Animal Panic: Chicago’s new “It” Band

Meet the Chicago-based trio breaking into the 21st century, Animal Panic. The band takes on a modern-day Kings of Leon composition, as bass player Jack Sullivan and drummer Mike Sullivan are brothers. The two met guitar player and lead singer Ben Fister later in college. Recently releasing their new single, “21st Century Girl,” Animal Panic loosely resembles an up-and-coming Nirvana, embodying that same teenage angst sound and cult following. Since the release of their first single in 2021, “Cocaine Honeymoon,” Animal Panic didn’t just get the ball rolling; they pushed it off the shelf and took off. Think three neighborhood kids forming a band, but instead of being a garage band, they went straight for the stage.

As the audiences for their live performances in Chicago and social media following have been consistently rising, Off the Record Press contributor Emma Rosenstein sat down with them before their show at the Cobra Lounge in January on the lucky day of Friday the 13th. 

How did all three of you meet originally, besides Jack and Mike of course?

Mike: Ben and I, I’d seen him in a class at DePaul, and he has such a beautiful face that I remembered him. And then we lived in the same dorm, and he was locked out and he asked me if I could unlock the door for him. And then we were in the elevator, and he was like, “I’m a bass player.” I was looking for a bass player, so that worked out well.

Ben: At the time  (Mike and I)  were in a different band. We were in a four-piece where we had another guy on guitar, another guy we knew on keys, Mike was on drums, and I was on bass. After COVID hit, that kind of fell apart, so we kind of reconvened, just me on guitar, him (Mike) on drums, and then about a year into it, Jack came.

How were you able to come together as a group and decide we’re going to do this? 

Mike: I think that it was like, how Ben mentioned, the four-piece band was very classic rock, which is kind of boring, and Ben and I got to discussing things of what we musically wanted to hear, and we wanted to make something new. So, it was kind of a project of passion at first, and now we’re playing shows.

Your band description states that you ‘take inspiration from punk, grunge, rock and indie,’ What are some bands that influenced you when you were younger, and how does that translate to your music today?

Ben: My parents listened to bands like Cake, White Stripes and No Doubt. So, I think from there, I kind of ran into some music of my own. I played cello in fifth grade; I wasn't amazing at it, but it got me into classical music and took me down the path of learning guitar and piano. Around that same time, when I was diving really heavily into music, I think I was 15, I started getting into bands like Nirvana. One that stood out was my favorite, I Wrote Haikus About Cannibalism in Your Yearbook. That's like a weird band, but their music is so different, and I wanted to take an approach to music like they did. And then, from there, I would explore a little bit of everything, a lot of stuff from the 80s. I've been really into the Beatles lately, and I've also done stuff from the 2000s. It's really all over the place.

Jack: For me, it really started off with the Beatles. Like most people, I really got into the Beatles, and then hanging out with my brother a lot more, I really started liking Led Zeppelin. And then my favorite band right now is the Strokes. But when we play shows, we cover a lot of Nirvana, Misfits, Smiths.

Mike: As far as bands that have influenced me creatively, the drummer for Led Zeppelin, John Bonham, he's like a master. And then the Police. I listened to a lot of Stewart Copeland on drums and even their riffs. I feel like we kind of borrow some vibes from the police.

What was the moment inspiration struck and you decided to pursue music further as a career with this specific group? 

Ben: For me, when I was a little kid, I wanted to be a conductor. But your taste grows and evolves. I've always wanted to take it seriously. I started writing my own music around high school, so meeting Mike and Jack accentuated that for me.

Jack: For me, I've only been playing for a year now, maybe a little over, and it's all kind of new for me. But I started getting into it when we did shows and hearing genuine positive feedback, especially about the originals we've released, and ‘oh, this is actually good,’ and ‘we actually listen to this.’ You hear someone say, ‘Oh, I added this to my playlist,’ and it’s some random person on TikTok like this song is so good, and then you kind of want to, it's addicting, you want to keep getting a bigger audience and keep playing bigger and bigger shows, and that’s my thing. I like to play in front of crowds.

Mike: Yeah, I would agree. The most memorable moment was when we played the first house show at Loyola, and we played new songs people had never heard, originals, and getting positive feedback, people coming up and saying, ‘that was really good; I want to hear more of that kind of music.’ For me, that was a key moment.

What was the first show you ever played? How was that experience, and did it inspire you in any way? 

