"Truly Great" -- Filter Magazine Combining the craft of singer-songwriters like Peter Gabriel with the skills and modern sensibilities of production wizards like the Neptunes, the Animators create a wide variety of consistently engaging pop songs. Together only since November of 2001, the bi-coastal duo has already staked out a musical landscape all their own. The Animators bring life to their songs in two very different ways. In the studio their goal is to find each song's "natural habitat," employing everything from urban-style rhythm tracks to muted trombones to overdriven Fenders. But the live show strips the same songs down to two vocals, acoustic guitar and accordion, with textures and beats supplied by an iBook. The Animators deliver the goods in both settings, a testiment to their strong songwriting. Singer/songwriter Devon Copley was the heart of New York power-popsters The Pasties, which the All Music Guide described as "well worth keeping an eye on" shortly before they broke up in 2002. With the Pasties, Copley garnered praise for his "hook-heavy melodies" (the Boston Globe) and "vocal gold" (Indie-Music.com). His song "The Wreck of You and Me" was awarded the Grand Prize of the 2001 Great American Song contest. Producer/songwriter Alex Wong earned a degree in classical percussion, and then sold his soul to rock & roll. Formerly part of the alternative-rock quartet The Din Pedals (Epic/Sony), Wong now runs Angelhouse Studios in Venice, CA, with producer Andrew Kapner (Shuvel, Bran Van 3000).