By MARGAUX MASSEY, staff reporter

“People trip like animals do,” Mike Molner, lead singer and guitarist of band Trip Like Animals, said of the band’s name.  “It doesn’t have anything to do with drugs, and it’s funny that people think it does.”

The band, who will perform at Prosody on May 31, got their name from the title of a song, when Mike realized that human nature is like that of animals.

“You know like when you see dogs pass by and they want to fight each other,” Mike said.  “Humans are like that.”

The band is made up of lead singer Mike Molner, his brother and the drummer Joe Molner, bassist Jerome Dimanlig and other guitarist Douglas Stonerock.

“Live, I’m playing guitars, making as much noise as I possibly can,” Stonerock said.

Mike describes their sound as “heavy rock with definitely some groove oriented with a little bit of psychedelic in there,” listing their influences as artists such as Led Zeppelin, The Doors and Jane’s Addiction.

The members of Trip Like Animals have been playing music for some time, Joe and Mike have been playing together for most of their lives.

“I started when I was a little dude playing dad’s drums, and watching dad do his thing,” Joe said.

Stonerock is a newer addition to the band.  He originally started off with a roll in the recording aspect of the band, then teching.  He became a full part of the band a year and a half ago but has been with them for four years.

“We all became pretty good friends, they became pretty much my brothers,” Stonerock said.  He also said that his favorite part of actually being in the band has to do with the other members.   He loves making the music, writing the songs and new material.  He also enjoys watching the other band members grow.

“There is something organic in watching Joe grow and become a better drummer,” Stonerock said.  He said his intention at first was to just make another rock and roll album, but he found their talent to be amazing.  He said one of his favorite things is watching Mike write.

When it comes to writing the music, Mike explained how they try to attack the sound first, with the lyrics coming in last.

He comes up with the format of the song, the bones of it first, and shows the rest of the band, then refines it until it is ready for the lyrics.

“I like to do the vocal melody with the lyrics, they have to be the last thing pegged on,” Mike said.

At this point their fan base isn’t very expansive. They can easily remember the biggest show they have played,  they opened up for a band called Rival Suns from LA.  They are one of the band’s favorites and they ended up playing for a crowd of over 100 people.

“They had a bunch of people and a lot of their fans really dug our stuff so they became our fans too,” Mike said.

He then said that the band dreams of some day playing at the Paramount in Seattle, with hopes of one day even starting up their own music festival.  Their favorite venue to play at, however, is the High Dive in Fremont.

They also like performing at the Showbox.

Before they go on stage, some of the members have certain things they do to prepare.

“You know, it’s rock and roll so you can’t really be too serious about it,” Mike said.  He said that some people like to drink, and they do too, but sometimes people get too drunk and their playing starts to suck.

“I will definitely try to have a drink before we go on but I get myself into the frame of mind where everyone wants to have fun,” Mike said.

Joe, the drummer, has a different way to start off his shows.  He makes sure to check all his issues at the door and really focus on where he is at in that moment.  He is grateful to be able to play the drums, to be able to do what he loves while getting paid for it.

“Focusing on the good is helpful to relax and calm yourself,” Joe said.

The band is very young, but Joe said that he isn’t looking to get rich and famous out of it.  He wants the band to get to a point where they have a crew of people working for them, so he can focus on playing drums, which is what he loves.

“I don’t need a big living, I don’t need fancy cars,” Joe said.  “I want to enjoy life and be able to pay my rent.  I want to not have to work at the coffee shop.”