Animal House, whose band members look like they just stepped out of the 1980s, have been rocking Bigfork audiences for the past year with classic cover songs.

Despite just getting started, Animal House won Best Band in this year’s Best of Bigfork reader poll. Lead singer and guitarist Micah Miller said they aren’t quite sure who nominated them and only got wind of the competition after people told them who they were voting for.  

“People started saying ‘We're going to vote for you.’ And we were like ‘Oh, that's cool,’” he laughed.  

It’s a pleasant surprise for Micah, who recently returned to the area after moving away for a few years following high school. He’s joined in the band by his 17-year-old brother Grant Miller, who plays drums, and his high school friend Wyatt Reichenbach, who plays bass. 

They performed regularly at bars in Bigfork this past summer, occasionally joined by a third Miller sibling, their sister McCall. Covering songs from ZZ Top, American Grand Funk Railroad, AC/DC and other bands of the era — their goal is to get people up and dancing at their shows. 

“You see shows where people are just kind of sitting there, completely dead, looking like statues in front of the stage, and it just doesn't look that interesting,” Micah said. “We want to be one of those bands where every night you show up and there's people dancing, people singing.” 

Even their band name evokes a party — referencing the late 70s comedy “National Lampoon’s Animal House,” Micah said they wanted something that was reminiscent of the era and got the message across that they want their shows to feel like “one big frat party.”  

Micah’s been playing music for about a decade. He remembers becoming interested after receiving his father’s first-generation iPod, full of songs from The Who and Pink Floyd. A similar interest in music would crop up for Grant when he got his first MP3 player several years later. 

“Micah just put a bunch of songs on there, we ripped them off the internet. It was more heavy stuff, like Megadeth ... But from a very young age, I was already influenced by my parents' music. Our mom's a piano teacher and our parents met in a philharmonic choir,” Grant said.  

His love for drumming came after their parents asked Grant, “If you could learn any instrument, what would it be?” 

“And lo and behold, I wake up on Christmas morning and there's a big ole drum set,” Grant said.  

Bassist Wyatt said he also had an interest in music from a young age. His older brother was obsessed with Michael Jackson, and he would always get to listen to Bob Marley when he went fishing with his grandfather. But he wasn’t interested in being part of a band until high school. 

After watching “The Dirt,” a mockumentary about the band Motley Crue, he and another friend got an idea for their senior project at Bigfork High School.  

At that point, it was no secret that Micah could play guitar. 

“We went up to Micah during first period and asked if he had a senior project yet. And I’m like, ‘Dude, you want to start a band?’ He looked at us like, ‘I have two questions for you guys: do you have a job? And do you have a girlfriend?’” Wyatt said. 

Micah said these were fair questions, as the new musicians needed lots of time to learn how to play properly before they performed in front of anyone. He set Wyatt up with a bass and amp, teaching him the basics.  

Wyatt said the band was set to play at their senior prom in 2020, but Covid-19 changed those plans. They ended up performing a show at Max’s Market at the end of the school year and continued with a few shows around the area throughout the rest of the summer.  

The two friends moved away from Bigfork, only to return and form a band together again this year.  

For Micah, his love of music keeps him coming back. 

“If that's all I had to do for the rest of my life, I'd be happy. Getting a chance to do that again in my hometown where I grew up with my old friend from school and my younger brother, you know, it's a no brainer,” Micah said.  

There is no long-term goal for the band, Micah said, other than putting on a good show for their audiences. 

Animal House will play at the Garden Bar on Dec. 6, following the Parade of Lights in downtown Bigfork. They will continue to play shows there on the first Friday of every month throughout the winter.  

For more information about upcoming shows, visit their Instagram page @animal_house_mt.  

Taylor Inman may be reached at 758-4440 or [email protected].