Today we’d like to introduce you to David Menendez.
Hi David, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Obscure Animals started in 2021 by a few friends who originally met at a local open mic night. JR Kaufman, Patrick Shea, and myself (David Menendez) had known each other for several years and each had our own musical projects going on, but drunkenly decided during a bachelor party we were attending that because we all had similar musical tastes that we should team up and start something new. Since then we’ve been writing songs and have released a few singles as well as an EP. Our debut album should be released in the next few months.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Starting out during the pandemic definitely created some challenges for us getting started, but ultimately we were able to sort out most of those logistical problems. Our biggest obstacle right now is the fact that we currently do not have a drummer and it’s caused us to miss live show opportunities. Our biggest focus has just been on getting the album out and finding a drummer later.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Our sound is influenced by bands like Cursive, The Get Up Kids, and Texas Is The Reason so we tend to channel rock, alt rock, midwest emo, and indie rock genres. Figuring out our sound and the musical direction we wanted to go in was an interesting journey. We each have pretty different musical tastes and backgrounds. JR and Pat have a more alternative and indie rock background, while David’s been a fan of heavy metal and more extreme for music most of his life.
When we first started the band, David had the idea of starting a playlist of albums that influenced the way we all write music so we could get a better idea of what direction to go in. Eventually, we figured out what kind of music we wanted to do and once we wrote our first song, Intervention, things really started taking off. Now we have dozens of ideas and songs we’re working on. We have great chemistry when we’re writing together; the process is very collaborative and we have a lot of fun. Someone picks up a guitar and throws an idea out there and we just find ways to add to it or change it until it becomes a fully formed idea. Because we each have such varying musical tastes and backgrounds, we end up writing all sorts of different sounding songs and, for us, that’s perfect. We don’t want our releases to be a blur of similar sounds and songs. One song might end up being more ambient and relaxing and the next track is going to be an intense fast-paced song.
We do all of our own production; David and JR have a lot of experience recording, mixing, and mastering music, so it’s easy for us to just do everything in-house and end up with a product that we’re proud of. So far, we’ve released two singles and an EP. We’re currently finishing up mixing and mastering for our debut album.
What does the future hold for us? Well, we’d love to play some live shows and support the album around town, so we’re definitely looking to find a drummer. Until then we’re going to just keep writing and releasing music. We also decided that a good way to support the Austin rock scene and get our name out there was to start a Spotify playlist to showcase local rock, emo, and similar styled genre bands. The ATX ROCK Spotify playlist has picked up a lot of steam recently, with several dozen bands added and nearly 400 followers. It’s been a great way for us to network with local musicians that we love and admire. We have a lot planned for the future and we’re excited to see where we end up!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://obscureanimals.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/obscure_animals/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/obscureanimalsband
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/obscure_animals
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPSoYX3VKnIVlMlQojhJskw
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2uHo6t13OSdonxfw9cpivY?si=JykZmbcsRR2CTYhpQEOIiQ
Image Credits
Photos by David Menendez