Ben: The first time we ever had a show, I thought it was a lucky sign, I guess. We had our own show planned for Halloween about two years ago. And then, out of nowhere, someone wanted to book us…

Jack: I was so nervous.

Ben: We basically found out about it the week before. It was going to be a bunch of people we knew, but we were thrown in front of a bunch of people we had no idea who they were. We were just playing a party. Some funny things happened; my guitar strap fell off three times. I had just a nail in my guitar; it’s what keeps the strap on.

Jack: I remember that show. I’d only been playing the bass for 6 months, and I was very nervous to play in front of people. But it turned out well.

Mike: After we got the ropes of playing house shows, we really started pushing the limits. People were trying to get in the house, and they couldn’t fit in the house. People were crawling up the windows and the building. I had the window open behind me while I was playing the drums. I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I turned around, and there’s like two or three dudes that had climbed up the wall.

Ben: I think we love, like, whatever we can do to keep that up… I don’t really care who I’m playing with or around. It's more so… making sure the energy is there, bouncing it off the crowd. 

You just released your newest single, ‘21st Century Girl,’ what was the writing process like for this song?

Ben: I wrote that song on my porch, probably over the COVID summer. It was 2020. I had not even moved into Chicago yet. At that point, everyone left school, so I was back home, and later that summer, we moved in together. But at that point, I have this tree in my backyard; I just lean against it and play the guitar all day. And that song came up. First, most of the time, chords just come to me, then I start mumbling some lyrics trying to make it more concise and catchy. Once I have an idea, it snowballs, and I won’t put it down for three days. Then after three days, the first draft is done, and since then, we make small changes. But it’s pretty much how it happens, I guess.  

Mike: He pretty much came to us, and the entire thing was written. He even knew what he wanted to do on the drums, so he kind of showed me on the table, and I did it. 

Ben: …the way that we release songs is not chronological. When we were releasing our first songs, they were written almost a year after that song (21st Century Girl). That song, in particular, we wanted to take a chance. For our first songs, I was producing everything. We had mics in the basement, and then we wanted to make the migration to getting a studio set up down and making our sound as (good) as it can be. 

How has social media helped to gain a following as a band and for your music?

Jack: It’s helped a lot. We’ve definitely grown a cult following in Chicago. It started at DePaul, and now it’s branched out. What’s helped us get these gigs is that I’ve personally reached out to other bands from Chicago, and it honestly just comes out of networking and finding people who have connections to these gigs.  You’ll ask a band to play with you, and then that band will ask to play with you later. Instagram has been really helpful with that. And TikTok, obviously. Everyone is on TikTok now. And that’s an easy platform to get views on. 

What has been the best and worst thing about this journey so far?

Ben: It’s very rewarding. It’s like living a dream; whatever comes with that comes with that. It’s what everyone should do with their lives. But obviously, with anything that is worth spending your time on, there’s going to be difficulties getting there. I mean, a lot has been what we’ve mentioned before, working and doing this on top of work, networking, producing, doing everything we can to get in the studio, in front of people, and share our message and our art. 

Mike: For me, the best part is the creative process. I like shows, but I really like getting down into our practice space with these guys and having fun, and sometimes cool songs will come out of that if we're writing together. Worst part probably the time management; it’s a lot.

Jack: I'd say the best part is at our shows when we hear people singing the words to our songs, or then we see people crowd surfing. That’s probably the best part. The worst is time management, and stuff costs money, too, with the equipment and studio time.  

What is the ultimate goal for this group? What would be the moment you would feel like you’ve made it? 

Ben: I’d say, like, honestly, I’ve always wanted a relationship with the world and audience, like Jack said, like a cult that really is all about us. I feel like any band that’s ever made a difference in history has been a product of that.

Jack: I’d second that. I’d say, like he said, scale it up right now. Obviously, right now, we're just doing Chicago, but eventually, a big enough fan base to do a show in New York. 

Ben: Really, just when I hear things where people reach out to me and say, ‘oh, this song helped me get through this,’ or ‘this song changed my life.’ It’s had an effect on me and made a mark, being a part of people’s lives. That’s what I want. In some ways, we’ve already made it, but just to scale that up.

Stream “21st Century Girl” on all music platforms. Animal Panic consistently plays shows in Chicago and is hoping to branch out to more cities in the future. Follow Animal Panic on all social media to keep up with their new releases and entertaining content. 

Interview by Emma Rosenstein

Cover photo via @animalpanic Instagram