(Below is the second of a two-part conversation we had with Animal Hospital concerning what he [Kevin Micka] has been doing with himself these days, in the distant past, and the elusive future, discussing both his signature sound, and the pivotal part that all variety of metal, from boxes and genres to genres of boxes and boxes of genres, has played on that aforementioned signature sound of his, as well as many other topics of interest. Please do not be alarmed at the shocking content of this interview. Trained professionals were at the ready, as will you be, for this is Animal Hospital as you have never seen him before.)
GABRIEL BOYER: Well, I’m thinking that there’s these two memories, right?
ANIMAL HOSPITAL: Yeah.
GB: You put them together do they? Do they STAY as those memories, but in but in relation to each other, or do they become a brand new thing, or?
AH: Again, I think it was more more like uh an emotion more than a specific, this makes me think of this specific moment.
GB: So, you’re saying at that time you were going through a specific emotion.
AH: Yeah.
GB: You were like swimming through it.
AH: Yeah, I was just trying to get through this.
GB: What was it? Was it like a darkness Kevin?
AH: Oh, I wasn’t really that happy for a little while I guess.
GB: Really?
AH: So, I guess I. Um, but it was such a long period of time that it wasn’t just that, you know. It was like.
GB: So, basically you’re saying this album was like working through your depression.
AH: Well. It wasn’t like this horrible time, but it was just like uh.
GB: Yeah. Well.
AH: Part of it. Part of it is associated with that, and other parts of it aren’t. Like some song I worked on for a little while, and then I didn’t work on it for like a year and a half, and then. And that song I don’t associate as much with that, time.
GB: Mhm. [pause] Hm.
AH: Um. As far as like the structure like I guess there would be a part that would be like maybe the the core of the song but I needed, some, to make an arrangement or or else like. I(t). That it built into that part of like you know, um.
GB: Do you kind of think of of of music-making as like a building process? Like, just like you would build a building or or like, I mean?
AH: In a way I guess.
GB: Cause you. Cause you. Cause you do work with your hands a lot. You’re also like a sound engineer and you’re doing your fix-it stuff, and it’s like it’s very like tactile and you, and it’s structural, you know it’s this in relation to that. And so I was wondering. Cause I’ve noticed over the years different people have a different understanding of what music is. You know? One person will be like just pure FEELING. Another person will be like thinking in terms of like the rhythm, but then there might be someone who thinks of it in a sort of a three-dimensional way. You know what I mean, like?
AH: Yeah, I mean if anyth(ing)
GB: I mean, you did start talking of building a song, so I’m just.
AH: Yeah, I mean if anything for this project like it di(d), it does usually start with um that of some kind. Especially if it’s like in a live sense where I have to um start with a base loop of some kind. If it is, if it is gonna be a very loop-oriented song.
GB: Mhm.
AH: And then I have layers I add to that, and then add something. So that. Yeah. For that. For for the writing process for for this project it’s like that, but I also like. Like I’ve been playing music with my friend Nelly for the last year, and it’s like I just play guitar and we just write like pop songs, you know write a song in like twenty minutes and it’s really nice in contrast to this because it’s.
GB: Yeah.
AH: Um a totally different way of thinking.
GB: It’s a totally different. It’s totally different process, like. That’s basically what I’m saying. Like your songs obviously they’re not, they’re not pop songs. They’re more like something that you, that grows in a different way. You know what I mean? As opposed to the A B A B structure, where you’re like sort of like, much more like. I don’t know. I guess maybe it’d be like more like I mean this is a this is a little melodramatic but just like a haiku and a novel. You know what I mean? Like they both use language, but one is just like like this like little snatch and the other one is like this more of this like long methodical you know meditation or something like that.
AH: Well, it’s like I mean I have this thing about it like when you’re, well I think this is for all song-writing, music-making like when you’re saying you’re writing and you don’t know what’s going to happen next or you had an idea but then it changes and then and then you might be stuck for a little while or you take it took you somewhere else.
GB: Mhm.
AH: You weren’t expecting. It definitely. I think of that more with. With this, I mean it definitely is a lot longer process sometimes, like I like to, I’d like to write more songs now that have that, are simpler and.
GB: Mhm.
AH: Quicker, but there are other ones like I think that those were, those songs were really long and I really wanted to, take my time with them. I’d record them, what I had, and then listen to it for a while, and come back to it later and.
