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Coming out of hibernation

Homegrown indie hip hop duo make their way across Canada, returning to Whistler with show at Garfinkel's on Nov. 11
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A distinct voice on Whistler's musical soundscape has been noticeably silent over the months of summer and early fall. That's because Steige "Tall Man" Turner (also known as Garnet Clare) and Mike "Armadillo Slim" Armitage, the musical men behind the indie hip hop duo Animal Nation, have been out of town.

Tall Man headed to the East Coast (Halifax, more specifically) back in May just for a change of scenery and perhaps, to find a different source of inspiration for his music, while Slim moved to Vancouver in July. Their manager managed to set up a pretty substantial cross-Canada tour to tack onto Clare's sabbatical, and Armitage headed to meet him in Montreal just a few weeks ago. Since then, they've rocked stages in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa and Brantford. And they've still got over three weeks of the tour left to go before they roll back into Whistler.

This isn't the first time Animal Nation has gone on tour - they went to Europe a few years ago and have done a few Canadian tours - but it is definitely the longest road trip they've embarked on.

"We haven't killed each other yet!" Armitage said, as they drove through Ontario on Tuesday afternoon, making their way to Saskatoon.

"We've met cool people and seen cool people that we already know, and every day has been the highlight, so far," he said.

"We've had to practice a lot, too, because we haven't performed together for seven months."

For anyone new to the Animal Nation, here's a brief history: the group was born out of a disagreement between the two over the quality of another band's performance. The group was the Terrordactyls - yikes! - and Clare hated their music. Armitage disagreed. A heated argument ensued, and somehow, Animal Nation was started. That was in 2004. Now, six years and four albums later, this energetic, creative and charismatic duo is still making hip hop with a light-hearted, old school attitude coupled with that unmistakable West Coast lyricism: "intellectual" hip hop, if you will.

"There's not too much stressful stuff going on in Whistler, especially, so it kind of makes it hard to make unpositive lyrics when you live in such a positive place," Armitage reflected.

They also just had their last LP, Understanding More About Nothing Than Anybody Ever Thought Impossible pressed onto 12-inch vinyl - not exactly an inexpensive undertaking.

Earlier this year, the album debuted at #3 on the national college hip-hop charts, beating out Gorillaz (#6) and K-os (#10), who debuted the same week. The album also held #1 positions in Toronto and Ottawa, made a dozen top 10 lists, and several tracks were featured in MTV Canada's infamous, ill-fated reality show, Peak Season.

"Garnet surprised me with it actually, when I got to Montreal! I didn't know he was doing it. 'Cause I DJ and I collect vinyl and I've always wanted it on vinyl," said Armitage.

There's some pretty cool stuff going on with that vinyl project: aside from the musical content, of course, it includes a full colour 12-page Animal Nation comic book insert drawn by Sponge-Bob Square-Pants writer Kent Osborne (random), a free mp3 download of the album, and some incredible cover artwork by Whistler's own Taka Sudo .

They've been going to every record store along their tour route, trying to get them to carry it.

"Some have, some haven't. It's hit and miss, but we're getting our record in at least one store in every city we stop in."

But this month-and-a-half-long cross-country tour is to promote their recently-released EP, Basti Made Me Do It! And who, exactly, is this Basti character?

He's Sebastian (Basti) Hochstein, a German producer that the duo encountered on their trip to Europe.

"He came and stayed with us in Whistler for three weeks and we wrote and recorded the whole album while he was there..." Armitage explained. "We thought he wanted to see Whistler and do stuff, like go do the Peak 2 Peak, but he just made us stay inside in the nicest three days of summer and make music - German precision!"

As any touring artist knows, one of the biggest parts of being on the road is the tour bus: in their case, it's a Chrysler Pacifica.

"And then we have a U-Haul trailer, which is an interesting situation," Armitage laughed. "We've never really had too much experience driving a trailer and having to back one of those up."

The tour has been going incredibly well so far (they haven't backed into anything, yet), and they've also made some good connections along the way.

So far, their sound has been met with a warm reception.

"In Ottawa, for example, this lady that's from Cuba, she works for the Cuban Arts Council, she potentially invited us to go out to Cuba in the near future."

But the truth of the matter is that Whistler is pretty well still the best place to play.

"It's like the end destination after a long, long drive; it's nice to get back to Whistler, see the friends and family and have one final hurrah."

It seems like this period away from Whistler has been pretty productive for the men of Animal Nation - Clare managed to produce a solo album during the six months that he was in Halifax, Armitage is in the midst of his own solo project, and they've both been writing new material as they make their way west.

"Seeing new places, meeting new people definitely makes for inspiration," Armitage reflected.

So, what are the new songs all about?

"Traveling, being broke, having no money, but still having a good time!" he laughed.

Animal Nation will be back in Whistler in early November, and has a show planned for the reopening of the stage at Garfinkel's on Thursday, Nov. 11, where they'll be test-driving some of their new material.

"Garnet's got some new stuff with banjos and harmonicas that we'll be bustin' out, hopefully," Armitage said.