Random Mammal Generator, a band consisting of Henry Miller (junior), Nate Harris (sophomore), Ben Torres (junior) and Mt. San Antonio College’s Cooper Wayne (junior), has performed in the basement of an abandoned church in Glendale, Junior High in Glendale, a student house on York Boulevard and at an underpass in the Arts District, according to the band.
Torres said the band first formed in 2021, with Torres and Wayne as the only members. Miller said that he joined in 2022, while Harris, who officially joined in September, is the newest addition to the band.
“We’d like to say that electronica is our genre, because it’s like a fake genre that you kind of just throw in front of anything [and] doesn’t actually exist,” Torres said.
Torres and Miller, who are roommates, said that most of the magic happens in their room in Haines Hall. Torres said that the band is all about chill vibes and enjoying life’s beauty.
“Life is beautiful,” Torres said. “[We] just like enjoying life, chilling, hanging out, [and] playing.”
Torres said that he and Wayne stumbled across the name Random Mammal Generator by accident. He said that, initially, they were going to name their band after a random mammal, and that’s when the idea struck.
“We are the generator,” Torres said.
Torres said that Random Mammal Generator often uses performance art as part of their sets. At a recent show at an off-campus student house, Miller said two of the band’s members slept on the floor in sleeping bags during their set.
“I was trying to change the world,” Miller said. “I think that people don’t understand sleeping well enough, and I think getting up close and personal with sleeping was something that I was really about.”
All four members said that their music embodies James Cameron and the movie “Avatar,” without elaboration. Torres said that the band is also musically inspired by Björk.
Harris said that personally, he does not like to make too much eye contact with the crowd when he is on stage. Wayne said he likes to be in the moment when he performs.
“I like to just press play when I’m up there,” Wayne said. “I don’t really like to put a lot of effort into stuff, and pressing play is perfect for me.”
According to Harris, the band is currently focusing more on their aesthetic image than the music side of things. All four members of Random Mammal Generator unanimously said that their goal as a band is to look hot on stage.
“We want people to look at our Instagram feed and be like, ‘Damn, these guys have their aesthetic down to the pinch,’” Harris said.
Torres said that on top of being hot, the band also wants to be up.
“We want to be like—everybody knows about us and they see us all the time,” Miller said.
As a long-term goal, Torres said that eventually, the band would like to forget about everyone and hide away in a place like Vancouver, British Columbia.
“Our main goal is just to blow up and act like we don’t know nobody,” Harris said.
According to Torres, Random Mammal Generator likes to play shows in places that have a cool vibe and will not charge the band. Recently, the band played under the 6th Street Bridge in the Arts District. Miller said the venue was right next to a print shop called Lucca Mart.
According to Torres, the LAPD cut the concert off right before the band’s last and favorite song: “What’s it All About,” which Torres said is their equivalent of Drake’s “Hotline Bling.”
Margaux Simons (sophomore) attended the concert with her friends and said that while Random Mammal Generator’s music is not typically what she listens to, the more that she goes to their concerts, the more she enjoys them.
“They’re always so hype, that it’s really easy for the crowd to just be like super hype,” Simons said. “It’s good vibes.”
Random Mammal Generator is currently working on their second EP, named “New Angeles.” Torres said that the EP will emulate the city of Vancouver, but new and more industrial.
On top of looking hot, Wayne said that the band is also currently focusing on the philosophical beliefs that shape the work that the band does, and this takes form in the concept of a baby’s ability to fly.
“If you were to tell a baby [it can fly] at a really young age and push the idea that by the time they hit ten that they would be able to fly, then they would be able to fly,” Wayne said.
Torres said that Random Mammal Generator aspires to be like that baby.
“[The baby] is kind of what keeps us going,” Miller said.
The other thing that keeps the band going, unanimously agreed upon by all four members, is the recurring idea that life is beautiful.
“Music is love, love is a drug…” Torres said.
“And love is everywhere,” Miller said.
Contact Michelle Teh at teh@oxy.edu
This article was edited for grammar March 24, 2024.
