that shoegaze kind of sound a little bit as well. I suppose the stuff that tends to come through is probably more Slowdive, Wolf Alice, The National… So I guess we all kind of have a bit of common ground and then a whole bunch of other stuff we like individually and I think that’s why it comes through a little bit darker.
.
You guys released your debut EP Light That Fades not too long ago, tell me a bit about the recording process.
We went and initially recorded ‘Signals’. It was the first song we had written that we were happy with and we went into the studio to record that as a bit of a trial to see how we were working together and with our producer, Elliot Heinrich. So we recorded that song and we were really happy with how it all gone with the song. So we quickly decided to go forward with it and went away to write a whole bunch more tracks, and the ones that stuck with us the most were the ones that ended up making it to the EP. We went back in and recorded those ones over a few weeks and yeah, it all went on from there.
.
So, you guys put out a couple of singles before releasing the EP like ‘Signals’, ‘Home’ and the title track ‘Light That Fades’, what about these songs made you decide to put them forward as singles?
I think ‘Signals’ was the obvious choice because it was the first song that we had recorded. And then, ‘Home’ was a bit of a favourite for Dan and myself. We always liked that one from the minute it got written, it came together quite quickly in the writing stages and we always kind of liked that one. I think we felt quite strongly about that one. And with ‘Light That Fades’; partly, it was just because we had had a good response to that live, it’s one that’s always been in our live set and we tend to get a pretty good response with it. We sort of thought, that especially with having the same title and everything like that, that it all kind of fit together nicely.
.
I was actually about to ask if you and the boys had favourite songs off the EP.
Yeah, Dan and I both put ‘Home’ as a bit of a favourite. It does change week to week but that one is one that always stuck out for us. And then, Kyle actually tends to go for ‘Which Come First’ as his favourite on the EP so a little bit of a different song that didn’t get released as a single but I suppose we all have our differences there and that’s what he’s gone for.
.
How’s the reaction been towards the EP so far? Are you glad that people are enjoying it as much as they are?
Yeah, it’s gone really really well so far. We’ve had over 42,000 streams on Spotify for the single ‘Home’, and we’ve had play on triple j for that one as well. Both things that we weren’t necessarily expecting those spotify streams and the triple j stuff. We know it’s a tough industry so we were just wanting to put it out there and see what happens, and we’ve been really happy with how things have gone so far. So, we feel quite lucky.
.
.
So, you start your EP tour tonight in Brisbane, what can fans expect when they come to your shows?
They can expect to hear the tracks off the EP, and we’ve got a few more songs as well that may make it onto EP number two, but we don’t know at this stage. We’re always writing and keen to try out new material live, so I guess that’s what they’ll musically expect to hear. There’s only the three of us but we do get told that we sound quite huge [laughs]. So, hopefully, people will think we sound alright.
.
You guys are also playing Melbourne and Sydney for the first time on this tour, are you excited to play to fans in those cities?
Yeah, definitely. As you’ve said, it is the first time we’ve been able to go interstate to play a show so even though it’s only two and it’s quite a whirlwind tour. I’m not sure if we can technically call it a tour with three shows but we’re trying [laughs].
But yeah, we’re really really excited to go down and play Sydney and Melbourne. We actually fly down quite a bit to see other bands that we dig that aren’t necessarily coming up to Brisbane on tours, so it’s just going to be really fun for us to go down. We’ve also got really great supports that we really genuinely like on the shows as well. I think it’s just one of those things that we’re really lucky and we can’t wait to get down there.
.
Last but not least, what will be next for Fragile Animals in the new year? Do you guys already have plans for 2018?
We’re hoping to kind of do it all again, except bigger and better, hopefully. As I’ve said, we’re been writing constantly this year, so we’ve got a bit of material we’re still sorting through at the moment. We’re hoping to go into the studio at the beginning of next year and record a second EP and then, get that out throughout the year as play as many shows as we possibly can.
.
.
.
AMNPLIFY – DB
Connect with FRAGILE ANIMALS
- Twitter
Leave A Comment