Meet The Band: Paradise Animals

The raw emotions of Paradise Animals will soon be pouring out of your iPod. Mark our words: this is a band you need to watch. Fronted by Green Go's Mark Andrade, Paradise Animals boats some multi-instrumental amazingness with layered songs and some real talent behind it in the form of Gary Pereira (bass), Mike Zimic (drums) and Kerri Silva (guitar). We were recently lucky enough to get Andrade to talk to us for a bit and let you get to know Paradise Animals a little better.

How do you describe your music to someone who hasn't heard you before?
Electro-Indie-Funk…(it’s always tough)

If you could open for one current band that you haven't played with before, who would it be?
I would love to open for Tortoise. They represent such a critical musical evolutionary point for me in my musical development that sharing a stage would be next to perfect.

If you could play one venue you've never played before, what would it be?
I still haven’t played Lee’s Palace. I’ve seen so many of my favourite bands there. Just a nice Toronto staple.

What's the worst album you own?
Portuguese Folk Soccer Songs Vol. 1. Sometimes I wish my family was Brazilian (not Portuguese) because the music is just so much cooler.

What was the craziest live show you've ever seen?
I saw Kim Deal of the Breeders at Lee’s Palace. She was so drunk on stage that she was yelling back at the crowd who was asking her to play bass and Pixies songs. She has a cigarette hanging out of her mouth as she sang and forgot entire guitar and vocal parts. It was intense.

What was the craziest live show you've ever played?
I play in another band called Green Go. We started by playing a lot of house shows. One particular show saw us cram 40-50 people into an attic with poor foundational support. The floor boards were bouncing and I thought we were all going to collapse the roof with our dancing. It was so hot in the attic that everyone took off whatever they could to stay cool. It was fun (and terrifying). Oh, did I mention that I am a tad claustrophobic.

What's your favourite song to play live? Why?
“At this Time” is a lot of fun. It’s got a groove that lends itself to re-interpretation each time we play. It’s a bit longer with instrumental moments and a lot of room for weird electronic noises.

What was the first record you ever bought? When was the last time you listened to it?
The first album was a Hip-Hop album by Black Sheep called A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing. I love old school Hip Hop from Tribe to Rakim, and this album was on repeat for a while: “Engine, Engine number 9 on the New York transit Line….!”

Who was your favourite band (or artist) when you were 12 years old? Do you still like them?
I was really into Hip Hop and anything that my Dad liked, which was a lot of New Wave music. Bands like the Spoons, OMD, New Order, and Depeche Mode were common in my house. I have to say that I started to get into the Smashing Pumpkins, more specifically Siamese Dream. That album was my summer anthem. I still dig that album and Gish, but can’t really handle too much Billy Corgan these days.

Say, for some strange reason, all the music in the world is going to be destroyed, but you can save all the songs from one decade. Which decade's records would you save?
Give me the 1970s hands down. Still didn’t have the cheese of the ‘80s. So many good albums. Synths became a part of music and things were still raw and unchartered.

If you absolutely had to get a face tattoo of album art from one record, which record would you want to have on your face for the rest of your life?
I really like the mountains and lines on Radiohead’s Kid A. I’d tattoo that right on my forehead.

Do you hate your hometown?
With a passion. Mississauga is an unfortunate consumerist, cultural flop in more ways than one.


Meet The Band is a regular feature where we introduce you to bands we like. You can find all of the rest of them here.


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