It was the best of times, it was, well, also the best of times. Two recent gigs from Austin indie rockers Megafauna highlight its broad appeal and potential.
The band—who dropped the dense and powerful Olympico album last May—combines a proggy, busy take on grunge riffs with the witchy, poised vocals of Dani Neff, who presents herself with the charisma of fellow guitar goddesses like Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein or Veruca Salt’s Louise Post, without sounding particularly like either.
But about those gigs. On Sept 18 and 19, the band played a side stage set up outside of the Pearl Jam concert, right near the pop-up merch shop, as patrons waited to buy a cornucopia of PJ merch. It was around 150 degrees in the shade that day, but Megafauna gave it its all despite a potentially casual audience composed of people waiting in line. But, almost a month later, the band found itself at Four Sisters Ranch playing to a crowd that should have been equally difficult but somehow wasn’t. This was a bunch of hippies at UTOPiAfest, and the band’s aggressive, distorted sound should have hurt some ears. That it didn’t say something about the true quality of Megafauna.
Before it played, Megafauna guitarist/vocalist Dani Neff wandered around, checking out the fest. Later she confessed to being nervous, but you’d never know at that moment. She wore a Billy Strings shirt, apropos for the crowd and surroundings. Drummer Zack Humphrey later noted that the time was better than anticipated, and less hot than expected as the clouds covered the sun.
UTOPiAfest is as much a description as a name. Held for years in the Texas Hill Country, the gorgeous festival site lies in a truly remote area, accessible only via miles of one-lane highways, 80 miles from San Antonio and 160 from Austin, the nearest metro area. In addition to days full of music, the fest features an assortment of workshops and family-friendly activities. But it was Texas and even though it was officially fall, it was hot as balls.
Most of the crowd wore sandals, which gives you an idea of who was there. You couldn’t be blamed for wearing hiking boots. There was a geodesic dome tent with a sign that said No Climbing. Many folks brought their dogs, and a few adventurous canines went unleashed. Even they behaved well.
The occasional smell of weed wafted by (there was even a CBD and Delta-8 booth among the vendors), and the music before and after Megafauna skewed rootsy and relaxed or comfortably funky. The fest was even BYOB, though plenty of craft beer and food was available. Snow cones offered a cool down. An ATM machine offered the only hat tip to the modern world.
It was the night of Friday the 13th of October, and the “Ring of Fire” annular eclipse went down the next morning. The fest had scheduled headliners The Octopus Project to play a special bonus set while the moon blocked the sun, something that probably blew the minds of a fair number of attendees. But Friday night was simply about the music. There were two stages, allowing music to go on endlessly. Texas String Assembly finished up a set of stirring bluegrass. It was Megafauna time.
Neff commands your attention via moves, guitar slinging, and vocals. But you might also notice drummer Zack Humprey, the Megafauna’s not-so-secret weapon. He’s like John Bonham reborn as Gandalf, bringing the fire of Mount Doom, his long gray hair swinging in time. He hits so hard that he should probably notify his PCP that he’ll be needing shoulder surgery circa 2030. His pounding rhythms drove the opener “Touch the Lion,” from 2014’s Maximalist—an appropriate title for a Megafauna album if there is one. The riffs reflect the band’s most obvious influence, an act that would be revealed later, lost on many listeners. Dani Neff’s vocals have a witchy quality, adding the psychedelic quality they’re fond of citing.
“Energize your spirit” she intoned, perfect for the setting.
The band followed that one up with the title track from 2012’s cleverly titled Surreal Estate, one of the trippiest numbers of the evening, again fitting the overall vibe of the fest. “You’re outside/you got no idea,” Neff sang, just as Humphrey kicked it in and the song tore into high gear and Neff locked in for some knuckle-bending riffery with second guitarist Winston Barrett and bassist Will Krause.
This was the first display of one of the band’s real skills. Riffs that have a million or so notes but that they make look easy, locked in like the combination lock on a bank vault.
“Lose yourself,” Neff sang. “Lose your fear.”
By this time the band had plenty of onlookers and it dropped “Capsize” from Olympico, its most recent album that—in a fair world—will make plenty of critics’ best-of-year lists in the next few months. With this album, the band is able to play to all of its assorted strengths in any given song. Olympico’s “Dozer” sprang up next, a muted riff opening the tune, which then opened into a Soundgarden-esque fantasia with Neff singing across the riff, a skill too few vocalists utilize, her ghostly falsetto haunting the proceedings until a more mellow middle section. You can feel a build coming, though, when you get lyrics like “tear it up” and “burn it down.”
The opening riff of “Sunday Saturday” is one of Megafauna’s best, and if someone said it’s the band’s signature song, it’d be hard to argue. The first line is “say goodbye to normal people,” a perfect line for a festival. Humphrey started off Olympico’s bossa nova joint “Yellow” with more falsetto from Neff and some strong low end from Krause. Neff enjoys music outside of the obvious influences of her own band, a requisite for any decent musician. Her love of bossa nova is an example, but in a post-show interview, she also talked about loving The Budos Band, a sound not obvious within the realms of Megafauna.
One of the set highlights was “Haunted Factory,” a polyrhythmic ascending riff with a dissonant stinger. The riff has a not-subtle Rush influence. Maybe that’s Krause, whose mustache invokes Rush circa 2112. Krause is a Rush-y kind of badass player for sure, and he frequently fixes his gaze over the crowd, so intimately familiar with the riffs that he doesn’t have to look at his bass neck.
Perhaps the most perfectly placed song of the set was the title track from Olympico. As the penultimate number, the punky little bit could be a forceful exclamation point on the knottier material that marked the rest of the set, a post-punk knockout that falls in line with the band’s visual presentation. And then there was that sick breakdown, slow and heavy in a way that put Megafauna—surprisingly—right on par tempo and heaviness-wise with some death metal bands. In short, a tough act to follow.
