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Groove Along With Animal Sun To Their New Single “Girl In Blue”

Writer's picture: BUZZ LABUZZ LA


Animal Sun formed in 2015 and is led by two brothers, lead singer/songwriter, Steven Blake Alton, and drummer/back-up vocalist, Will Alton. Born and raised in Charlottesville, Virginia, the brothers chose to name their band, Animal Sun, as a dedication to their late childhood friend, James Sun, whose life was tragically cut short in 2011. Drawing from their devastation, they realized life was too short and ultimately wanted to change the world for the better through their powerful music. It wasn’t long until they began performing in front of packed audiences from college parties to house shows on the East Coast to filling up venues on the West Coast. Due to their huge success in their hometown, they decided to make the move to Los Angeles, CA to pursue music full time. Their hit single, "Girl in Blue" has been featured on Los Angeles' KROQ Locals Only, idobi Radio, KX 93.5 FM in Laguna Beach and many more radio stations throughout the country.


Despite the upbeat tempo and catchy riffs, Animal Sun’s latest song “Girl In Blue” features impressive songwriting that tells a rather personal story. Animal Sun writes from a place of depth, considering new and interesting ways of expressing certain ideas and feelings. That’s generally what makes a new song appeal and connect like “Girl In Blue” does. It addresses familiar topics but does so in a refreshing and thoughtful way. In any case, there’s a classic vibe to this song, almost as if it was a hit from the nineties or earlier, reappearing now with a timeless quality. Beautiful writing and a well-crafted, expressive release on the whole, “Girl In Blue” is performed with a relevant level of energy, which suits the mood of the music and indeed allows these lyrics to sink in and provoke thought. An easy one to enjoy, and the perfect introduction to Animal Sun as an artist and the potential of their creative reach.


Listen to “Girl In Blue” here, check out the music video below, and keep reading for more with Animal Sun!

 
Welcome to BuzzMusic! For those who don’t know, how would you describe your approach to music? 

Steven Blake, lead singer of Animal Sun’s approach to music is very random, because ideas of songs approach my mind out of the blue. There are moods where I will randomly have an idea pop-up in my brain that I cannot stop thinking about it. Whether this thought be of a specific lyric and/or a melody and vibe. It’s almost similar to an ADD thought, where I will not be able to stop thinking about it and has to immediately write it all out on paper. Once I begin writing a song, I get the melody and vibe first before I begin to worry about the lyrics. I write lyrics in an almost spiritual way through feeling the music’s rhythm in my soul. Another way I approach music is through listening to other bands like: The Killers, The 1975, Catfish and the Bottlemen, and Foster the People. These bands tend to spark a lot of inspiration and ideas for me when it comes to making music. 


What can you tell us about the lyrics in “Girl In Blue”? 

“Girl in Blue” is a song about mental health, it’s a tale of a young woman that is living with a mental illness. The whole song is basically a metaphor for depression. She goes out engaging in her toxic behaviors, unaware of actually harming herself and everyone else around her. The girl in blue has self-destructive habits, she is desperate to be normal and to be like the people whom she admires. She has a need to feel “special.” In total, the girl is a young woman that wants to be admired and does not understand what she is doing is ultimately affecting her and the people around her in negative ways. 


The specific lyric in the song, “She screams tonight, I wanna be like you,” means that there is a silent internal desperate cry for help. Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean someone is not suffering from a mental illness. You have to look for signs to recognize it in a person. 

Another lyric, “Dancing in the light to forget the abuse,” means that the girl in blue aims to forget that she is living with these dark demons. Life has not been kind to her, she wants to dance around to forget all the craziness in her life. In reality, we all have to deal with some sort of ‘darkness’ in our lives from time to time and we all want to forget about our internal problems. 


What was the concept behind the music video? 

We wanted to take a serious subject matter and make it a little bit more light hearted. We don’t want to take ourselves too seriously, but we also feel the need to portray the message that there is hope to those who are suffering. For a lot of people suffering from mental health, they do not feel like they have any specific condition. The “Girl in Blue” music video was made to convey a difficult topic in a way that was not going to make anyone feel bummed out. We really wanted to make the situation more light hearted while also talking about a serious subject matter.

 

What are your main aspirations as an artist/band going forward?

Some of our main aspirations as a band going forward is to build up our fanbase enough to go on tour. We would love to play with our favorite acts, including: The Killers, The 1975, Catfish and the Bottlemen, and Foster the People. We aim to keep being creative to continue to make content that moves people, through music videos and more. We also really want to make an album and ultimately take our success to stadiums across the country. Leaving a lasting legacy behind Animal Sun to long outlive us is an ultimate goal to achieve in the world. We just want to create something that leaves a lasting impression on people that will forever be greater than we could ever be through leaving a legacy of Animal Sun behind.


What other projects are you working on through the end of 2019?

We are always working on something, but we are currently about to start recording a new single that will hopefully be released before the end of 2019. And expect at least one more music video to launch. 

 

Connect with Animal Sun:

Instagram: @animal_sun

Facebook: @animalsun Twitter: @animalsun

YouTube: Animal Sun Spotify: Animal Sun

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