Alternative rock band Pangolin to play in Royce Hall tonight as part of UCLA Arts Party

Enter “pangolin” into Google and you would find a definition of a scaly anteater native to Africa and Asia. But Pangolin is also the name of the UCLA-based alternative rock band which is opening for rock band Dawes at Royce Hall today at 7 p.m. as a part of the UCLA Arts Party.

Upon learning about pangolins in his African art history class, fourth-year anthropology student Joshua Halpern, who sings and plays guitar for Pangolin, said he liked the idea of naming the band after the animal.

“You have to have an aesthetically pleasing name, and the fact that it is a kind of obscure animal allows for some of the mystery factor and speculation,” said lead guitarist Reuben Moss.
“But (the pangolin) is also pretty cute, if you look at it.”

Though Moss attends Stanford University, he met fellow band mate Kevin Farzad, a fourth-year anthropology student, through Farzad’s roommate. Moss and Farzad realized they had similar musical tastes, and through Farzad, Moss met Halpern. The band now has five members, including second-year ethnomusicology student Owen Clapp on bass guitar and Halpern’s older brother B. Willing James, who plays the drums and the acoustic guitar.

“I think what’s cool about (Pangolin) is that we have a wide range, something for everybody. We try to keep (our music) accessible … but we also have a heavy side,” Moss said.

Some of Pangolin’s influences include Radiohead, Nirvana, Beck and ’90s alternative rock. According to Farzad, Pangolin’s music combines various elements from psychedelic rock to Halloween sounds.

“We definitely still have that hokey vibe, but we have also evolved a lot as we’ve grown as a band. … All of our influences and obsessions have kind of banded together into some weird Frankenstein-like creation,” Halpern said.

Although Pangolin’s music has a general psychedelic sound, Halpern said it varies from song to song.

“Each (song) occupies certain moods that one of us or all of us were in when we were writing it. In that way, our catalogue of music reads kind of like a biography of someone ““ each song captures a different state of mind and something that we were going through at the time,” Halpern said.

Farzad said the band encourages audience involvement and enjoyment.

“I want (the audience) to not sit down, but that will be hard at Royce because they are really nice seats,” Farzad said. “When you see a good show, comedian or movie, afterward you feel good and uplifted and you walk away happy, or you have learnt something or just had a good time. That’s what I’m hoping the audience gets out of (our performance).”

Pangolin has played in the L.A. area at the House of Blues, Westwood Brewing Company, Kerckhoff Hall and Ackerman Union, but getting a performance in Royce was a surprise, according to Halpern.

“It’s really cool that we are going to open for (Dawes), a band that has some acclaim and notoriety in the area. It’s been something really fun to work toward, because we have known for a couple of weeks that we are going to be playing at Royce, and it’s really motivating,” Farzad said.

According to Halpern, Pangolin will hopefully play more venues, make an album, get more fans and go on tour. For now, some of its songs can be heard on Facebook and Myspace. Pangolin will also be performing at the Key Club on Sunset on Feb. 24.

“I really base how well we are doing on how good a time the people we are playing for are having,” Halpern said. “My favorite part of performing is when that really clicks and there is a solid communion between band and audience.”