Hailing from Orange County, California, Young The Giant write the sort of soaring, melodic rock ‘n’ roll that embodies the essence of an eternal summer. The self titled debut album is imbibed with the spirit of Newport Beach, where the band wrote many of the tracks. Guitarist Eric Cannata and bassist Payam Doostzadeh give us a sneak peak of what goes on behind the scenes with one of the most talked about new bands of the year.
“All five of us write together and collaborate on each song.” Says Cannata of the spirited, soulful beats they created on their Roadrunner debut. “The writing process for us usually starts off with one person with an idea for example a guitar lick or drumbeat. When we first started writing together we had what we called ‘writing A.D.D’ but we have definitely matured and our songwriting has become a lot better. We recorded the album live which definitely helped us tighten up as a band.”
Young The Giant was produced by Joe Chicarelli (The White Stripes, The Shins, My Morning Jacket) no less but the band have not had their status of ‘buzz band’ handed to them on a silver platter. There’s a carefully executed plan behind getting a new band heard by the ‘right’ audience which usually involves chalking up a lot of time behind the wheel of a semi-reliable van and proving you have the stamina to stick it out when the going gets tough.
“We’ve had some scary times in the van driving over night in mountain ranges with no cell phone reception for miles and very little gas.” Doostzadeh reveals of their time on the road thus far. “Luckily we’ve never gotten stuck somewhere in our van at night! “We are very grateful to have had a lot of attention from our label, Roadrunner.” Cannata continues. “We started playing acoustic radio performances in almost every city we stopped in on our first headlining tour in January. Also, we did many small showcases for different TV and film companies earlier this year including Paramount, Disney/pixar, Universal, etc. This helped us to start a personal relationship with the people who put music in TV and film.“
Launching a debut in 2011 is a daunting prospect compared to even five years ago when there was less pressure on bands to be continually online, explaining what they are doing every waking moment, sharing even more of themselves while trying to retain the integrity of their work to leave it open to interpretation enough for people to form their own personal connection with the music.
“Regardless of the exponentially growing rate of the digital age in which we all live in, I still believe that the concept of “behind the scenes” still does exist.” Muses Doostzadeh .”The fact that our fans can see so much content of us online whenever they want makes the link between the artist and the fans much stronger. A decade ago, the only way to see behind the scenes footage of bands was to watch programs on MTV or VH1 or other major networks. I truly believe the two complement each other.”
Young The Giant have had an exhaustive year on the international live circuit, including their first Australian appearance at Splendour In the Grass festival in July as well as Sasquatch and SxSW in the US. They also proved a fresh addition to the VMA’s lineup with their rendition of current single ‘My Body’ launching them toward a whole new audience. But despite these incredible opportunities, the band remain grounded, seeking only the chance to connect with their growing fan base.
“Personally, I love playing live” Doostzadeh offers. “I think everyone who has heard our music should come out and see us live. There’s something really special about the bond between the audience and the performer.”
Young The Giant featuring the singles 'Apartment’ and 'My Body’ is out now on iTunes and in all good record stores including JB HiFi. Find out more on their Website, Facebook & Twitter
- Hayley W
The above was taken from the Roadrunner 2011/12 catalogue - available FREE in all good record stores now!