GB: Right.
AH: And then I’d have an idea, and then I’d ve like oh this makes sense, but it’d take a long time.
GB: Right.
AH: For something to make sense. I’d always feel that certain parts weren’t um weren’t as good as the other parts I guess.
GB: Right.
AH: Didn’t do justice to the other parts.
GB: You know there’s a. There’s a sculptor. This guy, Bernini, who’d say something about how instead of, you have like a fault in your scul(pture), in your sculpture. You should focus on it and make it the focal point of your sculpture, rather than trying to like clean it. Like like get rid of it, cause you’ll never get rid of it, but if you focus on it you can make it be the central point of the piece and you know, make it the piece basically, like it couldn’t have been without that fault. You know what I mean? Well.
AH: That’s a good way of thinking about it.
GB: You have any projects in in coming out in your brain?
AH: Yeah, actually. It’s been nice. Uh, traveling with somebody else. Where. I I can do stuff. In the van while they drive.
GB: Mhm.
AH: [bursts into riotous laughter] Uh, I usually just fall asleep if I’m not driving. I’ll just sit there and then I’ll fall asleep, but I’ve been making myself read a little bi(t), I always bring books, and never read them, like I’ve brought books like all over the place and I’ll like, never read them.
GB: Mhm.
AH: Um. And then, yeah. I was making a list of stuff. Of song ideas I want to work on when I get home. So. I definitely just want to start on that. Sooner rather than later.
MALCOLM FELDER: Let me interject here. Um. It seems that there’s a lot more men um who are into your music than women. Do you think it’s more? What what you think that uh, what accounts for that, like what. Is it, is it the, the approach to the music? Is it the actual sound? Cause it doesn’t sound masculine to me? Like the a lot of the sounds are very, I mean except for maybe the heavier guitar stuff.
GB: Well, I. I have something to say that might upset Kevin. Cause I. And I mean this in the best possible way, Kevin. But. I can sort of see your so(ngs), your music being in a similar vein as like Iron John. You know like the whole like go to the, men men time, men have feelings too kind of thing, like it’s like emotional but it’s masculine.
MF: Right.
AH: [uncertain] Hm.
GB: You know what I mean? Yeah.
AH: I’m not familiar with Iron John.
GB: It’s like this book that came out.
MF: It was this phenomenon.
GB: And it’s this phenomenon, like the, man, phenomenon.
AH: It doesn’t have something to do with the EST program or something?
GB: No. This is the nineties and it’s just like.
MF: Yeah. It’s basically a response. It’s like fem. It’s basically like feminism, but it’s like.
GB & MF: [together] For men.
AH: Okay. Okay, okay.
GB: Yeah, it’s like men.
AH: Men have emotions too?
GB: Men have emotions too. But in a manly way, we have emotions.
MF: You should be proud to be men, and not like.
AH: Oh, I see, I see.
GB: You shouldn’t be like.
AH: Okay.
MF: We’re sensitive and we believe in equal rights and all that stuff, but.
GB: But we’re still men.
MF: But we’re still men.
AH: [uncertain] Yeah.
GB: We’re still men.
AH: Yeah. I have noticed that. I have all these female t-shirts. I don’t sell any of them. I always run out of men’s t-shirts. For the most part, um. I don’t really know, like um. Uh.
GB: Maybe your next album should be called, Men Like Me.
AH: [laughing in both a riotous and nervous way]
MF: Yeah, or you should tr(y), attempt to make an album just for women.
GB: Yeah, you could call it, What Women Want.
AH: I mean. I. The only thing I could think of at least, like when, um. I mean was thi(s). Somebody was saying about like it being more geared towards musicians.
MF: Yeah. I noticed that too. Like there’s definitely.
GB: Yeah. There’s.
MF: All the shows I go t(o). That we played. Like. People I know. People from other bands. And other musicians are very like, you know, absorbed in your set. Cause it’s, I think it’s something that a lot of people want to do, and just haven’t done, you know the sort of, you really sorta, you know I think everyone wants to kind of [suggestive] play with themselves the way you’re playing with yourself.
GB: Yeah.
