Like Giants have spent the last year working on and releasing their debut EP Sovereign and there’s no signs of them slowing down, with more studio time and a tour with Hawthorne Heights confirmed for 2020 (all the more impressive when you realise they formed less than a year ago). We caught up with the pop-punk four-piece to chat about the debut EP, their wide range of influences and more!
Hello! Firstly, thank you for taking the time to chat to us. You recently released your Sovereign EP, how has the reaction been so far?
Hey, no worries! Thanks for having us :) So far the reaction we’re receiving for Sovereign is really humbling. When you work on songs that are so personal to you there’s always a worry that people might not be able to connect or relate, but hearing the positive feedback from people saying how much they love our material has been the best feeling.
You worked with Matt O’Grady on the record, how was that experience and what did you learn from him during the recording process?
Yeah! Matt has worked with amazing bands in his career, some of whom we grew up listening to like You Me At Six and Deaf Havana, so getting the opportunity to hit the studio with him was awesome! We learned so much from him, from how he mics certain kit up and how it made differences to tonality, even to the casual but frequent runs to a certain fast-food chain for fried chicken (I think this whole EP was fuelled thanks to that certain restaurant). Matt’s such a down to earth dude, the thing we loved while working with him is his willingness to experiment and not restrict us with ideas we may have had, his pure banter really helped us relax into the sessions.
The EP combines pop-punk with heavier elements – you say you have infused elements of bands that you are individually influenced by, who are your personal influences?
We all have different influences when it comes to music, we don’t all sit in the same genre pool, which makes our drives to shows so much more interesting with playlists. Billy loves jazz and anything with a funky rhythm, Sam is more into his metal and loves Bullet For My Valentine, so some of the leads can be quite intricate with that. Myself (Kai) and Ben are pure pop-punk kids through and through, so we love bands like State Champs, All Time Low, Four Year Strong and Yellowcard, so we try to keep the rhythms upbeat with a high tempo, and I will try and keep a catchy singalong chorus, but then change melodies up throughout the verses, while still writing about personal situations and experiences that have affected us all in the group. We find if you write from what you know then it’s easier to make a connection and for people to receive what you’re trying to say and share with them. I’m pretty open when it comes to writing, if I’m hurting and I know that words I write could potentially help someone else who is going through real tough times, then I’ll take it on the chin and open myself up to hopefully show people that, no matter who you are and how bad things seem, you’re not on your own, we have your back.
Can you tell us a fact or share a story about recording Sovereign that we might not already know?
I don’t know if anyone knows this but, the entire EP was pretty much fuelled off fried chicken, it got so desperate that The Poet didn’t have a title until the final day of layering the vocal track, before then it was entitled ‘Chicken Tuesdays’, after a promotional deal from a certain fried chicken fast-food chain.
You recently toured in support of the EP, are there any new tracks that are most fun to play live?
We have only just started writing new music for studio sessions the beginning of 2020, out of the entire set though, Right In The Childhood or Chicken Tuesdays… oh wait, no, The Poet, are both really fun songs to play as they’re upbeat and get the crowd moving. We all have personal favourites, Cut And Run is my personal favourite, watching people scream the chorus lyrics back at us is insane! Especially how personal that song is to us! It’s one hell of a feeling.
We’re coming to the end of 2019, what can we expect from Like Giants in 2020?
We are indeed (and we still haven’t done any Christmas shopping yet)! We will be hitting the studio working on the new material the beginning of the new year. We’re playing with The Bottom Line at Stoke Underground on 9th January, we then head out on tour with Hawthorne Heights from 2nd-6th February visiting Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle and Sheffield. We want to play as many shows as we can next year, meet new friends and photobomb as many pictures as possible! We would love to play some festivals next year too, so if anyone wants us to play near them then just hit us up and hopefully we will be coming to a venue near you soon!
Thanks again for taking the time to chat to us, do you have a final message for our readers?
You’re welcome, honestly thank you so much for taking time out to ask us these questions, yeah we would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported us so far on our short journey. We’ve been a band for less than a year and already we have done some insane things due to the love and support from you all reading this. If you’re new to Like Giants and you want a band to follow that are random, bring the banter but also open up their DM’s to have real talk sessions for those who struggle with their day to day, who talk about real-life situations with upbeat catchy and riffy tracks then come say hey on our socials using @likegiantsuk (cheeky self-promo, got to be done) We got ya! We don’t see anyone as a statistic, drop us a message and we will get back to you as soon as we can. Keep smiling, the world needs to see how amazing yours is! (That line was cheesy as hell, right? Good!)
Big Love to you all and keep reading BTN x
Interview by: Hannah Gillicker
