New York band Tiny Animals takes new spin on music

When the words "tiny animals" come to mind, what do we usually think of? Little rodents, small birds, kittens, and all those other cute and fuzzy things. But what if that was a band name? In actuality, it is.

The band that calls themselves Tiny Animals hails from New York City. But why, in fact, are they called Tiny Animals?

"Occasionally I daydream about seeing small animals in the palm of my hand, but not animals that are supposed to be small like frogs and ants. Rather, large animals such as giraffes and gypsy horses that have been shrunken down as a result of some magic spell," says Chris, who plays the guitar. Hopefully Chris' answer gives everyone the clue that these guys are kind of silly. "It's kinda our shtick to be silly and weird," says Chris. "That's just how we are." Should we expect truthful answers from him? "The truth is that 50 percent of all the answers I give you are half true." So what does that mean? His answers are one-quarter true? Your guess is as good as mine.

Even though these guys are from New York, they are all originally from different places. Anton, who plays bass, is from California. Siblings Chris and Rita Maye are from the tri-state area. Does Anton ever feel left out because Rita and Chris are related? "I hope so," replies Chris "We try to alienate him as much as possible. His nickname in the band is Rudolph." "Rita and I have been playing music together since we were youngsters," says Chris. "But I guess that wasn't exactly a band. More like a pair of two mediocre musicians playing terribly written songs about tweedle bugs. Eventually, we got a lot better and Anton joined us circa 2008."

The three of them got into music through very normal circumstances. "Our dad was obsessed with classic rock since he was a kid, and tried to live vicariously through Rita and I," says Chris. "So I was coerced into playing guitar, and since he played bass, Rita had no choice but to learn drums. Luckily we were both pretty good at each [instrument]. Anton got into playing bass after watching the pit band in his favorite Broadway show, 'Cats.'" As of now, Tiny Animals only has one EP that is currently released, Sweet Sweetness.

Chris is the one who writes the majority of the songs and lyrics for the band. "Most of my song ideas literally pop into my head from out of nowhere. It's almost like I have no control over it. One minute there is nothing, and the next - I'll have a new song. I guess I can't even really take credit for the songs I write. Perhaps it is God speaking through me. I'm merely a vessel.

"On Sweet Sweetness the majority of the songs [and] lyrics were written by me. But album number two will be different. The songwriting duties are going to be divided up a bit more. Anton will write a series of tone poems, I will focus primarily on the flugelhorn arrangements, and then Rita will sprinkle them with powdered sugar. The result - nothing short of perfection." Maybe I'm not in with the times, but I'd never heard of a flugelhorn. What is it? Chris' only reply: "An extremely lame instrument."

The band has never been on tour, but they have played in Austin, Texas for two shows at SXSW (South by Southwest).

"SXSW is probably the biggest 'indie rock' music festival of the year. Of course, there are festivals such as Coachella and Bonaroo that are much larger, but those have big-time headliners. SXSW is primarily up-and-coming bands that all crowd together for one week in March in Austin, Texas. It is probably the most fun you can have, assuming you like music and beer," explains Chris.

If touring is anything like [SXSW], then I think I might become a banker," says Chris. What? "Well, once you spend 48 hours in a car in a span of four days, you think to yourself, 'Do I really want to travel around the country in a car in order to make a living?' But of course I would never want to be a banker either. Maybe when we do go on tour, we can travel via camel-caravan."

Siblings fight. So it seems only natural that siblings in a band will fight. "We literally fight about everything. We start every rehearsal with some sort of argument that lasts at least 30 minutes. Last time, we argued about whether or not it was raining. That argument was shorter than usual though because it was, in fact, raining," Chris remembers.

For those who like YouTube, these guys have their own Webisodes online. "They are completely absurd," says Chris. "We just started making strange-humored videos thinking that one or two people might like them, but it turns out that lots of people like them."

Tiny Animals' webisodes can be found at http://www.myspace.com/tinyanimals Their music can be downloaded on their MySpace as well as on iTunes and Amazon.com.