AH: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean I guess there’s still the fact, you know, for better or worse, there’s still more men musicians at the shows than women musicians. Um. So, at least as far as that goes, I feel I don’t know, like um. In the broader demo(graphic), yeah, at least at shows it seems that way. I mean, in smaller bars like like um, trying to think of people who just would just write me a message that they like it or whatever. It seems more mixed I guess. Um, but I don’t know. Yeah, we have to do a poll. Find out, for real. But at least, I guess in a live, it’s more like um, more, the technique or approach is appreciated more by musicians and yeah there are more men musicians than women musicians I guess. I mean, even that are yeah, even, uh. Although I’m trying to think. Even well, yeah. Even if I play a show with with women playing as well I guess I haven’t had them as much, uh, have the same response I guess. Maybe that doesn’t make sense then. What I said. Um.
MF: Well. We’re playing with uh I think some women musicians in the next few days.
GB: You should walk up. You should walk up to the female musicians and be like.
MF: [suggestive] Does this music touch you in a feminine way?
[Laughter all round, then awkward silence]
AH: Um. But yeah I guess that would be the two responses. The musicians response of like, I like the way you’re going about doing this. But I mean there is a, a group of people, a percentage at shows that would be like I don’t know what you’re doing, or like I just like closing my eyes and then listening to it and stuff like that, which.
GB: Right.
AH: Um. But that, would I guess be the smaller.
GB: I just wanna ask one last question cause I guess we been going on for a while, but um cause again getting back to the Koyaanisqatsi thing your music seemed to fit so well and it made me think about your music and Philip Glass and minimalism and what you’re doing and that sort of thing. Like if there’s a, I don’t know what I’m thinking, like a rock minimalism or something like that.
AH: [laughs] I think there’s, definitely there’s a lot of that out there. You know, existing in some form. Even like.
GB: I mean, that’s kind of what you’re do(ing), even like. I never really thought of it before, but it does, cause it’s the repetitive and then you just layer it, and, I mean it’s not like. It’s different because Philip Glass’ music is like slight changes ki(nda) I think, yeah? But yours is more layering, but it’s the similar kind of repe(titive) repetitive thing going on. That’s sort of li(ke). That you could ar(gue), that you could sort of argue, you know, and then he’s, his music’s definitely religious, well not, I hate the word spiritual. I refuse to use that word, but religious is not the word. But, you know, his purpose is to give people some kind of religious experience. And. I don’t know where I’m going with that, but like if you have the repe(tative) repetative thing, that does seem to often be the purpose of something like that, and whether that might be a goal of yours.
AH: [uncertain] Hmm. I. I mean. I mean I like music that’s like kind of trance-inducing sometimes.
GB: Yeah.
AH: But I don’t really always think about it in my own music. All the. Not all the time definitely, like maybe there’s certain songs or I feel like this part could go on for for a long time or it’s funny actually I was talking to um the putting out a vinyl version of one of the records with uh lock grooves, multiple lock grooves.
GB: Mhm.
AH: On one side of one of the records where you just have.
GB: Hm.
AH: A loop um, but in thinking about it, I’d only have a few seconds to have somthing that would be like something that you’d actually wanna listen to for infin(ite) and infinite amount of time, or whatever.
GB: Right, right.
AH: Um. But, um. There’s lots of different. Variations of that. To me, I guess like, when we were talking about like, you know like s even like um I don’t know, all the certain kinds of heavy metal we were talking about yesterday. There are certain kinds that are really minimal, and very repetative, and, and then there’s a lot of stuff that’s very um experimental, that’s loop-oriented, very subtle changes, um, not always rhythmic, um. I like, uh, I don’t know. I haven’t really. I mean, I almost kind of would like to veer away from as much obvious loop looping in uh the writing and performing, like have more just like live parts, um, parts without any like set tempo and rhythm.
GB: Mhm.
AH: Although I me(an), I really still enjoy rhythm a lot of times, so its really depends on my mood like maybe if it’s something that’s really ambient and has no sense of, of time, or or or tempo, and other stuff where it’s fun to really layer all of those rhythms on top of each other, that complement each other, and then that can be sometimes sort of, you know, for lack of a better term trance-inducing, sort of like a drone in a way or something like that. I don’t know. Um. Um. I don’t know, I still definitely like having. I don’t know. It’s kind of open-ended I guess. It’s really hard to. I can’t point to anything specific. But. For example. I never listened to Brian Eno’s ambient stuff until someone brought it up at a show.
