MEET WILL HUBERT (ELEKTRIC ANIMALS)
This week I had the chance to talk with Will Hubert, who composes the music for the Denver two-piece Alternative Indie group, Elektric Animals. Will also plays session bass for Chandra DeSantis and the Thomas Nicholas Band.
Are you from Colorado originally, and if not, what brought you here?
I'm actually from Sioux City, Iowa, but I have lived here for 14 years. I moved out right after high school to play music in a bigger city. My oldest brother lived here and said I could sleep on his couch for free, so I told him, "I'll be there next week," and I never looked back.
What inspires and motivates you to make music?
I'm not much different than everyone else here. I'm inspired by love, pain, nostalgia, frustration, and the never-ending quest to understand. I aim to create something bigger than the self. As hard as it may be, I feel the best when I'm out of my ego shell, and that only happens in moments of true vulnerability. Those moments tend to be when I have instruments in my hands. So, my motivation is to actively do something so I can check my bullshit ego.
What’s the writing process like with Elektric Animals? How did the new song “Feel Something” come together?
I wake up around 7 every morning, take care of the dog, and get straight to creating. I'll work on the instrumentation for demos for 5 or 6 hours a day and send the good ones to Nick. Nick and I will then go back and forth remotely with whichever demos are strongest until we get layouts completed. ‘Feel Something’ came about when our previous songwriter and guitarist quit. We decided to continue and shift how we were doing things. Instead of me just focusing on content and the business side of things, I became the songwriter as well. Nick suggested we just come out with a banger and write something at 160 bpm. I've known Nick a long time and knew he liked to write to mostly major chords, and I also knew we both liked surf rock. A few minutes later, ‘Feel Something’ was off to the races. It's also the first song I've ever written and recorded in its entirety. I was always just the drummer in bands and never wrote the songs, so I am pretty proud of what we are doing now.
How did your relationship with Open Your Ears Records come about?
A friend connected me with a mixing engineer at the studio owned by OYE. From what I've learned so far in this industry, it's who you work with and not really all that much about your product. We asked the mixing engineer to master our newest track, ‘Feel Something,’ and then I asked him if the owner of the label was in the building to show it to him. He was, and the rest is history.
What has been the biggest challenge for Elektric Animals, and to counter that, what’s been your greatest accomplishment as a band?
We are still facing our biggest challenge, and that is to build a nationwide fan base that can support touring consistently. Our greatest accomplishment is that we haven't given up. All the good things that happen and all the accolades are great, but those are just stepping stones. At the end of the day, the hardest thing about the music industry is not throwing in the towel if you really believe you got something to share with the world.
What are your plans for 2024 with Elektric Animals?
We are releasing an EP in early 2024 and have applied to many festivals. We are looking to get the Elektric Animals show on the road permanently.
Do you remember your very first gig? How old were you, and is there anything super memorable about the experience?
If piano recitals and school band concerts don't count, then my first rock performance was when I was about 14. It was a high school talent show/open mic. We played a version of Nirvana's ‘Polly’ that had drums in it (it's the live version—look it up).
Where can we learn more about Elektric Animals?
https://instabio.cc/elektricanimals
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7mXNzN8Qsvjt254lhRunKc?si=BtpXezedRDaZWufnG-cFQg
