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Each week ZIO asks a different musician the same 11 questions via email. Visit Zoom In Music weekly for a new installment or subscribe to the RSS feed.

The New York-based power pop trio known as Tiny Animals has a silly streak. Contrary to what the band's bio would lead you to believe, Rita is not four feet tall, and Anton would clearly make a terrible lunger. They pull your leg, and then laugh it off when you call them on it.

And because they are fans of the absurd (Wesley Willis), of Mexican culture (piñatas), and, more privately, of MTV (their song, "Avalanche", was featured on the season finale of the especially scandalous Cancun season), all of this is fine by us. Read below to find out more. 

1.  What music was played in your home while you were growing up?
Well, I can’t speak for Anton because he was hiking through Alaska when I replied to these questions, but Rita and I grew up listening to a dichotomy of classic rock (Clapton, Hendrix, Skynyrd, etc.) and classical music (Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, etc.). Our dad had long hair and played guitar while our mom seemed to think we’d become geniuses by listening to classical music. She was right.

2.  Who is the best artist we have probably never heard of?
Well, I’d like to think you haven’t heard of Wesley Willis so I can be cutting-edge, cool and unique, but you probably have. If not, please listen to the following tracks immediately: "Chicken Cow," "Vampire Bat," "My Mother Smokes Crack Rocks." If you aren’t an instant fan, I just feel sorry for you. Also, Rita’s boyfriend was head-butted by Wesley Willis. Legendary.

3.  What is your favorite song lyric?
The best song lyrics are the ones that you can change each time you sing along. Raffi was great at writing such lyrics. Here’s an example: “Down by the bay, where the watermelons grow, back to my home, I dare not go, for if I do, my mother will say, ‘Did you ever see a fox, washing his socks’ down by the bay”. (repeat ad nauseum)

4.  What song do you want played at your funeral?
It doesn’t really matter as long as I am stuffed with delicious candy and beaten like a piñata by my friends and relatives with baseball bats. I suppose "La Cucharacha" would work best, actually.

5.  What is your favorite b-side?
Yeah, I miss the days of buying cassette singles and listening to the random song on side two. That was awesome!! Any Nirvana b-side was always excellent. Also, Radiohead’s b-side on “Creep” was called “Faithless the Wonder Boy.” I think it was about doing heroin. A fine song from an even finer band.

6.  Which medium do you prefer: vinyl, cd, or download?
Well, it really depends on wind conditions. You can get much more distance with compact disc, as long as the wind is below 15mph. Vinyl is better for accuracy. Clearly downloads serve no purpose and are useless. Wait, we are talking about Frisbee Golf, right?

7.  Which artist would your fans be surprised to find out you like?
I think our fans would be most surprised to learn that Anton doesn’t really listen to music very much. He is strange.

8.  What musician would you choose to cover one of your songs?
Any mainstream country artist. I’d love to hear our entire album in an entirely different genre, even though country is fairly lame. Or maybe a version of our album with a few tracks that sound country, a couple with a house beat, etc. In fact, maybe we will just do this ourselves.

9.  Who is the most overrated artist?
Any artist or band that gets compared to The Beatles or Michael Jackson instantly becomes infinitely overrated. Both of the aforementioned artists are in a completely different universe when it comes to success and talent. No person or group of people can or will ever come close to doing what they did. I seem to have drifted off topic a bit, but I just want to reiterate that The Beatles and Michael Jackson are the greatest and bestest-est.

10. What musician or band do you wish you’d seen play live in their prime?
Personally, either Nirvana or Jimi Hendrix. Unfortunately both of their “primes” would be a short window since drugs got the best of them soon after gaining fame. Truthfully I don’t really care about seeing bands in their prime. I wish I could have seen artists such as Nirvana or Jimi Hendrix or U2 or Muse or pretty much anyone at this level BEFORE anyone knew about them. Like, their second or third gig. As a record label owner (plug: North Street Records), I’d love to see these artists in a club with 4 other random people in the audience so that ten years later I could say “I saw them before anybody knew about them, and I knew they would be huge!!” Unfortunately my closest experience to this is seeing Hoobastank in Boston before they were famous. I left the show saying “Man, they sucked….we’ll never hear about them again.”

11. What non-musical influences do you have?
 As a band, we are inspired by '80s movies and early '90s TV sitcoms. If you want proof, see us live. If the crowd is energetic, we usually break into a sexy rendition of “Maniac” by Michael Sembello, or perhaps a TV show theme song medley. You can’t touch this!

Find out more about the band's record label, North Street Records by checking out their website.

Check out the preview of Joyrides, a recent documentary about the incomparable Wesley Willis.

Behold, the world's largest piñata!

Check out more installments of THESE QUESTIONS GO TO ELEVEN:

Adam Green
Art Brut
Camera Obscura
Chin Chin
The Cribs
Darlings
Dead River Company
Fool's Gold
Fujiya & Miyagi
Golem
Jukebox the Ghost
Talib Kweli
Ben Kweller
Jeffrey Lewis
The Low Miffs
Lights
M83
Man Like Me
Marina & The Diamonds
Meg & Dia
A.C. Newman
Cale Parks
Silvery
Tapes 'n Tapes
The Von Bondies
White Rabbits
Wild Light
Yo Majesty!

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