J: Now, there’s quite an evolution on WYW that caught a lot of your prior fans by surprise and that was the addition of vocals, what brought about this decision? 

N: I think we all just felt like it was time to add a new element to the mix. We were kind of sick of being instrumental. We wanted to add something fresh. Things were getting really tired. We’re out of our post-rock faze.

J: Lyrically, what themes does this album find for you? What are you trying to say or tell us?

N: Not trying to specifically say anything really. Just trying to give you something to think about. I want people to interpret it however they want. We all kind of take something away from it in our own minds and we want everyone else to be open about the ideas. It’s a dark record that’s morbid, btu that’s our opinion. we don’t want to tell you what to think of it.

J: I feel like the artwork for the album is so simple and rough, is there something we’re suppose to take from this?

N: A very good friend of ours did it. We told her we wanted something dark and cool and she did it. She’s pretty morbid in general [laughs]. We kind of give her free reign to do whatever she wants and she has some f*cked up art work sometimes, but it’s cool. We consider her another member of the band as she does so much for her. We love her to death and it’s all so natural. She’s just great.

J: So tell us, where do What You Were bring to the table that any music fan can only find within this album?

N:
-I think the record, at first glance, seems like it could be passed by as any metal record, but when you really give it a chance, you’ll find it’s really deep. We put a lot of thought into it and I think that comes across. There’s a great atmosphere and overall sound to it. 

-I think it’s a really deep record. Some may think we’re like Cult of Luna, but in reality, it’s not the case. We have very diverse tastes and we come together to put out this diverse musical piece. Musically, emotionally, and physically, we put everything into it. It’s not a mainstream piece of music, but if you like heavy music or even post rock, I’m  sure you’ll find something to love.

J: Touring wise, do you have any fall plans?

N: We just got off a month long summer tour. We’re kind of taking a couple months off to let our vocalist finish school. We’ll be out constantly after that. We’re going to tour in January. Then a Northwest Tour, SXSW, and more with our friends Caspian hopefully. Basically, we just want to tour and tour and tour.

J: We always ask one random question to every band, and this is yours: What television theme song would you use to introduce your own band and why?

N:
-The Family Matters theme song. It’s so hushed at the beginning with Accapella and such. Our singer and guitar player are from chicago and one’s dad is a police officer there and we joke that he knows Carl Winslow. 

-The theme from Doug. It’s just good walking music.

We came out to The Price Is Right song for awhile.

J: We don’t believe in final questions here, instead, we offer an open podium with which you can leave us with any thoughts you have…It’s all up to you:

N:
-My birthday is Oct. 4th. People should send the band lots of money for my birthday. I can’t plug the record, but give us money please…For my birthday. 

-I’m going to endorse Obama for president. Even if you don’t like him, please vote. Regardless of your views, you should vote. You need to take part in how our country is going. Especially in our current economic situation. Sorry to end so seriously, but it’s on my mind a lot.
NEXT UP:  Heath and Paul from GIANTS!

J: Where does the day find Giants? 

G: Well, I am actually playing miniature golf as we speak with my family.

J: I really love the album art and overall layout. How much input did you guys have on this and why the ocean theme?

G: I kind of had a vision for it from the beginning. It has a lot to do with water and land. We talked to 3 Bears about it all and I laid out the idea I had and basically, the first thing that came up, we were all about it. It worked out really cool and the ideas to hide things behind the clouds and whatnot worked out really well.

J: Now this isn’t your first release and to be a post-rock act that continues past one release is significant in itself, but to improve is even better. What do you think has changed in the world of Giants since the last record?

G: Recently, we got a new drummer and guitarist. We’re just kinda like, focusing more on touring. We wanted to spend more time working on music,c but it’s hard because we don’t live near each other at all. We’re all over the place and that makes writing hard, but we have been changing things to make it work out that we’re together more often. We started out not wanting to do much as a band, but now we’re more wanting to be more out there with the record.

J: Many people like to complain about band in your genre of music because it seems inevitable that you’ll fall into the same realm as others acts like This Will Destroy You or Explosions in The Sky. What do you think sets you apart in a world without vocals?

G: I feel like Explosions in The Sky and This Will Destroy You are the most overused comparisons in our genre. If you write anything epic, that’s the comparison. We write shorter songs that get right to the point and we are now at a point where we don’t care what others say because we’re happy. If it gets to a point where we are just trying to be different than them, we’ve lost it all. If I’m not enjoying it or getting into it, what’s the point? A lot of people give those comparisons, but you can’t fight that.

J: For such a wall of sound, it has to be a bit difficult to perform the record live, how do you make it work and keep it interesting?

G: We al have respected guitar parts. We all know what we want to do and essentially, our set up on stage reflects that. We know what everyone is trying to play and we have one lead guitar, a middle, and a low end. So we separate bass and low end guitar, then separate the mid and lead so that everything has room for its sound. you need to work on the stage arrangement to make sure everything has its place. We really try to keep high energy as much as possible to keep people into it.

J: Speaking of touring, what are your fall plans band wise?

G: Right now, we’re taking some time to relax as we just got back from a 35 date West Coast tour. I’m going to school this semester, but late December through January we will be out on the road. We’ll be focusing more on the Midwest.

J: Post-rock can be a hard genre to be approached by people not familiar with the scene. If you had to pitch someone your band and more specifically the record, how would you do it?

G: Its really hard to do that because many people don’t understand the lack of words. For me, it’s more about inviting them to a show to let them see what we do. In other cases, I’ll just give them some songs and let them check it out. I ask people what they think about mood music or study music and they tend to be into that idea and then they get into it.

J: Everyone gets a random question, and here is yours: You’re allowed one dinner with 2 random people, alive or dead, who do you choose and why?

N:
– I’d probably go out with Sienna Miller as she’s the hottest girl in the world. Brad Pitt, so he could teach me how to be sexy. [Heath] 

– Zoey Daschenell, the actress and singer of She and Him because she’s gorgeous and so is her voice. Secondly, I’d probably go with my girlfriend to be cheesy. I’d do so because it’d be cute and she’d kill me for going out with Zoey by myself. [Paul]

J:We don’t believe in final questions, only closing statements. The podium is yours:

G:
– American Apparel is my Dawg and they sell some of the best clothes on the Earth and we’d like a sponsorship from them. [Paul] 

– I love everybody. Look out for me, I’m a lover. [Heath]

*Written By: James Shotwell*