High Fives with … Like Giants

The four-piece have just released their debut EP Sovereign. 

Pop-punk outfit Like Giants self-released their Sovereign EP two weeks ago. Speaking on the new EP the band said “This is the first time most people have heard our material and the first release is always where people make or break interest with your band, we’re really proud of what we made, the stories and diversity throughout the project, we didn’t want to choose a lot of songs for the EP, we wanted to settle with a good amount to show our abilities. We were fortunate to record it with Matt O’Grady who has worked with amazing bands such as; You Me At Six, Deaf Havana, Don Broco, so we were really fortunate to rope him in on this project. Big love to everyone who has playlisted, streamed or downloaded Sovereign, it means the world to us!”

To find out more about the record and the band, we had a chat to frontman Kai just after their EP release.

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Congratulations on the release of your debut EP! How has it been received so far?

Thanks, guys! So far we’re getting a lot of love for Sovereign, we were really nervous releasing this to the world. This is the first time most people have heard our material and the first release is always where people make or break interest with your band, we’re really proud of what we made, the stories and diversity throughout the project, we didn’t want to choose a lot of songs for the EP, we wanted to settle with a good amount to show our abilities. We were fortunate to record it with Matt O’Grady who has worked with amazing bands such as; You Me At Six, Deaf Havana, Don Broco, so we were really fortunate to rope him in on this project. Big love to everyone who has playlisted, streamed or downloaded Sovereign, it means the world to us!

Talk us through the recording and writing process? How did you choose the songs that ended up on the EP?

Whenever any of us have ideas we usually record them directly to our phones and send them across to our dedicated new song WhatsApp group, this way we know that everyone has the material so we can build and layer from there. We then bring these rough ideas to the rehearsal studio where we can hammer them out and make changes, this is the first time we get a feel for the development and flow of the song, it wasn’t difficult choosing which songs to put on this four track EP. We definitely wanted to make sure that we had something reflecting our struggles with depression and anxiety, but we also didn’t want to make the entire EP serious and too hard-hitting, so we made sure to select tracks that helped us make people aware of the seriousness, but also just have a feel-good vibe throughout.

Cut And Run is quite heavy, both lyrically and musically, and tackles talking about anxiety and depression. Was it important for you as a band to speak about those issues?

Every member of the band has been through some seriously dark times with both anxiety and depression and we know how it feels to struggle through such emotions, some people don’t have a strong supportive network and with social media being such a forefront of peoples day to day lives, we know from first hand how depression has affected our adult following, to even our younger audience. We have a chance to use our voices and speak out about these issues, we want to share to the world that we know what you’re feeling, and we have all been there! Don’t tackle it on your own, you’re not on your own! If you feel like you need someone to talk to or just a break from the world then hit us up! We’re not trained doctors or anything, but we’re all good listeners, and sometimes that’s all it takes to make a difference.

 

We really love the anthemic sound of The Poet, it reminds a bit of Blink 182 and State Champs. What were your musical influences growing up?

Aww, thanks so much! Blink were a huge part of our lives growing up, so for you to say that you hear a little of them in our music is humbling, oh and State Champs too!? Ahh shucks! I (Kai), am a huge fan of both of these bands, so that means the world that you place us in the same vein as them. We were all dorky kids trying to make it in this big wide world, suppose looking back on it, nothing has changed! Growing up around the Myspace era was a huge turning point for us all, every time we’re on a road trip to the next show, we usually play something from Panic, Paramore, New Found Glory, even Enter Shikari. We all have collective tastes when it comes to music, Sam listens to a lot of BFMV, while Ben would be listening to a lot of Yellowcard, we all listened mostly to the same bands, Billy does listen to the Rat Pack in the shower though, how do we know this?! Come on guys we’re in a band, pretty much nothing is private, (sorry for letting that slip Bill).

There seems to have been a revival of alternative music, especially pop-punk in 2019 with so many new bands coming onto the scene. How do you see the future of the genre?

Yeah this surge of Pop Punk Popularity has been around for a good six years or so now, I think as soon as Neck Deep and State Champs burst onto the scene, everyone thought DAMN! These guys are killing it and I really think they brought the whole ‘I WANNA DO THAT’ factor as we had with Blink, bands these days have State Champs and Neck Deep to thank for that. With them also gaining fans from more mainstream outlets, it helped the genre gain recognition from a wider audience, who then moved onto discover their next favorite band and then the next, which helped so many bands blow up. I do however feel a lot of bands these days are trying to become a carbon copy, and I feel there needs to be some changes to the genre to keep it fresh, Pop Punk isn’t just a genre though, it’s a lifestyle to so many people, so regardless of how many bands there are, Pop Punk will always live on, because it just makes you feel so damn good!

Speaking of genre, if you could collaborate with anyone in the music industry right now, who would it be and why?

We all would answer this in different ways for sure! Ben would love to work with Yellowcard as he has been a massive fan of them since being in the womb, Sam would love to work with Matt Tuck (BFMV) because he’s a huge Bullet fan, Billy would probably love to slap some bass over a bridge with a nice sax solo from Louie Armstrong or something, Bill is a ‘Cool Cat’ and something like that would be right up his alley. Whereas myself would love to collab with either Kellin Quinn (Sleeping with Sirens) or Ben Barlow (Neck Deep), I think both have unique voices… oh damn… Brendon Urie also! See there’s so many people I would love to work with. I have always been in awe with Brendon’s range, the grit of Ben’s vocals and clever writing and Kellin is literally the only person I think I have met who gives better hugs than I do! So… makes sense right?!

You also just last month played with Less Than Jake on the Fireball tour in Birmingham as the local competition winners. How was that experience?

IT WAS INCREDIBLE! I think we all had our minds blown, we weren’t expecting to get the email saying we had gone through to play the O2 Academy Birmingham main stage, we have all watched so many bands and artists play that stage, and the fact that we got to walk the same floor as our idols was mind-blowing! Less Than Jake killed it, we have all seen them live before anyway, so we know how amazing their performances are, Goldfinger I’ve been a big fan of since I was in school, John Feldman is one hell of a frontman and his vocals just kick ass. We’re a lively band when we play, so getting the opportunity to fill the size of that stage was a dream come true. Huge thank you to Fireball and Academy Events for allowing us to cross off one of our bucket list venues so early on in our careers.

What else have you guys planned for the rest of 2019?

We’re planning more of the same really, playing more shows around the UK and making a start on writing new material, ready for us to hit the studio at the beginning of 2020. We love playing shows and meeting new people, so hopefully, we will be in a city near you real soon, keep up to date with our socials: @likegiantsuk to see where in this crazy world we play next.