Today is a special day, as Perfect Animal has released their new EP, “Handmade”. We had the pleasure of meeting with their front man, Eric, to delve deeper into the meaning behind the songs featured on this record. This EP is riddled with deeper meanings and symbolism, which is what makes this band so remarkable.
Perfect Animal is hearted in their distaste for the unfortunate reality that band mates are few and far between. Following another band that Eric had been in, he formed Perfect Animal and started working on "Handmade", since his previous project never allowed him to do so. He noted how Perfect Animal had formed due to mere chance, and the miracle of Craigslist. He commented on how Alex (bassist) had been found through craigslist and showed up to their first practice unprepared, and clad in a Hawaiian shirt. Despite the humorous beginning, Eric said that the pairing stuck, and they eventually found David (lead guitar), then Justin (drums) after he had moved from Savannah. Eric expressed his gratitude for finding bandmates who were equally as dedicated to their craft, then went on to shout out the “non-spoken fifth member of the band,” Marcus David, the bands’ producer and engineer, who helped boost this EP into fruition.
When asked about the meaning and approach to this album, Eric shared that the idea had come to him following the suicide of one of his close friends. This event impacted Eric in a tremendous way, and he went on to create "Handmade" as, “a present to her from me.”
This EP is comprised of 4 songs, "Cadillac Baby", "Fritter", "Painful Erotica", and "Happy Birthday". "Cadillac Baby" is an acoustic sonnet which is based around a past relationship of Erics. He describes the song as, “witnessing the dissolution of that relationship and the deterioration of that relationship through the eyes of a cat.” The song has witty metaphors and references to pop-culture such as Jackie and John Kennedy.
"Fritter" is a wordless interlude that Eric said was formed by just messing around with no real end goal in mind. He expressed how he hadn’t had this creative freedom in his old band, so upon creating Perfect Animal, he wanted to create something that was more natural.
"Painful Erotica" uses BDSM to describe what Eric phrases as, “a very common type of relationship, that I've seen and people that I've known where, one person is very dominant and almost aggressive, and the other person's super submissive, like super passive.” We’ve all seen this type of relationship described, one that is rooted in a power imbalance.
Lastly, "Happy Birthday" harbors what Eric describes as the most meaningful to him. This song is most directly about his close friend’s unfortunate passing, which happened just after their birthday. This song inspired the EP cover art, and is filled with lyrics like, “stepping in a void getting pulled apart. From the gravity in your heart,” which conveys the paralyzing grief that comes with losing a close friend.
In the interview, we go further in depth into the symbolism behind the EP cover, and what to expect from Perfect Animal. Eric promises that Perfect Animal is here to stay, and I know all of us, including me, are incredibly stoked to see what’s to come.
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You can listen to our interview on our Spotify or watch the interview on YouTube!
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