Data Animal Unleash Debut Single / Video 'DEATH RACER' + Interview

Just announced for Tāmaki Makaurau's mega-stacked The Others Way 2021 festival, you might not yet have heard of Data Animal, but the duo have already played SXSW and they've just unleashed their debut single 'DEATH RACER'. Currently residing in the super city, Data Animal are the "fuzz cyborg death trip" sonic mind-meld of Mitchell James O’Sullivan (Aporia, Cynthia, Full Moon Fiasco) and Takumi Yanai (The Schizophonics, The Cavemen), launching their new tune on super limited & 7" vinyl with B-side 'BAD M.F.' via Oliver Ackermann’s (A Place To Bury Strangers) newly formed label, Dedstrange. We had to know more and O’Sullivan generously gave us an exclusive info dump on exactly what's up with Data Animal. Get 100% pumped by smashing play on Data Animal's self-directed vid for 'DEATH RACER' [content warning: contains strobing imagery] and delve into their answers to our probing questions below...

UnderTheRadar, Flying Out and 95bFM are proud to present....

The Others Way Festival 2021
Featuring... Babe Rainbow, The Beths, Cable Ties, Carnivorous Plant Society, The Coolies, Daffodils, Data Animal, Dead Famous People, Fimo, Francisca Griffin & The Bus Shelter Boys, Fur Patrol, The Fuzzy Robes, The Golden Awesome, Grecco Romank, Jakob, Jazmine Mary, Joe Ghatt, Juno Is, Lawrence Arabia plays Chant Darling, Merk, Theia, Phodiso, Phoebe Rings, The Plague, Pollyhill, Recitals, Soft Plastics, Stella Donnelly, Surprise Chef, Team Dynamite, Transistor + more to be announced
Friday 17th September - Karangahape Road, Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland

General release tickets are on sale HERE via UTR

Chris Cudby: Please tell me Mitchell — if Data Animal had a "mood board," what would be on it?

Mitchell James O’Sullivan:
Akira
Various photos of Alan Vega
Les Rallizes Dénudés
Bela Lugosi
Drum computers & synthesizers
Jewellery

Did the context of the 2020 global pandemic inspire you to personally work within a darker sonic palette than some of your earlier projects (eg. Aporia, Cynthia)?

I think it was coming anyway – my taste in music has always been much darker than what I’ve been releasing. I grew up on post-punk, punk, and techno so it's always been in the sonic toolkit so to speak… I guess Aporia & Cynthia are much darker than meets the eye. With Data Animal there was a definite choice I made with the songwriting to lean into my teenage tastes a bit more. I had a lot of time to sit in my studio and play around with fuzz pedals – I was enjoying being loud for once instead of making pretty sounds and reconnecting with my teenage love for rock n roll.

How did you and Takumi work on Data Animal?

So the project actually started with just me writing songs at home in Berlin. I probably finished about 5 or so songs by myself but I was always in discussion with Takumi about the songs and what my kind of vision of the project was. Once I got back to New Zealand in January of 2021, we pretty much just kicked off from there – I moved into ‘The Shack’ in Takumi’s garden and we pretty much went full force from that moment on. It came together really fast, Takumi and I have been friends for a long time and I guess we had some sonic catching up to do – the whole record was pretty painless. It's coming out in November on Oliver Ackermann’s Label – Dedstrange.

What can punters look forward to when Data Animal hit the stage at The Others Way 2021?

Strobes, Volume, Fuzz, Leather, Hair, Lipstick, and Exploding Synthesizers.

7" vinyl preorders for 'DEATH RACER / BAD M​.​F' are available HERE via Dedstrange.