Today we’d like to introduce you to Ants & Elephants. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Kick things off for us with some background on how the band got started. What should we know?
The band “Ants & Elephants” grew out of a former project. At the beginning, it was just a singer and guitarist, Andrew Fox, and a bass player, Alex Lebowitz. We had one goal: release original Music, and at the beginning that was our hyper-focus.
We had a problem though, no money and no experience how to record a song. So, we figured it out!
In our singer’s garage/”home studio”, we recorded, edited, mixed and mastered an original song that we had been playing for a while. It’s called “Seattle”, and at the time of this interview, it’s the only piece of released Music we have right now. Check it out, it’s a banger! It’s about the time our singer got catfished on Facebook.
After releasing Seattle, we decided it was time to add some more members to the band. We needed a drummer. Alex played drums on Seattle, and while the guy can play basically any instrument, he’s a bassist at heart and we felt like if we wanted to take our Music to the next level (not to mention play live shows), we needed a dedicated sticks man.
Enter Jordan Grossman. This guy can play. He comes from a family of musicians, has extensive experience working and playing with big bands, the tour scene, you name it, he’s done it. With Jordan in the picture now, we were able to jump back into playing live local shows and started re-focusing on recording and releasing more original Music.
The most recent member to become a part of the Ants & Elephants family is Ethan Jones, our piano and keys player. Ethan has a top-notch ear, can pick up almost anything in just a few minutes, and perhaps most importantly added a much-needed layer to our live shows. Ethan and his keys have been an absolute game-changer for our Music, and we are super grateful that he’s a part of the band now.
So where are we today?
We’re four guys who absolutely love Music. We love writing it. We love playing and sharing it. We love everything about it. We are (hopefully!) just a couple of weeks ago from releasing a new single. It’s called “ScheduleFly” and it has a great story of its inception, maybe we’ll get to that later in the interview!
In 2023, we plan on releasing a full-length album or EP, including a re-record of Seattle.
Please follow us on Instagram @antsandelephantsband to stay up to date with everything we have going on!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Surprisingly, it actually has been a pretty smooth road. Everyone in the band gets along and has similar tastes and vibes, so playing and recording with the band is always a next-level experience. The hardest part, and I’m sure everyone in a band reading this can attest to, is coordinating everyone’s schedule. People are busy!
We think what has helped us along the road is that we have always been, and strive to be, completely independent in our Music and journey. We write our own songs. We record them ourselves. We shoot our own videos (one coming out soon!) We book our own shows.
Being able to rely on ourselves has made it so that there’s no excuses, and it gives us complete agency over what we decide to create and release, and it’s something that is super important to all of us.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
We like to think that we are creating classic, timeless Music but in a new and different way.
Our songs don’t have 137 different chords, they don’t rely on sounds made from a computer (nothing against that though!) Our songs are simple, catchy, relatable, and tell a story that we think almost everyone can connect with in one way or another.
If we’re known for anything, it’s probably for putting on AWESOME live shows. We bring the energy. We keep it real. No BS, no ego, just straight-up dope Music that people can sing or shout along with. Our singer’s got a voice that really carries to the back of the room and captivates an audience. Soulful is often used to describe it.
We’re probably most proud of the fact that we just like to keep it real. We got nothing to hide and plenty to be proud of. We’re not chasing fame or fortune (hey, that would be cool though!), we’re just creating and sharing Music because it is genuinely what we love to do. It’s as simple as that.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
Thousand Oaks feels like a big small town. It’s an area that most of us grew up in, so it really feels like home if that makes sense.
People can be people anywhere, some good, some not so good, but we like to think that Thousand Oaks has some pretty solid people at the end of the day. Food options aren’t terrible here, bar and brewery scene can be pretty cool (sometimes), and what’s super cool about Thousand Oaks (known as TO to the locals) is that it’s basically a stone’s throw from anything exciting you could want to do. We’re close to mountains, the desert, the beach, camping, hiking, city life, you name it, it’s not terribly far.
Hmm… what do we dislike about our city?
It’s honestly hard to say. Growing up, we all shared a “This town isn’t cool enough for me! I want to live in Hollywood” type of energy, but as we’ve all grown up, I think we’ve moved on from that keeping up with the Jones’ type of attitude.
Thousand Oaks is a great place to live and a great place to start a band.
Highly recommend it.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @antsandelephantsband
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@antsandelephants
