Student Musicians: Style Animal
Student Musicians – a column about college student musicians, featuring their work and focusing on how they navigate school and music!
Photo Courtesy of Style Animal
March 16, 2017
Article by Nicole White
A mishap ordering at In-N-Out served up a new band name–Style Animal.
Style Animal is a band comprised of four UC Berkeley students: Travis Dickey, Sarah Johnson, Alex Goetz, and David Mori. Omnisound sat down with vocalist/guitarist Dickey to talk about what the band has been up to and how they navigate their music while in college.
A third year student majoring in Cognitive Science and minoring in Computer Science, Dickey met Johnson and Goetz during CalSo, UC Berkeley’s new student orientation, before officially starting school in Fall 2014. Dickey reflected on how the two were some of his first friends at Cal. Although they lost touch for a little while, Dickey and Johnson were reunited when they had a class together last Spring and decided to jam with Goetz. The band took off from there and they have been together for a little over a year now. Although their music is very guitar oriented and could be classified as rock, Dickey said, “We have this running joke that it is post-new-wave.”
Currently recording their debut EP, the group has a 30 minute set of original songs and has already played a number of shows. Two weekends ago, Style Animal played a show at Ridge House, a student cooperative house, along with nine other bands to benefit ACLU and Planned Parenthood–a show that ended up running from 4pm to about 1am. Having previously played numerous other co-op shows, Dickey pointed out that he thinks a lot of the music scene in Berkeley revolves around the co-ops. He thinks the shows get better and more fun every time the band performs. Dickey said that this was his favorite show to date, but then laughing admitted, “I say that after every show.”
Style Animal has also ventured out to San Francisco to play a few shows at the Honey Hive Gallery. The band has connections with friends in other groups that were performing at the venue and that has been really helpful for them. One band that was on tour even found Style Animal and reached out to them to fill a slot at their show. Dickey said, “We have been fortunate in that we know a lot of bands that are a bit bigger.”
Article by Nicole White
A mishap ordering at In-N-Out served up a new band name–Style Animal.
Style Animal is a band comprised of four UC Berkeley students: Travis Dickey, Sarah Johnson, Alex Goetz, and David Mori. Omnisound sat down with vocalist/guitarist Dickey to talk about what the band has been up to and how they navigate their music while in college.
A third year student majoring in Cognitive Science and minoring in Computer Science, Dickey met Johnson and Goetz during CalSo, UC Berkeley’s new student orientation, before officially starting school in Fall 2014. Dickey reflected on how the two were some of his first friends at Cal. Although they lost touch for a little while, Dickey and Johnson were reunited when they had a class together last Spring and decided to jam with Goetz. The band took off from there and they have been together for a little over a year now. Although their music is very guitar oriented and could be classified as rock, Dickey said, “We have this running joke that it is post-new-wave.”
Currently recording their debut EP, the group has a 30 minute set of original songs and has already played a number of shows. Two weekends ago, Style Animal played a show at Ridge House, a student cooperative house, along with nine other bands to benefit ACLU and Planned Parenthood–a show that ended up running from 4pm to about 1am. Having previously played numerous other co-op shows, Dickey pointed out that he thinks a lot of the music scene in Berkeley revolves around the co-ops. He thinks the shows get better and more fun every time the band performs. Dickey said that this was his favorite show to date, but then laughing admitted, “I say that after every show.”
Style Animal has also ventured out to San Francisco to play a few shows at the Honey Hive Gallery. The band has connections with friends in other groups that were performing at the venue and that has been really helpful for them. One band that was on tour even found Style Animal and reached out to them to fill a slot at their show. Dickey said, “We have been fortunate in that we know a lot of bands that are a bit bigger.”
Original song "Speed Kills" performed live at Ridge House March 4, 2017 - Video Courtesy of Style Animal
One of Dickey’s favorite band memories is getting drummer Mori as a new member. Some past members of the band had to leave because of not having enough time to commit to the band while in school. Dickey is a fan of Mori’s energy when the band performs and loves how he just meshed with the band. After gaining Mori as an addition, Style Animal was able to pull everything together in a week to get a set going and play a show with the current band roster. Dickey reflected, “I’m super proud of everything we have done.”
Dickey had been writing music for a few years before the band started. When Style Animal came together, he brought all of the music to the table. The band has been working on Dickey’s collection, but he feels like they are now a point where they have exhausted the music he has written and they will begin to write more collaboratively. He said, “We are going to put more emphasis on jamming and coming up with something as a unit.”
From his experience, Dickey thinks that time conflict issues are the biggest challenge that comes with being a student musician. The band meets once a week to practice, or if they have a show, twice a week including the show. They have a regular meeting time that they have all worked into their schedules. He said it was difficult to coordinate all the band members and figure out what day to do this, but so far they all prioritize their practice time and are making it work.
The biggest piece of advice that Dickey had to offer other aspiring college student musicians was to focus on recording music–something he wish he would have done sooner. Style Animal is still working on recording now and Dickey said that it would have been nice to have had their tracks together earlier on. “Once you have recorded music it is easier to put yourself out there and try to get shows and meet other people or be able to join a band,” he continued to advise, “Come up with something, even if it is not perfect to work off of.”
Although there is no official drop date yet, Style Animal’s debut EP is halfway recorded, so be sure to keep an eye out for their official release in the near future. Follow the band on their Instagram account @styleanimalmusic for updates on new music. In the meantime, they will continue to play more shows and most importantly have fun!
Dickey had been writing music for a few years before the band started. When Style Animal came together, he brought all of the music to the table. The band has been working on Dickey’s collection, but he feels like they are now a point where they have exhausted the music he has written and they will begin to write more collaboratively. He said, “We are going to put more emphasis on jamming and coming up with something as a unit.”
From his experience, Dickey thinks that time conflict issues are the biggest challenge that comes with being a student musician. The band meets once a week to practice, or if they have a show, twice a week including the show. They have a regular meeting time that they have all worked into their schedules. He said it was difficult to coordinate all the band members and figure out what day to do this, but so far they all prioritize their practice time and are making it work.
The biggest piece of advice that Dickey had to offer other aspiring college student musicians was to focus on recording music–something he wish he would have done sooner. Style Animal is still working on recording now and Dickey said that it would have been nice to have had their tracks together earlier on. “Once you have recorded music it is easier to put yourself out there and try to get shows and meet other people or be able to join a band,” he continued to advise, “Come up with something, even if it is not perfect to work off of.”
Although there is no official drop date yet, Style Animal’s debut EP is halfway recorded, so be sure to keep an eye out for their official release in the near future. Follow the band on their Instagram account @styleanimalmusic for updates on new music. In the meantime, they will continue to play more shows and most importantly have fun!
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