Humphrey and Neff sat down to talk after the set. It wasn’t an easy thing to find a place to talk, as the music boomed continuously from the alternating stages, and to get far enough away meant venturing into the parking area, pitch black except for the starry skies. The questions had to be read by flashlight, giving the whole thing a campfire vibe. The band planned to hang out a couple more hours after the interview and then head out, facing a three-hour ride back to Austin.
They were happy with the performance. Even walking away from the main fest area people approached them and commented on how much they had enjoyed the set. The members were both flattered and truly humbled. The idea was kicked around that this is a hippie fest, and the best hippie bands have incredible chops. Neff attended this festival approximately a decade ago and had a good time though “I had an allergic reaction to ragweed and my face expanded and ballooned out. My eyes kind of shut. I had to go to the hospital.” She laughed and added “they said ‘what drugs are in your system?’”
So who—or what—exactly is Megafauna? The name reminds Humphrey of “massive animals.” The sound is “heavy, progressive, maybe a little experimental…” he said and trailed off. Neff leapt in the opening, exclaiming “a grungy psychedelic romp through the wilderness,” cracking Humphrey up. “I didn’t include prog,” she shrugged.
The band’s demeanor in the interview was the same as pre-show. Fun and casual. They’re bonded. That didn’t come easily, but let’s get to that in time. There’s a joke floating around that inadvertently highlights what works about Megafauna. “Everyone knows who’s in Coldplay. Chris Martin and three other guys.”
Megafauna is not one of those bands, despite frontwoman Neff being the, well, frontwoman. Everyone contributes. Humphrey, though the band’s second drummer, contributes mightily. He joined for Austin industry schmooze fest SXSW in 2012, though the band formed in 2008. He knew Neff already and she asked him to fill in on short notice for an astounding 12 shows. Humphrey dropped in easily due to already being a fan.
Megafauna does hope to tour more, and would particularly like to hit some festivals. Back in the day, however, Megafauna did its share of road work, highlighted by a week opening for Cursive. Humphrey praised second guitarist Barrett. “He makes us sound good.” He adds to the band’s palette, including ambient sounds and soundscapes that add depth. “He kind of smooths out the sound.”
Neff chimed in “he’s the sound man. It’s mystic sound energy.” And “he’s the sweetest, chilliest guy. We’re all chill. I’m the most stressed out.” Bassist Will Krause—he of the amazing mustache—is the “practical man” according to Neff. “He makes sure we get there on time, and he makes sure we wrap things up quickly with songwriting. He’s into forward motion, and not stewing. And bass-wise he’s funky, he makes it more danceable.”
That forward motion may be love and flowers now, but there was a rough patch when he and Neff had a romance from 2010-2012, the ending of which caused Krause to leave the band. He returned several years later. Neff has fond memories of that time, noting it allowed both of them to obsess on the band 24/7. “It started with us getting drunk and fighting,” she laughed, “but then we ended up dating.” Like all great romcom relationships.
What brought him back? Humphrey said “once you’re in the Megafauna you can’t escape.” Neff cracked “I lured him back with some spells.” More seriously, Humphrey said “he wanted back in. He loves the band.”
Are there other personal challenges? Neff answered “the immense self-doubt and fear. It’s crazy up there for me.” She undermined this feeling by admitting she bought her dress five minutes before showtime from one of the onsite vendors, but also admitted she had a stage-ready outfit, just in case.
Humphrey chimed in with his own question—breaking the fourth wall—asking Neff if music helped her get out of her own head. She said it does, and noted she’s been playing guitar since age ten and considers it “like therapy.” In a plot twist you don’t see too much in bands, Neff is an attorney. Not to mention she has a young son, nearly three-year-old Birch. How does she deal with that level of responsibility? The answer there is no touring, which as any aspiring indie rocker knows, is the bread and butter of success.
“I don’t want to leave my son for more than a week, but we can do some fly-ins.” Neff also noted that Krause “has a serious job now” and is a stepfather. Being an adult and trying to tour sucks, y’all. Don’t ever grow up. But a band doesn’t come from nowhere.
One particular Seattle band garnered a strong response from Humphrey and Neff, in a good way: Soundgarden. Humphrey and Neff were pleased to be asked, as they are huge fans and noted that it doesn’t often come up in conversations about the band. They have learned some Soundgarden covers, notably the tricky “Rusty Cage.” Neff said grunge was important to her developmentally, but—more to the point—Soundgarden and Megafauna have similar influences. “It’s not purely grunge.”
Humphrey cited Olympico’s “Rage of the Queen” as a song that makes him think of Soundgarden. However, “we take our love of them and run it through the weird Megafauna filter and it comes out in this way that is hopefully not too derivative, and fresh.” They were offered the Pearl Jam gig via an acquaintance, and as a bonus got tickets for the second night. The group was collectively blown away by the Seattle legends. Neff in particular admired Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder’s performance.
“It was a strange gig,” said Humphrey of “opening” for Pearl Jam. “It was bizarre in the sense that it was a mix of really excellent reception with people super into it, and also tons of people walking past not giving a fuck.” He added “It makes total sense, they’re there to see Pearl Jam. We were at the main entrance, the merch booth. When we started everyone was trapped. I will say that overall, we got a lot of good responses. That second day there were people who just threw money in the merch case, bought merch, all sorts of stuff.”
“And all kinds of people came up to us the night we saw Pearl Jam,” Humphrey said, as if reluctant to finish. “They were saying ‘you guys were the shit.’”
And that’s Megafauna.
